LONDON, UK—UK Foreign Office spokesman has said the reason for the Foreign Secretary to pull out on the eve of the event at Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Southall is “Parliamentary business and a forthcoming trip abroad”.
Bhai Narinderjit Singh, the General Secretary of the Sikh Federation (UK) said:
“We just don’t buy it.”
“The Sikh community is deeply disappointed that the Foreign Secretary has pulled out at the last minute. We were hoping to here from Philip Hammond himself that the Foreign Office were doing all they could and making it clear to Portugal that Paramjeet Singh must be returned to the UK without delay.”
“Instead there is speculation that the Indian authorities are putting unreasonable pressure on the UK Government. They listen more to the Indian authorities than British Sikh taxpayers.”
“We are writing today to the Foreign Secretary to meet the family of Paramjeet Singh and explain to them what they are doing to explain the situation to the Portuguese Government.””We are writing today to the Foreign Secretary to meet the family of Paramjeet Singh and explain to them what they are doing to explain the situation to the Portuguese Government.”“We are writing today to the Foreign Secretary to meet the family of Paramjeet Singh and explain to them face to face what the Foreign Office is doing in the way of diplomatic pressure and to describe the seriousness of the situation to the Portuguese Government.”
British. Sikhs need to improve there lobbying Power with British Govt.
British Sikhs need to demand under the freedom of information act access to the dossier Modi presented to the British Govt to see what slander he has made against the Sikhs. They need to make it clear that we will find out exactly what has transpired even if it takes the 30 year rule to disclose all relevant documents and will hold Conservative Party to account. They can start with renewed pressure to have public inquiry held in Conservative British Government’s involvement with Indian Government in 1984. British Sikhs need to make it plain they have a vote bank that will be used strategically to oust Conservative MPs so Conservative Party thinking starts to factor in whether the Hindu vote will come and out and neutralise such tactics. Stop inviting Conservatives and offering them electioneering platforms in Gurdwaras for a start and let them know why they are being excluded.
The British Foreign Secretary has had pressure put on by the Indian Embassy and has been suitably spooked from offering in person reassurances that would be recorded and replayed if the British Government had reneged on such promises. Effectively we are where we were back in 1984 when the Indian Government is able to exert undue influence on the British foreign and domestic polices – so much for RSS Harinder’s claim that foreign Empire is manipulating the Indian Sarkar into committing dastardly deeds against the Sikhs in Punjab. The unseemly truth is the reverse the Indian Sarkar using its economic muscle of trade deals (remember David Cameron went to India very recently begging for orders) has told the British Govt we gave you a list of Sikh dissidents and Gurdwaras we wanted harrassed, concentrate on that or else we will buy our warplanes et al from the likes of co-operative / collaborative Governments (take a bow France and Portugal). There is also the cynical electoral calculation with upcoming London Mayoral election the Conservative Party has made in that the Hindu expatriot population in the UK (which tends to be pro-India as a point of principle rather than being constructively critical of India) is larger than the Sikh population. The British Government has completely forgotten the blood sacrifice Sikhs have made for Britain over the centuries (the Sikhs were instrument even in the 1857 Indian mutiny keeping their oaths to the British East India Company although I suspect they were hardly going to throw in their lot with Bengali sepoys who had only a decade before been fighting for the Brits and killing Sikhs of the Khalsa Raj of Duleep Singh), the Sikhs who fought and died in World War 1 and 2 (and disproportionately earning Victoria Crosses) and are ready as they were in 1984 to hang the Sikhs out to dry. You can bet no matter what the Foreign Secretary says from now on the British protest to the Portuguese for Bhai Pamma’s release will be as muted as a scared little mouse in stark contrast to its own image seen on its HM coats of arms as being a defiant rampant lion in the world. The latter it seems is now entirely the purview of the Sikh as the British (and it is a Conservative Government again doing this) are now nothing more than the Indian Hinduvta Sarkar’s catspaw / bitch depending how charitable you wish to be. Shameful, immoral and hypocritical capitulation from a Conservative British Government once more but this time it was an Indian Prime Minister who flew to England with the dishonourable piece of paper (Modi’s dirty dossier against UK Sikhs).