British MP Preet Kaur Gill wrote to Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday seeking protection and urgent action against rising crimes against the Sikh community in the United Kingdom.
Gill, who is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Sikhs, said that there has been a 169% increase in hate crimes against Sikhs since 2020-’21.
“I am deeply concerned by these new statistics,” the Labour party member wrote. “301 hate crimes against Sikhs were reported in 2021-’22, up from 112 in 2020-’21. The 169% increase is compared to a 38% increase in reported religious hate crimes overall.”
According to the British Home Office, 3,459 hate crimes were reported against Muslims this year – the highest ever. In the same period, 1,919 hate crimes were reported against Jews, 701 against Christians and 161 against Hindus.
The legislator urged Braverman to implement the 2020 All Party Parliamentary Group report on British Sikhs. The report, Gill said, was an attempt to consult the government on the definition of anti-Sikh hate and suggest community-led solutions to under-reporting of the attacks.
“However, despite multiple promises of a substantive response and offers of a meeting, the Home Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between them have failed to respond,” the MP from Birmingham Edgbaston noted.
Gill also mentioned the attack on a 63-year-old Sikh priest in Manchester in June.
Avtar Singh was attacked on June 23 and found unconscious in the middle of a street. He is still being treated in hospital. On September 7, Manchester Police arrested a 28-year-old suspect in case, reported the BBC.
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