Sandwell HnH Sikh Meeting

HOPE not hate / Searchlight by Gurinder Singh Josan | Saturday, 4 April 2009

Members of the Sikh community in Sandwell turned out to participate in a HOPE not hate forum on Saturday.

Representatives of the Sikh Gurdwaras and various community organisations met with local MPs and HOPE not hate activists to discuss the threat of the BNP over a cup of tea and a samosa.

Sylvia Heal, MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, spoke about how the BNP were a major threat in the forthcoming European elections and the destructive effect they will have on all communities in Sandwell.

John Spellar, MP for Warley, gave a detailed account of the reasons why increasing the level of voter turnout will be so important in this election. He explained that there were no simultaneous local elections in most parts of the West Midlands and outlined how the BNP will look to capitalise on the effective collapse of the UKIP.

Sandwell HOPE not hate coordinator Gurinder Singh Josan gave details about the HOPE not hate campaign, outlining the objectives and requesting that individuals "put the word out" and groups commit to bring ten people along to the two days of action in Sandwell on 9 May and 30 May.

Gurinder also addressed the issue of how the BNP are looking to divide communities on religious grounds by exploiting historical differences between Sikhs and Muslims. He said, "the BNP are desperate to gain votes in any way possible but when you scratch under the surface and in terms of their 'policies' there are no distinctions. The BNP will try to claim that they and the Sikhs have a common enemy but their real agenda is transparent - they are against all those who are different and because the Sikhs are a very visible group, Sikhs have a lot to lose."

Lord Tarsem King spoke about how the Sikh community and others have joined together in the past to tackle issues and how this was necessary again.

Keith Davies, Chair of the forum, repeated the need to increase the number of people who will be voting in this election. He said, "HOPE not hate is a non party political group reresenting the communities of Sandwell and it is vital we get as many people as possible to the polls on June 4th".

Many of those present signed up to the HOPE not hate campaign and agreed to participate in the days of action. Individuals also volunteered to raise awareness amongst other communities they had links with as well as within the Sikh community.

A very successful event!