## **NETWORK OF SIKH ORGANISATIONS ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021** ## **NSO Education Report 2020-2021** Due to Coronavirus, no schools were inspected under s48. A s48 inspection is normally conducted every five years as a statutory requirement. The Department for Education (DfE) has advised that the s48 inspections should now resume as soon as possible, coronavirus permitting. Termly meetings with DfE and Ofsted regarding Sikh schools were conducted via zoom. NSO provides support to schools when and where the need arises. A group of five specialists – three heads of schools and two inspectors has been formed to support schools. Ofsted found safeguarding ineffective in Atam Academy. With a change of management and support from the DfE and NSO, the Academy managed to put appropriate procedures in place and safeguarding was judged effective. Meetings are continued to be held with Khalsa Secondary Academy leadership team to monitor and assess improvements. S Rajinder Singh Sandhu the Executive Principal of Guru Nanak Academy and Nanaksar Primary School retired after providing 28 years of sterling service. The NSO wishes him a happy retirement. S Rajinder Singh generously thanked Lord and Lady Singh and others in the NSO for the support given to him over many years. He also offered to assist the NSO in further school improvements. The NSO also supported the work of Lambeth SACRE through attendance at Zoom meetings **Lady Kanwaljit Kaur OBE** ## **Work with the Religious Education Council REC}** The role of the NSO is to ensure that Sikh theology and a Sikh view of the role of religion in education is taken into account in REC deliberations In May 2018 I was elected to the board of directors for a term of one year. I attended all the board meetings and general meetings in London. I have also served on the Governance Committee of REC since then. The Commission on Religious Education was established by the REC to review the legal, education and policy frameworks for Religious Education, by a wide-ranging, inclusive and evidence-based process designed to inform policy makers about these areas. The Commission released its final report, _**Religion and Worldviews:** the way forward. ._ It sets out a National Plan for RE comprising of **11 recommendations** and calls on the Government to consider and adopt it. 1 The commission proposed that the subject of Religious Education should be called Religion and Worldviews. The subject should explore the important role that religious and non-religious worldviews play in all human life. More information about the recommendations can be found on REC’s website). This year’s AGM was held online in May. Elections to the board were held. Chair and the Vice-Chair both decided not to stand for re-election. Previous Chair Mr Trevor Cooling was succeeded by Sarah Lane Cawte. She is the Education Officer for the Free Churches Group. She is also chairs the Governance Committee. So far I have attended all the general meetings and the Governance Committee meetings. Currently REC Strategic Review is taking place in order to influence high quality of education in Religion and Worldviews. The next general meeting (SRGM) is scheduled for 10[th] November 2021. I have also been attending Ofsted’s Schools with Religious Character meetings. Next meeting is scheduled to be held in October 2021. **Satnam Singh Poonian** ## **The Sikh Prison Chaplaincy Service** The NSO Sikh Prison Chaplaincy Service (SCS) works with the Ministry of Justice to provide pastoral and rehabilitation support for all Sikh Prisoners in England and Wales. The team is headed by Hon. Director Lord Indarjit Singh and Deputy Directors Gagandeep Singh and Ajmer Singh. The Pandemic led to the suspension of regular weekly faith services and faith and rehabilitation classes. Sikh Chaplains normally attend more than one prison as part of their employment. However, covering more than one prison a day was stopped to reduce the spread of Covid19. As an interim measure, in-cell phones were provided to assist in pastoral support to the prisoners. Sikh chaplains, at some risk to themselves also periodically visited Sikh prisoners on the wings to provide them one to one pastoral care, prayer and history books and, where required, turbans or patkas. Written Weekly Sikh sermons were provided to every Sikh prisoner across the prison estates. As a Deputy Director, I have also been broadcasting Weekly Sikh Reflections on National Prison Radio. Gurpurbs celebrations were not the same as in previous years. We are however hoping for a fuller celebration of Bandi Chor Diwas and Guru Nanak Prakash Utsav, in November 2021. The Sikh Prison Chaplaincy Service UK would like to thank all the gurdwaras and other Sikhs who supported us and hope that you will 2 continue to do so in future. The full involvement of the Sikh community is important in resettlement of Sikh prisoners and reducing re-offending. It is important that the Sikh community rises to this challenge and helps overcome the taboo and stigma attached to prisons and Sikhs coming out of the prisons. If you know any Sikh in prison in need of additional support, please do write to the NSO who will be happy to help. **Gagandeep Singh Deputy Director Sikh Chaplaincy Service UK.