UK Sikhs seek recognition as ethnic group

Sujinder Singh Sangha

• Discrimination against Asian Black and Minority Ethnic (ABME) people is rooted in prejudice relating to the colour of skin, visible appearance, religion, culture, attire, language or origin
• Ethnic data influences the public decision-makings related to employment and services, the reliability of census data on the ABME people is essential for equality monitoring.
• Only a targeted counting and monitoring of Sikhs as a minority religious as well as ethnic population could enhance the census data.
• Some believe it may result in alienation and under-counting of Sikhs, as many may declare their ethnicity as Indian, Punjabi or another which may worsen the numerical position of Sikhs.
• The bid in Britain for Sikh ethnic identity and monitoring should be seen as integral to the Indian/ABME drive for social justice. 

The Sikhs in Britain have relentlessly campaigned since the 1960s to have their basic rights established as a distinct religious minority. A natural next step for them is to seek recognition as a minority ethnic population by the census mechanisms of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS is being convinced to introduce an ethnic category for Sikhs, in addition to the religious one which already exists. The ONS is in the process of consulting and testing the 2021 national census questionnaire for approval by the parliament. The national census data provides a count of all people and households every 10 years to enhance the provision of population statistics that allows a comparison of different groups of people. The national population statistics are used to carry out research and assessment to develop policy, strategy and resourcing to address the changing needs and expectations of the stakeholding population. The nature of data influences the decision-making related to employment and services. So, the reliability of census data on Asian Black and Minority Ethnic (ABME) communities is essential for equality monitoring. The evaluation of monitoring of outcomes indicates the effectiveness of equality measures applied to improve social justice. 

The Sikhs have requested the ONS to amend the census questionnaire by adding the Sikh ethnic category alongside the religious one to enhance the provision of data. They have also mobilised the parliamentarians to support them. 

A news report in The Tribune, Chandigarh (“100 UK MPs back non-Indian ethnic identity move for Sikhs”, September 20, 2017) noted “New Delhi is unlikely to be amused if the demand (for Sikh ethnic identity) is granted; which means such an outcome has the potential of seriously impacting bilateral relations between India and Britain.” This view takes the issue to a different level as outlined by the newly elected MP Tanmanjit Singh Dhesi: “The Office of National Statistics (ONS) gave guidance in 2003 and 2011 to public bodies — including education, health service, local authorities and police — to only use ethnic group categories in the census for the monitoring purposes. Hence, the community's focus on getting a Sikh category…would be useful for stakeholders, such as those concerned with Sikh identity, discrimination and hate crime…Sikhs are a legally recognised ethnic group (Mandela V Lee, 1983) protected from discrimination under law.”

MP Preet Kaur Gill, who chairs the resurrected All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs (APPGBS), has written to the ONS, hopingfor a positive response on the inclusion of a Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021. She has alerted the ONS that failing that, the Sikh community may resort to legal redress or seek a change when the parliament is asked to approve the census 2021 questionnaire. 

The ONS, 2017, has carried out an ethnic question test involving the Sikhs in Wolverhampton and Hounslow. The indications are that the response level was a low 11.2% and 15.5%, respectively. There is no indication that the religious affiliation and ethnic group questions are capturing different populations. All respondents who selected Sikh ethnic group also selected Sikh as their religious affiliation.

However, no one would like a re-run of the 1980s. Had the House of Lords not accepted the appeal for overturning Lord Denning's ruling, the Sikhs would have had to take up the matter politically to seek an amendment to the Race Relations Act 1976… Section (3) which defines a racial group by reference to colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins. The impact of Lord Denning's ruling and press publicity gave many employers an unfair advantage and discriminatory expectation that the turban-wearing Sikhs can be asked to remove turban and not wear a beard. The House of Lords 1983 ruling rejected the High Court's verdict and made any discrimination against Sikhs on the grounds of wearing a turban illegal. 

The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO), of which Lord Indarjit Singh is the director, believes that the campaign for ethnic identity is misguided. It may result in alienating many and could cause an under-counting of Sikhs in Britain as some may declare their ethnicity as Indian, Punjabi or another which may worsen the numerical position of visible Sikhs. 

The Sikh Federation of UK (SFUK), whose activists are campaigning for the inclusion of Sikhs as a separate minority ethnic community, disagrees with the NSO. Lord Singh argues that to call Sikhs a distinctive ethnic minority would be against the Sikh Gurus’ teachings that all humans are of the same race, man-made divisions based on caste or ethnicity are divisive and false. He also points out that the monitoring could give legitimacy to discriminate agaisnt turban-wearing Sikhs, as large employers could pass the ethnic test with a few Sikhs. 

However, the academic and functional definitions of ethnicity qualify Sikhs in Britain to be a minority ethnic population for counting and monitoring purposes, especially in view of over 50 years of campaigning against the discriminations and unfairness. The ethnic identity and ethnic monitoring is a mechanism of assessing the effectiveness of affirmative actions, or analogous programmes by recording the ethnic background of the recruits. 

The recognition of Sikhs in Britain as a minority ethnic population and its monitoring, would provide a mechanism to analyse how Sikhs are faring in view of racial discrimination and hate crimes. Only a targeted counting and monitoring of Sikhs as a minority religious as well as ethnic population could enhance the census data and the eligibility for monitoring.

The writer is former principal & chief executive of a leading UK Further Education College