Press Release

The British Sikh Association celebrates Vaisakhi in style. Over 300 guests attended this glittering event which started with traditional Bhangra dance by the group “Baharain Punjab Dian”. Amongst those who attended included Lord Sheikh, Mr. Virendra Sharma MP, Dr. Ashraf Chohan, MPA Punjab Assembly, Pakistan, and Veteran Marathon Runner Mr. Fauja Singh, now 97 years young.

Secretary General, Dr. Sukhbir Singh Kapoor welcomed the guests and said in his introduction that

Interfaith interactivity is integral to the teachings of the Sikh Religion. Its founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached the Unity of God and Fellowship of Humankind. All Sikh Gurus instructed Sikhs to join in the spirit of understanding, friendship and love for all other religions.

Dr. Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman, said that religion now has a new meaning in this ever shrinking world where we are increasingly becoming interdependent on people from different faiths in order to lead our lives. Hardly a day goes by when we do not deal with people who are not from our faith. We all love our religion like we love our parents whether they are poor or rich, perfect or not so perfect. In the times of our need we turn to religion as we turn to our parents. As time goes by, we develop a unique bond and relationship with our faith as we do with our parents. Once we start respecting other faiths, we automatically attract respect for our faith. We have no choice in which religion we are born to, but we do have a choice how we treat each other.

President Mr. TS Sahni said that the creation of Khalsa (Saint Soldiers) by the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh ji in 1699 was a direct result of the continued injustice, intolerance, suppression, exploitation, plunder, bloodshed and pointless destruction by foreign invaders and unending conflicts between various kingdoms and clans within India and the indignities of caste divisions of the 15^th Century.

The Guest of Honour the Rt. Hon. Tony McNulty MP, Minister at the Home Office, in charge of Security and Counter Terrorism said that we must look forward and not back in order to enjoy the benefits of modern life. We can either perish in hate or prosper in love," he said and acknowledged the massive contribution made by NRIs, particularly Sikhs, to the UK.  In Britain we live under a rule of law where we are all equal regardless of our faith. Any country using religion systematically in order to discriminate against a section of her population cannot progress normally.

Dr. Ashraf Chohan MPA, Member of Punjab Assembly, said he is in favour of easy access granted to Hindu and Sikh pilgrims wishing to visit their places of worship in Pakistan. As a Muslim, he could understand the wishes of his fellow Muslims to have easy access to Holy Mecca for their peace of mind. Similarly, Hindus and Sikhs should be able to visit their place of worship in Pakistan at will. He informed the audience that a motorway is being planned linking Wagha to Nankana Sahib, the birth place of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Lord Sheikh who has roots in the Holy city of Amritsar praised the way Sikhs invite all faiths to their Gurdwaras and treat them equally. Mr. Virendra Sharma MP who has more Sikhs in his constituency of Southall than any other Member of Parliament also praised the outstanding contribution of Sikhs in Britain.

Special Awards were presented to Ms. Teji Singh for promoting Asian culture in the mainstream Media and also to Mr. Ravi Chand, Head of Diversity at the Home office for his services to the community.

Mr. Bobby Grewal, Chairman India Association was presented a cheque of £1000 by the Finance Secretary Mr. H.S. Sethi to support his walk from the Scottish Parliament to the British Parliament on 4^th June 08 to raise money for the research in to the cure of Bowel Cancer in Britain.

The vote of thank was given by Dr. Daljit Kaur Maudgil. The evening ended with dinner and dance.

Chairman Dr. Rami Ranger MBE & President Mr. T.S. Sahni Speeches below