** ## **Armed Services Chaplaincy Report 20-21** The NSO is the MoD recognised Endorsing Authority for the Sikh Chaplaincy with Director Lord Singh of Wimbledon as Endorsing Officer. Madeep Kaur is Chaplain for all three Services. Weekly Zoom sessions are provided for all Services. Since First Lockdown in March 2020, it was recognized that serving personnel would need more moral and spiritual support due to uncertainty around working patterns and massive pressure on Armed Forces to be deployed to support the countrywide crisis. It was challenging for them and their families. In order to give them consistent support with pro-active thinking, a regular weekly zoom call was set up where all were invited to connect with Sikh values and work on their spiritual resilience. During these calls and offline, consistent discussion of Gurmat ( Sikh teachings ) ongoing pastoral support has been offered. Even during the government call to stay home – chaplains had to travel to provide support in some emergency events and that was also the case with Sikh Chaplaincy where some face-to-face visits were necessary to provide necessary support. All protocols were fully respected, but there was some attendant risk. Services were provided during National Remembrance events but participation was considerably reduced in during the National Remembrance Week in November. The Sikh Chaplain organised and led zoom meetings to commemorate and celebrate major Sikh festivals and gurpurbs. Bandi Chodd Diwas was celebrated with invitations extended to guests to learn about Sikh history and teachings. Advised on Dress Guide for uniformed personnel: The Defence Sikh Network has been working on the Dress Guide for Sikhs. The idea was to create booklets with pictures of Service personnel in different uniforms in order to advise new and serving personnel. 3 Ministry of Defence Gutka Project in process: There is a project where we are trying to create a Gutka ( prayer book) for all Sikhs in a special field format. This is an ongoing project Education to new Entry Chaplains about World Faiths: Sikh Chaplain delivered talks and workshops to the Christian Chaplains who join the services. This took place twice last year. Provided teaching and training support at various Stations: Delivered workshops and talks at Army units and RAF stations throughout the year. In the role of commissioned RAF Chaplain – have provided support at various stations such as RAF Honington, RAF Cranwell, and RAF Cosford. Teaching was conducted on a Beliefs and Values programme, leadership skills and listening skills. ## **Mandeep Kaur MBE Sikh Chaplain Armed Sevices** ## **Inter Faith Involvement** - 1) As the national faith community representative member body of the Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN), NSO has continued to represent the Sikh community both on its Board of Trustees and the Faith Community Forum. The former largely deals with matters of governance, formulating policy and management of the work it carries out with the aim of building good relations between different faiths; whilst the latter provides an opportunity for the national faith communities representative bodies to discuss issues of common concern. ## Some Salient Points - IFN’s activities continued to be held on-line due to the Covid-19 pandemic - with regular updates on the situation by drawing attention to the faith related Government guidelines and its impact on the activities of the faith communities. - During one of the FCF meetings, NSO highlighted and brought to the attention of other faith communities, the tremendous contributions made by the Sikh community not only in the UK but also in various other parts of the world, whose volunteers were in the forefront, in providing langar, medical supplies, oxygen generators, etc to non-Sikhs wherever required. - IFN ran a Facebook series highlighting the inter faith activities of the national faith community bodies in which NSO was featured. - Faith leader messages on social media: During Inter Faith Week in November 2020 Lord Singh was invited to tweet a message in reflection of the occasion. - On the FCF one of the topics discussed was the faith communities’ perspective on climate change and the environment. 