More than 100 UK MPs push for census data for Sikhs

More than 100 UK MPs cutting across party lines have pushed for census data for Sikhs and are supporting recognition of Sikhs as a separate ethnic group. The UK MPs have demanded this status for the large Sikh community from the National Office of Statistics, the official statistics body in the UK.

The letter in this regard was presented to John Pullinger the National Statistician of the UK was signed by 113 UK MPs. This was following the efforts of the Sikh community demanding for the change in their status. They believe that this change in status as a separate ethnic group will provide better access to public services. It will also be a greater acceptance of the issues being faced by them, as quoted by The Hindu.

The letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs states that diverse issues ranging from access to healthcare to hate crimes are not receiving the adequate attention of public bodies. This is because these bodies often monitor only those ethnic groups that have been identified in the census, elaborates the letter.

The letter said that the demand for recognition of Sikhs in the UK as the separate ethnic group was much delayed for the community with a population of 84, 000. The Sikh community does not accept the current categorization of ethnic categories in the UK selecting ‘Sikh’ for the space in the ’Other ethnic groups’. The existing categories for Asians are Indian, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Pakistani and Other.

Sikh Federation UK’s Principal Advisor Davinder Singh said that as the legislation for the census of 2021 will be tabled in the Parliament in 2018, the next few weeks are very crucial. It has been campaigning for this issue from a long time and is due to meet the National Office of Statistics with APPG.

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