Why is Priti Patel So Obsessed With Sikh Separatists?
Rather belatedly, British Sikhs have come to know that on Guru Nanak Parkash Day 19 November 2021, Home Secretary, Priti Patel, spoke about banning Hamas and proscribing four extreme right-wing groups. (Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary, speaking at Heritage Foundation, Washington)
She spoke of:- Islamist extremism as an enduring threat&hellip. A belief that democracy is decadent and evil is, of course, a core tenet of Islamist extremism. She then went on to specifically mention Sikhs in the same vein:- Sikh separatist extremism has also caused considerable tensions in recent years. In response, a British Sikh open letter to PM Johnson this week stated: The reference to the Sikhs []]by Priti Patel] is deeply offensive and has alarmed the law abiding British Sikh community.
It is not clear what compelled the UK Home Secretary to specifically mention Sikh extremism before an American audience, in the same context as Hamas, Daesh and some US white supremacists organisations while leaving out global Hindutva extremism? The British Sikh open letter to PM Johnson noted: The speech came within months of a failed and fundamentally flawed extradition sanctioned by Priti Patel of three innocent British born Sikhs to India who would have faced torture and possibly the death penalty.
UK Ministers must remember that, like the Scottish people, the so called Sikh separatists are asserting no more than their basic human right as a distinct people. That right has been expressed variously in International Convenants and UN instruments. For example:- All people have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.(The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966)
Although, Priti Patel qualified her reference to Sikh separatists with extremism, meaning those separatists who use extreme methods to secure their goal, the impression gained is that she is generally troubled by the Sikh demand for own homeland. Yet, the extreme right Hindutva elements are doing overtime in Western countries and using all sorts of threats and violence aimed at subduing any opposition to secular India being transformed into a Hindu Rashtra (state). These elements have active cells in Western countries causing communal friction. No doubt, Priti Patel is well aware of them also.
Like the Scottish people and many others around the world, Sikhs have the democratic right to demand an independent state. Some may not agree with the demand but none can deny that universal Sikh right. The Sikh nation is much older than the nations created after 1947 on the Indian subcontinent.
If Priti Patel is second-guessing the wishes of senior BJP politicians now running India, then one can only speculate the reason. Otherwise, it is ironic that on the same Guru Nanak Parkash Day, perhaps partly as a goodwill gesture towards the Sikhs of Panjab who had led the all-India Farmer Protest, Indian Prime Minister Modi announced the withdrawal of the black Farm Laws in India.
British Sikhs sincerely hope that there will be more senior political appointments in the UK of those from Indian sub-continent backgrounds. However, Priti Patel does remind one of the Panjabi saying: Mother, when I become thanedaar, you will be the first I put behind bars! That is not to say that the Sikhs or any other community should expect any favours either.
Gurmukh Singh OBE
Principal Civil Servant Retd.