4 - As NSO trustee I serve on various IFN subcommittees among them the nomination panel for the interim IFN Co-Chair, membership sub-committee and Finance and General Purposes Sub-committee. - One of the Co-Chairs Bishop Jonathan will be stepping down at the end of 2021 since he is retiring as Bishop of Croydon and moving to Orkney. - 2) Speaking on Sikh Religion and Culture: Again due to Covid-19 restrictions some of the associations postponed their meetings. However now two bookings have been scheduled to take place later this year – Women’s Institute and a Probus Club. - 3) As NSO representative on North Yorkshire SACRE:, I attended regular scheduled meetings online offering inputs as and when required. ## **Mohinder Singh Chana** ## **NSO Media Report 2020-2021** ## **A tribute to Manjit Singh Riyat – April 21[st] , 2020** The NSO is saddened by hearing about the death of Mr Manjeet Singh Riyat (52), Emergency Medicine Consultant at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, who passed away yesterday (Monday 20 April) after contracting COVID-19.l. ## **NSO guidance on funeral arrangements during the pandemic – May 3[rd] , 2020** There is general guidance for Sikhs at a time of bereavement detailed in the Sikh Code of Practice (Sikh Reyat Maryada). This will need to be amended/adapted in view of the necessity of limited contact to ensure safety in the current pandemic. General Sikh practice is described first, followed by specific suggestions to meet the current emergency. ## **A welcome end to ‘flawed’ Sikh ethnic tick box campaign – May 14[th] 2020** Peers debated the contents of draft Census (England and Wales) Order 2020 in the Lords earlier this week. The flawed Sikh ‘ethnic’ tick box argument was raised following a debate in the Commons last week in which Labour party politicians briefed by the Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) cited questionable statistics. ## **Covid-19: Advice for reopening gurdwaras – June 4[th] 2020** Around 17th March 2020 many places of worship including churches, mosques and synagogues made the difficult decision to restrict or hold back services due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This followed direction from the Church of England (CoE), the Muslim Council of Britain, and the Office of the Chief Rabbi. The CoE recommended live stream sermons as an 5 alternative to worship in church. At the same time, the Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) gave advice along similar lines to gurdwaras. ## **Sikh victims of hate crime offered new support – June 5[th] 2020** ## **Why the flouting of the Rehat Maryada at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara should concern all Sikhs – 12[th] September 2020** There is one thing that unites all Sikhs around the world irrespective of the status of their personal spiritual journey or background – that is the primacy of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) – the eternal Guru of the Sikhs and Guru Gobind Singh’s clear edict ‘Guru Manyeo Granth’, which recognises the Guru Granth Sahib as the only eternal Guru. But there are insidious forces at play – some with allegiance to Hindutva, who are looking to tarnish, distort and pervert the foundations of our great world religion. **The Sikh Messenger podcast series – 12[th] September 2020** We are delighted to have launched the Sikh Messenger podcast series last month. In the first of the series, we interviewed Harbakhsh Grewal about his roles at the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) and publisher Kashi House. We ask him about the seminal volume Warrior Saints, by historians Parmjit Singh and Amandeep Singh Madra, and the popular exhibitions hosted by UKPHA at the SOAS Brunei gallery – including The Sikhs and World War 1 in 2014. ## **Tackling Hate Crime** The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) has produced a hate crime guide to help signpost members of the Sikh community to organisations who can support them, as well as encouraging victims to report incidents to the police. The NSO has additionally produced a second guide designed to support organisations supporting Sikh victims. ## **Network of Sikh Organisations briefing on the Hate Crime & Public Order (Scotland) Bill – 17[th] September 2020** What is good about the proposed legislation? To start on a positive note – the blasphemy law will be repealed. This is something that has not been used in Scotland for over 175 years. The second thing which is noteworthy is age will become a protected characteristic under these proposals – this in our view is indeed a positive step. The Bill will thus extend protective characteristics to the following: Age, Disability, Race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins, Religion, Sexual orientation, Transgender identity, Variations in sex characteristics. ## **Sikh hate crime guides published in Punjabi – 25[th] September 2020** Last month we reported that we had produced hate crime guide to help signpost members of the Sikh community to organisations who can support them, as well as encouraging victims to report incidents to the police. We additionally produced a second guide designed to support organisations supporting Sikh victims. 