AMRITSAR SAHIB, Punjab—The report in a Punjabi newspaper does not mince words. It talks of a ‘crazed’ Englishwoman arousing concerns for her safety in the Sikh holy city of Anandpur Sahib in India.It claims that in the confines of a Sikh temple, she has been seen bathing in sacred pools ‘without clothes’ — which, if true, is an outrageous act in such a conservative, deeply spiritual society — and keeping her underwear near the Guru Granth Sahib, akin to sacrilege.
Lately, it states, she has been seen wandering around in the streets, bazaars and temples alone, like a ‘crazed person’, and has become the talk of the town.
Baba Gurdev Singh Ji, chief executor of the Shaheedi Bagh Sikh temple, is quoted asking for the UK High Commission to take her back and hand her over to her family.
‘If someone misbehaves with this foreign woman,’ he is reported saying, ‘then India will gain a bad reputation.’
The article — which claims the woman was left by her husband — suggests that some locals are worried she could be a British government spy, so bizarre is her behaviour.
So who is this woman, the source of such worrying gossip? None other than former socialite Alexandra Aitken, daughter of disgraced former Tory minister Jonathan Aitken and Sikh convert who now goes by the name of Uttrang Kaur Khalsa.
The unsubstantiated report, published in November, couldn’t be in starker contrast to the glossy 2010 Hello! magazine spread celebrating the marriage of the former ‘It-girl’, now 34, and Inderjot Singh, a Sikh ‘warrior’ from the Punjab. It was an unlikely union from the start — Alexandra’s life once centred on Mayfair parties, posh boys and polo — and rumours it was in trouble have been rife for months.
Last weekend, Alexandra’s father finally confirmed it was over and that the couple, who met at a yoga retreat in the Punjabi holy city of Amritsar, were now ‘detached’ — if, indeed, they were ever legally married.
According to a report in the Tribune newspaper last September, the union came under strain when Alexandra did not appear before a magistrate to register the marriage and didn’t attend the funeral of Inderjot’s father. This week, approached by the Mail as she attended a Sikh festival, Alexandra politely declined to comment on her marriage or the report of naked bathing in holy pools (Sikh women usually go in fully clothed).
‘I am really happy that you approached to speak with me, but I do not wish to speak to anyone. Have a nice day,’ she said, before disappearing into the crowd.
While the marriage may be over, Alexandra’s passion for her adopted religion remains undimmed. It is thought to be why she remains in Anandpur Sahib, even if her presence appears to cause consternation to other residents of the sleepy ‘Holy City of Bliss’.
Here, she is one of the few, if not the only, unattached Western woman in the 16,000 population — such a rarity that police apparently turned up at her lodgings recently to ask why she was there and check all was well.
According to a police officer, she was asked to fill out a foreigner’s registration form — to ensure the safety of foreign nationals — on which she listed her status as ‘unmarried’ and named her father as an emergency contact. She then asked to be left alone.
Home for the privately educated art school graduate for the past few months has been a £12-a-night room in a guest house, with nothing more than a bed, toilet and TV.
Described by staff as ‘kind-hearted’, she is so environmentally conscious that she asks them ‘not to waste water and electricity’.
‘Madam doesn’t talk much,’ said one. ‘She keeps to herself most of the time, but she would get really angry if someone left the lights on during the day. She would make sure the taps in her room never dripped water.’
According to locals, Alexandra first stayed in Anandpur Sahib last year with her husband, a member of a Sikh order called the Nihang. When she returned six months ago, however, she was alone. For a month she stayed in a dera, or Sikh seminary, before moving into lodgings.
Inderdeep Singh, a caretaker at the Keshgarh Sikh temple attended by Alexandra, told us: ‘I was told that her husband was a Nihang and that they had a break-up.
‘So when she came here, I could see she was heartbroken. In this house of God, she found peace. Since then she comes to prayers at the gurdwara (temple) regularly.’
Jonathan Aitken, 72, told the Mail: ‘My daughter is still a very devoted Sikh and I am personally still on good terms with Inderjot.
Miss Aitken’s father told the Mail she remains a devoted Sikh despite separating from her Indian ‘husband’
‘They remain friends, but the marriage is not working in any sense that we would understand, and there is considerable doubt whether it was a lawful marriage ceremony — or so I am told.’
Dismissing reports of her ‘crazed’ behaviour as ‘nonsense’, he said: ‘She likes to maintain her privacy. She doesn’t have a mobile and it’s hard to get hold of her. She tries to stay clear of the world.
‘I’m absolutely confident that she is safe and knows what she is doing. She has lodgings which my ex-wife and I pay the rent for.
‘She was here in Britain until October and has been visited by several people since who have all said that she is safe and happy.’
He later confirmed: ‘They were not married and are now detached.
Certainly Alexandra’s faith appears to be deeply held. Last month, she posted a new profile picture on Facebook showing herself wearing a Sikh turban.
Completely divorced from her old life of London parties — dwarves dressed in Dennis the Menace outfits once served up toffee vodkas for guests at her 22nd birthday bash — Alexandra is devoted to spreading Sikh principles and extols the Punjabi way of living on two websites.
The former actress, who once posed naked for GQ magazine, now writes about the benefits of wearing a chunni (long scarf) made of cotton rather than silk because it is ‘cooling and calming for the mind’.
Mr Aitken added he remained on good terms with his daughter’s former partner
Devoted to charitable work and helping the poor, she has a vision of building schools, hospitals and meditation centres.
In 2013, her father revealed that when she returned to Britain to visit she refused to sleep in a bedroom, instead camping in the garden of her aunt, actress Maria Aitken, so she could lie on the earth.
‘It’s all part of being close to the soil,’ said Mr Aitken. ‘I find it very hard to get my head around all this, but I love her dearly.’
Formerly effusive about her ‘noble’ husband and their shared spirituality, Alexandra has kept quiet since their ‘rough patch’ became public knowledge. ‘Many believe, don’t talk unless it improves on silence,’ is all she would say.
Asked about her marriage at a Sikh conference in London in 2013, she became defensive and finally replied: ‘God is my true love.’
A family friend said that Alexandra had been wrestling with the fact that, apart from their faith, she and Inderjot had very little in common: she saw herself as a free spirit, in touch with Nature, while he was more traditional and felt that her place was at home with him.
‘There’s a feeling among her friends and family that she rushed into marriage,’ says the friend.
Alexandra and Inderjot met in 2009 and it was her love of Kundalini yoga that first drew her to the religion.
By then her privileged upbringing had been shattered after her father was jailed for 18 months in 1999 for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
She had also discovered that her friend Petrina Khashoggi was, in fact, her half-sister — the result of an affair between Jonathan and Soraya Khashoggi.
‘She couldn’t be more different from the girl who used to walk down Sloane Street,’ said one old friend. ‘She looks unkempt, she doesn’t cut her hair and when she was here she was telling everyone what they should and shouldn’t eat.’
Yet, despite the end of her short-lived marriage, is she happy?
Her father certainly believes so. And so does Alexandra.
Sikh koam the GREAT. THANKS