English Channel migrants come in search of community and belonging
Earlier this week, I found within the BBC treasure trove of the Alistair Cooke archive a 1992 edition in which he explored the vexed question of immigration and the relevance…
Sikhs
David Lammy and the anti-Empire racism of religious illiteracy
When it transpired recently that thousands of black and Asian soldiers who died fighting for the British Empire had been 'unequally' commemorated in death, the absence of headstones and other memorials to their service was swiftly attributed to "pervasive racism"…
BBC censors Sikh history in case it offends Muslims
Lord (Indarjit) Singh has been almost as permanent a fixture on BBC Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day' as the Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines. The BBC likes a certain…
Welby in Amritsar — damned if he does; damned if he doesn’t
The Archbishop of Canterbury visited the site of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in the Punjabi city of Amritsar. He didn't merely visit it, he prostrated himself very publicly before…
Government slaps secularists: “England has an established Church”
Amidst all the equality clamour and the siren voices of secularism, you can perhaps be forgiven for occasionally forgetting that England still has an Established Church, that its status is…
Boris, whisky, and Sikhs who think they’re Muslims
Boris, whisky and Sikhs? Can you talk about alcohol in a gurdwara? What does the Guru Granth Sahib say about it? "I wouldn't go there," counselled Aaqil Ahmed, former Head…
The turban was made for man, and not man for the turban
The story has gone viral and circled the world. Harman Singh, 22, of South Aukland, New Zealand, was lounging around at home when he heard the screech of car…
Cameron: "As God's children, we are all one big family"
David Cameron did a lot of God yesterday. If you judge by the Daily Mail photo splash, it was mainly about Sikhs, gurdwaras and Vaisakhi. But he also addressed…
No Easter greeting to Christians on No10 website
There was an official Easter message from the Office of the Prime Minister in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and they were published for the whole world to see…