6 ## **The APPG for British Sikhs and hate crime: 7[th] November 2020** At the AGM of the APPG for British Sikhs earlier this year, Chair Preet Gill MP, announced that the group would be looking to address the issue of hate crime against Sikhs. It was agreed that APPG would work with the NSO, given we had already done much work in this field. ## **Marking the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur – November 24[th] 2020** Today we are commemorating the martyrdom of the 9th Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur who on this day in 1675, courageously gave his life defending the right of freedom of belief of those of a different faith to his own ## **A Gurpurab message – 29[th] November 2020** Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh Gurpurb vadhiya on this anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism. At the time of Guru Nanak’s birth, religions both in the West and East were engulfed in bitter rivalry with each claiming a monopoly of truth and a special relationship with God. In his very first sermon Guru Nanak taught: Na koi Hindu, na koi Mussalman ## **Success in campaign against media’s use of the word ‘Asians’ to describe grooming gangs – 11[th] December 2020** Over the last few years, we’ve been lobbying for change in the Editors’ Code of Practice which sets out the rules that newspapers and magazines regulated by The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Our issue has been in relation to the print media’s regular and misleading use of the vague word ‘Asian’ to describe those convicted in grooming gang cases in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford, and Oxford. The perpetrators in such cases have been almost always men of Pakistani Muslim heritage. The use of the word Asian simply diffused responsibility and has now been amended to reflect NSO concerns . ## **Home Office report into ‘grooming gangs’ – 18[th] December 2020** The Home Office’s research paper into ‘Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation Characteristics of Offending’ was published earlier this week, but it fails to acknowledge one of the well evidenced motivations behind grooming gangs like those in Rochdale and Rotherham – the religion and culture of the perpetrators. ## **The Birth Anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji – the 10[th] Guru of the Sikhs – 4[th] January 2021** We at the Network of Sikh Organisations UK offer the Sikh community warmest greetings on the auspicious occasion of the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs. ## **Joint faith group response: culturally motivated sexual grooming – 15[th] January 2021** 7 As UK faith representatives, we support the persistent efforts of Home Secretary Priti Patel who has in the face of some considerable opposition decided to release the government report on, ‘Group based child sexual exploitation characteristics of offending.’ The Home Office report talks of ‘othering’ of victims by perpetrators, but remarkably failed to address one of the more obvious motivations behind street based sexual grooming gangs in the UK – that is culture linked to religion. ## **Indian farmers defenders of democracy – 3[rd] February 2021 Joint Press Release: Global Sikh Council & Network Of Sikh Organisations UK** We are writing to express our admiration and full support for hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers and their supporters from all walks of life. Despite the winter cold, and police oppression, they have been demonstrating for the months against unjust laws that threaten their livelihoods. Their courageous stand against injustice gives hope for an end to the systematic erosion of democracy in India. ## **NSO submission for the APPG for the Pakistani Minorities inquiry – 12[th] February 2021** Over the last few years, the NSO has followed cases of forced conversion and written about the forced marriage and abuse of religious minority girls and women in Pakistan. This is an issue that has an impact on all nonMuslim minority girls in Pakistan – predominantly Hindu and Christian girls, but it has also impacted the minority Sikh community too. One of the most high-profile cases in recent years has been the case of Jagjit Kaur. She was alleged to be kidnapped at gunpoint from her home in Nankana Sahib (Lahore), converted (given the Muslim name Ayesha) and married to a Muslim boy ## **Supplementary NSO submission: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill – 21[st] February 2021** This submission is supplementary to our original REF: J/S5/20/HC/1756 dated 17th September 2020 and our 2nd submission dated 16th November 2020 REF: J/S5/20/HC/1771, which followed the oral hearing on 10th November 2020 in which our Deputy-Director