Support swells for national Sikh war memorial in central London
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, December 24
A motion initiated by UK MP from Slough Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, seeking the setting up of a national Sikh war memorial in central London, has started getting support from various sections of the British polity. Dhesi has also sought UK Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom’s consent on having a debate on the issue.
The MP had tabled the motion in the UK Parliament on December 19, calling on the British Government to actively support the erection of the memorial.
The motion has attracted signatures of more than 200 MPs from across the political spectrum and has cross-party support. There are a total of 650 MPs in the UK Parliament.
Asked when the motion would come up for debate, Dhesi said he has not got any date yet.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has already supported the move, saying that it would be right that these brave individuals have a memorial.
He said that though the Sikhs made up only 2 per cent of the population of British India, they constituted about 20 per cent of the British Indian Army during World War-I. He added that hundreds of thousands of Sikh soldiers had seen active service during the two major wars and many other conflicts.
More than 83,000 Sikh soldiers had laid down their lives and more than 1 lakh were injured during the World Wars.
“I have asked Andrea if she would agree to a debate on the memorial in a prime central location in our capital,” said Dhesi, who hails from Phagwara near Jalandhar.
The motion is being supported by a number of political heavyweights including Tom Watson (Deputy Leader of Labour Party), John McDonnell (Shadow Chancellor, Labour), Ken Clarke (longest-serving Conservative MP and former UK Chancellor), Dominic Grieve (Conservative MP, former Attorney General) and others.
Dhesi has said, “It recognises the sacrifices of Sikh soldiers in the service of Great Britain and calls for a permanent national monument in a prime central London location. It will have huge additional benefits for community cohesion and integration within our country.”
