Faith review warns of ‘aggressive’ pro-Khalistan extremism in Britain

THERE IS A SMALL, EXTREMELY VOCAL AND AGGRESSIVE MINORITY OF BRITISH SIKHS WHO CAN BE DESCRIBED AS PRO-KHALISTAN EXTREMISTS, THE REVIEW NOTES

LONDON A major independent review commissioned by the British government into engagement with faith groups on Wednesday warned against the “subversive, aggressive and sectarian” actions of some pro-Khalistan activists and called for action to ensure such groups are not unwittingly allowed access to the UK’s Parliament.

‘Does Government ‘do God’?: An independent review into how government engages with faith’ by Independent Faith Engagement Adviser Colin Bloom is dubbed one of the most comprehensive public consultations of its kind, involving over 21,000 people’s responses.In a section entitled ‘Sikh Extremism’ the review goes into detail of how members of the British Sikh community expressed their growing concern over a small but extremely vocal group “hijacking” the Sikh faith to push a subversive pro-Khalistan narrative. “There is a small, extremely vocal and aggressive minority of British Sikhs who can be described as pro-Khalistan extremists, promoting an ethno-nationalist agenda,” notes the review. “Some of these extremists have been known to support and incite violence and intimidation in their ambition to establish an independent state called Khalistan, the physical borders of which are largely shared with specific parts of the Punjab state in India. Interestingly, this territorial claim does not include the part of the Punjab located in Pakistan. It is not entirely clear if the motivation for these extremists is faithbased or not,” it notes.

The review - which comes weeks after an attack by proKhalistan separatists at the Indian High Commission here pointed to fears that proscribed terrorist groups were able to use aliases to continue their subversive agenda, referencing Babbar Khalsa International banned in 2001 under the UK’s Terrorism Act and also the International Sikh Youth Federation – banned in multiple countries but de-proscribed in the UK in 2006.