British Sikhs are being asked about their views on India at UK airports, Labor MP says | Sikhism

Sikhs in Britain are being stopped at airports and questioned about their attitudes towards India, a Labor lawmaker said, raising concerns about Delhi's influence over UK security checks.

Preet Gill, one of the most prominent Sikhs in Parliament, has written to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, expressing concerns about the large number of British Sikhs who have been stopped and interrogated at length when re-entering the country. . The issue has centered on a decades-long debate over whether Sikhs should be granted their own homeland in South Asia.

Her comments reflect growing anger among British Sikhs over alleged harassment by or on behalf of the Indian government. Canada believes Indian officials were involved in the incident amid an escalating diplomatic row between India and Canada over the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

In a letter sent last September, Gill raised the example of several Sikhs who had contacted him with concerns about being stopped at the UK border.

She said a man was held up at Manchester Airport for several hours on his way back from a family holiday in Turkey, during which he was asked his views on Sikhism, the Partition of India and Nizar's death. Canada.

She added that he was handled roughly and one of the officers attempted to remove his turban, a symbol of his faith.

The anecdotal evidence I have gives cause for concern in that law-abiding Sikhs are being targeted and are being asked inappropriate questions focused on their identity and religious beliefs for no apparent reason, she wrote.

Preet Gill speaking at the 2022 Labor Party conference. Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The practices I am hearing about are making law-abiding Sikhs feel victimized and unsafe. To maintain trust, it is important that these processes are fair and equitable and treat all communities with the same dignity and respect.

The Home Office declined to comment.

The Indian government has long been concerned about a Sikh nationalist movement campaigning to separate the Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, from the Punjab region in northwestern India. This movement also led to acts of terrorism, such as the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people on board.

Delhi's concerns about Sikh nationalists have focused particularly on the Sikh diaspora in North America and Britain in recent years, sparking tensions between India and foreign governments.

Canada and India are engaged in a prolonged diplomatic standoff following Nizar's killing, with Ottawa alleging that India's current Home Minister, Amit Shah, was involved in a series of plots to threaten and kill Sikhs in Canada.

In Britain, Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda died suddenly in June after complaining that Indian police were harassing him and threatening his family by phone from Punjab.

Conservative MP Neil OBrien wrote to Cooper's predecessor, James Cleverly, earlier this year expressing concerns about Canda's death and asking the then home secretary to respond to the West Midlands Police investigation. He urged them to save it.

Sikh community leaders say British Sikhs are increasingly being banned from UK airports under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The law allows police to detain and interrogate anyone traveling through an airport, port or train station to assess whether they are involved in terrorism. , even if there is no reason to suspect it.

Gurpreet Singh Anand, president of the Khalsa Jatha British Isles gurdwara in London, said: People are being stopped and interrogated without lawyers. They were told they had to hand over their mobile phones and social media passwords.

They are then asked very broad questions such as: What are your views on Khalistan and India? It's very broad.

Gill wrote in the letter: Specific and unusual lines of interrogation at several airports have raised concerns that this is part of a coordinated strategy to target Sikhs.

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