Why Isn't the Government Doing More to Tackle Anti-Sikh Discrimination?

Lawyers representing Sarika Singh, 14, are hoping the judge will rule that she was the victim of unlawful discrimination, in a case which could prove to be pivotal in the debate over religious dress in schools.

Lawyers representing Sarika Singh, 14, are hoping the judge will rule that she was the victim of unlawful discrimination, in a case which could prove to be pivotal in the debate over religious dress in schools.

Aberdare Girls’ School in South Wales insisted that Sakira take classes on her own for two months before finally excluding her last November after she refused to remove the small steel bangle, known as a Kara.

The school, at which Sarika was the only Sikh, does not permit jewellery other than wristwatches and plain ear studs.

The kara is one of the five Ks, symbols of the Sikh faith that followers are expected to wear at all times.

In February, Sarika enrolled at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, which allows her to wear the Kara, pending the outcome of her court challenge.

Her mother, Sinita, 38, has said that, although Mountain Ash is a good school, her daughter’s education suffered as a result of the move and the stress involved in the run-up to her GCSEs.

Last Friday, the family travelled to 10 Downing Street to hand in a petition calling on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to intervene in the matter “to show discrimination is totally unacceptable”.

The petition gained the backing of 150 Gurdwaras – the main Sikh religious institutions – and over 200 Sikh organisations and 70 non-Sikh organisations.

Human rights group Liberty, which is supporting Sarika’s High Court battle, claims Aberdare Girls’ School breached race, equality and human rights laws by not allowing Sarika to wear the Kara.

Today’s hearing, before Mr Justice Silber, is set for three days.

-By Lucy Cockcroft

Sikh victims of crime will now be given the option of requesting a Sikh police officer to work on their case. Well, in London at least.

The goal of this new service, offered by the Metropolitan Police, is to make use of the “special” knowledge officers have in regards to Punjabi culture to help address issues such as forced marriage and honor crimes.

Many police officers believe that crimes have gone unreported and unsolved within the Punjabi Sikh community due to a lack of cultural understanding by police officers from a “white” background.

Palbinder Singh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Sikh Association (MPSA) said: “It’s about understanding and appreciating difference. I don’t believe a white officer is ever going to be fully conversant with a Sikh for example. We have got evidence in the most serious type of crimes where Punjabi culture itself is the issue, that they haven’t been properly investigated.” [link]

Cringe.

When the British Sikh Police Association (BSPA) was set up, a spokesman suggested that the organization represented an important move towards social cohesion and integration, just like ‘other support networks within the police’. The BSPA did an excellent job at setting up an online service to allow women to report honor-based violence. It’s a completely valid effort to address the needs of minority communities – and something which should be celebrated.  However, while I am a huge advocate for providing culturally and linguistically relevant services in all public sectors, I’m not sure that the solution proposed by the Metropolitan Police in England is necessary a good thing. Instead of providing diversity training to all members of the police force, this policy divides justice across ethnic lines.

A writer at The Centre for Social Cohesion agrees,

Singh probably doesn’t deserve the demonization he will receive amongst certain sections of the blogging classes, nor the defense he will receive from others, he merely articulates a pervasive rot that has set in to our public discourse. Its treatment can only come when we cease to speak of ‘communities’ and cease to treat them as a political entity. We should remember that a truly liberal society has only one political building block- the individual- who has neither gender nor colour nor creed. [link]

While I understand that this new policy is a choice and Sikh crime victims are not forced to choose a Sikh officer, could it could potentially lead to a separate justice system for Sikhs? What will happen when Sikhs believe that working with Sikh officers provides them with positive outcomes and working with non-Sikh officers, negative outcomes?  There is no guarantee that a male Sikh police officer will be more understanding of a female Sikh victim of crime versus a female non-Sikh officer.  Rather than investing in diversity programs and ensuring that all police officers can recognize issues affecting minority communities, these institutions in England are opting out of multiculturalism efforts in lieu of convenient solutions masked as community-conscious initiatives. That can never be a good thing for social cohesion.