British Sikhs form the International Sikh Governing Council to take forward dealings with foreign governments and international institutions at their annual national convention this week in London. The group said this initiative sends a signal to governments across the world that leading and like-minded Sikhs from recognised and well established organisations from around a dozen countries, including some from Punjab will be working together to politically campaign in a co-ordinated manner to highlight continued injustices against the Sikhs and jointly make efforts to gain international political support for the establishment of a Sikh homeland, Khalistan.
LONDON – British Sikhs form the International Sikh Governing Council to take forward dealings with foreign governments and international institutions at their annual national convention this week in London.
From an international perspective this was arguably the most significant announcement for many years. The Sikh Federation (UK) has been working for six months on the formation of a 25-member panel or International Sikh Governing Council. The exact size of the panel will be flexed by the time names are released in the next three months to ensure like-minded and well established Sikh organisations with the same overall goal across the globe can all be accommodated.
The group said this initiative sends a signal to governments across the world that leading and like-minded Sikhs from recognised and well established organisations from around a dozen countries, including some from Punjab will be working together to politically campaign in a co-ordinated manner to highlight continued injustices against the Sikhs and jointly make efforts to gain international political support for the establishment of a Sikh homeland, Khalistan.
The International Sikh Governing Council will be supported by an 11-member international working group of internationally acclaimed Sikh activists from the diaspora that will be responsible for negotiations with foreign governments and international institutions. Again the size of the working group will be flexed and will also draw upon other Sikhs and non-Sikhs for advice. The non-Sikhs will include politicians, human rights activists and academics. As these individuals will lead on any negotiations with foreign governments on Sikh demands for justice and freedom they will remain largely in the background unlike those on the International Sikh Governing Council that they will be reporting to.
In July the Sikh Federation (UK) introduced the concept of the International Sikh Governing Council when Modi instructed his Ministers that India should try and get their hands on the Kohinoor diamond. The Sikh Federation (UK) pointed out India did not exist at the time of the Anglo-Sikh treaties and this was a matter between Britain and the international Sikh community. We received a positive response from the UK Government on this issue, with Alok Sharma (the Foreign Minister responsible for India) in his visit to India stating India had no legal claim on the Kohinoor.
The group said the announcement also sends a clear signal to Sikhs across the globe and the Indian authorities that a few individuals from the UK who have in recent times claimed to be “interlocutors” have no mandate whatsoever or any claim to represent Sikhs in the Diaspora when discussing issues with the Indian authorities. All matters of wider interest to Sikhs across the globe on justice and freedom should now only be brought to the attention of the International Sikh Governing Council. When its membership is announced in around three months time it will set out a timetable for its next four meetings in London or Birmingham, Toronto or Vancouver, Geneva or Brussels and New York or Washington.
