PM's missed festival greeting causes stir in British-Sikh community
Over 300 Sikh organizations challenge Prime Minister about missing important religious celebration. Recent oversight follows earlier cultural mix-up with Hindu community at official event
British-Sikh groups are upset with Sir Keir Starmer after No 10 didnt acknowledge Gurpurb: a key religious celebration that happened on Nov 15th
The festival marking Sikhisms founders 555th birth-anniversary got social-media wishes from global leaders but Downing Street stayed quiet. Dabinderjit Singh from the Sikh Federation (who used to be a high-ranking audit officer) called this slip-up totally-unacceptable
This mess-up comes right after another cultural mistake — No 10 served non-vegetarian food and drinks at a Diwali party (which wasnt proper for Hindu guests)
The federation sent a letter pointing out how Starmer used to send nice festival messages when he wasnt PM: “Its looking like your taking our one-million British Sikhs for granted now that your in charge.“ The timing is extra-bad because Sikhs worldwide face problems from Indiaʼs government (with people in USA and Canada dealing with threats)
- Previous PMs Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak made similar mistakes
- They both fixed it next year after saying sorry
- Current situation needs more than just an apology
- British intel gave warnings about Sikh safety
Labourʼs office noted that they posted wishes on social-media and mentioned having 11 Sikh MPs; they said: “British-Sikhs help make our country better — well rebuild Britain together“
