LONDON – The Sikhs in UK are no longer seen as settlers but as citizens. Their spirit of charity and welfare has made them an integral part of the society. Though Sikhs constitute just 0.8% of the population of England and Wales, they are challenging public perception about migrant communities.
These are the findings of the British Sikh Report-2016 released in UK Parliament on Tuesday.
The annual report, which focuses on the needs and wants of Sikh population in the UK, is based on an online survey of more than 1,400 Sikhs across the UK.
Of more than 1,400 respondents, nearly half (48%) of Sikhs identified themselves as British Sikhs and 13% as British. While only 8% identified themselves as Indians, 7% described themselves as Punjabi. Significantly, none of the respondents preferred to call themselves as Asian, a term commonly used for them in the media. For a majority of respondents (60%) caste was not important while 20% said it used to be important but was no longer so. Only 14% said that caste mattered to them, while 6% were unsure about their response, mostly the young generation.
Highlighting that the transformation in the identity of Sikh youth in UK, the report says they are moving to newer ways of communication and away from traditional channels like family, gurdwaras and community socialisation. For young Sikhs, adhering to spiritual traditions as well as engaging with the mainstream culture and politics is a major challenge, the 32-page report points out.
It’s a sign of the community’s widespread acceptability that a number of marketing campaigns are using the turbaned Sikh male to celebrate diverse British citizenry, the report says.
A large majority of Sikhs now prefer to go in for higher education in UK and only 1% opts for some apprenticeship.
It also came out that one out of 10 British Sikhs sport the five articles of faith. Speaking to TOI from London, Jasvir Singh Chair, City Sikhs Network – an organisation that has been instrumental in preparing the report said, “All important issues ranging from Britain’s place in the world, the upcoming EU referendum, immigration, treatment of refugees, UK military action on Syria, have been touched up on in the 2016 survey.”
