Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sikh Sangat Suicide Gate: Who is Behind This?



This is a poster from Dr Rai. He is the agreed candidate of the bearded, turbaned, visible Sikh community who felt upset and underrepresented when Gurcharan Singh and two other long listed candidates in their niche communal grouping were not shortlisted. But what's going on?

- Why did Gurcharan and two other turbaned Sikh's defect and support Dave-id Cameron's secular and unsympathetic Tony Lit? What has been promised?
- Why have the Sikh Federation, Sikh Sangat and fellow travellers who insist they are interested only in getting a visible Sikh (man) selected and elected punished the Labour Party - who have done the most BY FAR to advance their cause as representatives, Exec Members, Mayors - and backed a party which has done nothing? Which didn't even have a selection process? What has been promised?
- Why did Sikh Sangat publish a most scurrilous story - claiming that the champion of their cause, Dr Rai, had hanged himself, associating this claim with various false and highly defamatory claims, accusations of racism, calls to remember an assassination in 1984 and the killing that followed it, and naturally plugs for Tony Lit - when they are out to see backing for a bearded, turbaned, visible Sikh, like Dr Rai, and not some cross-dressing trans-political millionaire?
- What involvement, if any, has Grant Shapps, or his agents and allies, had in this ridiculous, malicious, communalist carry on?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The buck stops at Shapps anyway. Just look at what Dale said about the BBC and apply it to this situation. Shapps must resign or be sacked now.

David Lindsay said...

I have reproduced this on my blog, with a couple of questions of my own:

1. Would any group of English-speaking Christians (WASP, Irish, West Indian, Saint Helenian, whatever) be permitted to behave like this? and

2. Is Tony Lit actually a MEMBER of the Labour Party?

At least if Lit wins, then the latter question needs to be addressed to Eric_Wilson@labour.org.uk, copied to every political journalist and blogger that you can find an email address for.

But don't expect an answer: I certainly never got one to the Louise Bagshawe question, even though a simple No would have sufficed, just as it would here.

Chris Paul said...

I don't think Lit is a member. That would have been out long ago. My people on the ground would have told me that. I doubt he has ever been a member.

There have certainly been past instances of communalism and so on in political parties perp'd by other groups.

In this case much of it is down to a few hotheads. The question is whether they were influenced, directed or in any way managed by the Tories.

David Lindsay said...

In my experience, "people on the ground" might not know...

Which would be worse for the Tories, to lose after all the hype, or to win with New Labour's very own Tony Lit? And why?

Anonymous said...

It may actually be true...

Anonymous said...

The Sikh Federation (UK) has criticised Labour for its selection process. It has not backed the Conservatives or anyone else!

Hopefully Labour have learnt from this.

Gurjeet Singh
Sikh Federation (UK)
info@ikhfederation.com

Chris Paul said...

What utter crap Gurjeet. The SF was against the AWS and stated categorically that if a visible Sikh was not selected you would back other candidates and build a national boycott.

That is absolutely unacceptable. Full stop.

And the SF allies have certainly been backing Lit and also stoking up anti-Hindu lines and these nonsense anonymous posts and hotheadedness.

You can try to disassociate the SF from this. But the "tip off" for the Sangat story was written by someone using your very style too.

What lesson is Labour supposed to have learned? That they must select turbaned Sikhs, or else?

With the greatest respect ... that's pathetic Gurjeet.

Anonymous said...

Well the Sikh Federation are a joke and they are an irrelevancy. For a bunch of marginalised irrelevancies you give them too much importance. Why would they have to resort to such utterly pathetic tactics if they had any standing amongst Sikhs? They don't, they're pathetic communalist clowns.

Anonymous said...

You will see in all our posts we do not use any vulgar language.

Please QUOTE any of the Sikh Federation posts where we said BACK OTHER candidates.

We have warned Labour has shot itself in the foot with the selection process, we have said independents may stand, we have even speculated how people may vote, but we have NOT said vote for person X.

We have also said what is happening in Ealing Southall has wider implications across the UK. These are all reasonable opinions.

We will continue to try and get a turbaned Sikh into Parliament on merit and ability. We will also support candidates from each of the mainstream political parties in different constituencies - based on the job performed by the MP or promises made by prospective candidates on behalf of constituents (including Sikhs).

We do not support any one of the mainstream political parties as we are a pressure group pushing on issues that concern our community.

Please speak to MPs that we deal with in each of the main parties and they will tell you that our approach is respected, unlike the selection process of Labour or the Conservatives in this by election.

Gurjeet Singh
Sikh Federation (UK)
info@sikhfederation.com

Anonymous said...

Sukhi said...

Well the Sikh Federation are a joke and they are an irrelevancy.

You are entitled to your opinion.

Please join us at our annual conference on 16 September 2007 - Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Sedgley Street, Wolverhampton and you will see that thousands will be there and appreciate the work we do.

Anyone in the British Sikh community is ware we have a huge amount of support for our work, it is not our fault if others are jealous of this.

Gurjeet Singh
Sikh Federation (UK)

For a bunch of marginalised irrelevancies you give them too much importance. Why would they have to resort to such utterly pathetic tactics if they had any standing amongst Sikhs? They don't, they're pathetic communalist clowns.

Chris Paul said...

Thanks both!

That's really rounded things off nicely. I don't have the time or the inclination to go back and find the exact form of your threats Gurjeet but they absolutely have not helped your case ... with any party in the UK.

Best wishes

Chris P

Anonymous said...

Chris

Only time will tell!

All the best.

Gurjeet Singh
Sikh Federation (UK)

Anonymous said...

Gurjeet, more Sikhs attend a bhangra concert any weekend than attend the Sikh Federation Fundamentalist knees up in Wolverhampton every year. You're an irrelevancy. Nobody is jealous of you --- you are a discredited organisation with a long history of thuggishness, you were involved in the violence outside the Birmingham Rep, you campaign for the de-proscription of a terrorist organisation the ISYF with whom you have historical links. Thankfully, you are nothing more than a rump organisation with an obsession for extrems Sikh nationalism and a crew of chauvinists and bigots to boot. Ken Livingstone invites you to a soiree once a year just as he does Muslim fundamentalists like Qaradawi, but to everyone else you are communalist lepers.

Anonymous said...

Sukhi are you a Sikh? If you are how can you call an event in a Gurdwara a 'knees up'.

Also you must be out of your mind to compare a conference in a Gurdwara to a 'bhangra concert' - the two are entirely different sorts of events.

Chris Paul said...

By the way anonymous 20:20 it certainly was not true that Dr Rai committed suicide. The link you provide is to an assertion that another Rai did kill himself recently, though it does not corroborate the Sikh Sangat claim which said a dead man was from Hayes while this post says Southall. Dr Rai is (presnet tense) from Hounslow.

It is probably worse to spread a rumour that a real person who has died tragically was the candidate than to have just made it up?

The "hothead" who did post that message has had all his posts wiped and been put under severe moderation on the site. He or she had only been a member since the Tories started getting found out for impersonating people on the web.

That might be a coincidence. Let's hope so.