Hardeep Singh gave evidence to the Justice Committee alongside several other organisations. This 3rd submission is in response to consideration of options tabled for a new overarching free speech clause, which has been proposed by the Secretary for Justice. ## **The Press Freedom and Safety of Protestors: India Debate – 9[th] March 2021** Over the last few weeks, the NSO has worked tirelessly with Cllr. Gurch Singh who set up a UK government and Parliament petition (e-petition 563473) on the farmers’ protest in India, which received over 115,000 signatories. The petition was debated in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday and we are pleased to see our efforts come to fruition. Of the 19 speakers, 17 spoke in favour of the farmers’ and many of them had 8 been briefed by our Director, Lord Singh of Wimbledon, and other members of the NSO. ## **The Scottish Hate Crime Bill: Our Stand for Free Speech with Free to Disagree – 12[th] March 2021** The Scottish Parliament voted in favour of the controversial Hate Crime Bill yesterday despite a groundswell of opposition from civil society groups including the Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO). The NSO joined the efforts of the campaign group Free to Disagree last year, because we realised proposals in the Bill would have a significant impact on civil liberties and a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech. We worked with our allies in playing a major part in pushing back against controversial elements of the Bill, with some success, and gave both oral and written evidence to the Scottish Justice Committee. ## **Director’s Vaisakhi message – 14[th] April 2021** Once again Sikhs throughout the world are celebrating the festival of Vaisakhi, one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar. Vaisakhi is a tale of brave martyrdom followed by the challenge of new beginnings. ## **NSO Schools Improvement Services – 23[rd] April 2021** The Sikh community with the support of the DfE have made tremendous efforts to establish their local faith schools over the last three decades. Most of the schools are thriving and outcomes are high however when a school seriously underperforms and is threatened for academisation or rebrokerage, the issues can rapidly become highly sensitive for the local community. ## **Human Rights** ## **Question from Lord Singh (Director NSO) to Foreign and Commonwealth Office Asked 13 November 2017** Question: ‘To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of India concerning the arrest of UK citizen Jagtar Singh Johal; and what response, if any, they have received.’ Answer: ‘The British High Commission has raised this case with the Indian authorities. Following high level lobbying, consular staff visited Mr Johal on 16th November. The Rt Hon Field, the Minister for Asia and the Pacific met with Mr Johal’s MP and brother on 27 November. We will continue to raise this case with the authorities to ensure we have regular and full consular access.’ ## **Press coverage and highlights - 2020-2021** - Success in pushing back the Sikh Federation’s flawed Sikh ‘ethnic’ tick box campaign for 2021 Census. The debate on the flawed idea of a Sikh ‘ethnic’ tick box raged on during the 2020-21 period. We succeeded in our campaign opposing the idea. - Coverage on the issue in some of the following publications: The - _Times of India_ , _The Hindu_ , The _i-news_ online and _Asian Voice_ . - Opposition to the Scottish Hate Crime Bill 9 There was significant press coverage of our involvement in the Free to Disagree campaign where we worked with a coalition of groups including the National Secular Society, The Adam Smith Institute, The Manifesto Club and Index on Censorship amongst others. The following publications quoted our Deputy-Director, Hardeep Singh – _The Times_ , _The National_ , _The Scotsman_ and _The Express_ . He wrote Opinion editorials about the Bill for the _Press and Journal_ and the _Spectator_ , The NSO’s opposition to the Bill was mentioned on the flagship BBC politics programme - Politics Live, and Liam Kerr MSP, quoted Hardeep in the Scottish parliament. ## **Letters/quotes in the** _**Times**_ On 2[nd] of April 2021 our director, wrote a letter to the _Times_ in response to the Sewell report. On 22[nd] February 2021, our director wrote a letter to the _Times_ on the Indian farmers’ protest. On 26[th] December 2020, our director was quoted in the _Times_ following the Queen’s speech. **Hardeep Singh Deputy Director (Media) NSO** 10 NETWORK OF SIKH ORGLIIS.4TIONS 43 DORSET ROAD MERTON PARK LONDON SM'19 3EZ INCONIE AND EXPENDrruRE ACCOUhT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 2021 Bank inttrest receivable DoTrations and affiliation fees Prison SeTric¢s NHS Crtnt 190 2,51M 23,000 20,000 45,690 Administration expenses: Secretarial serrices Prison Chaplaincy NSO ¢ducation senrices-Kauwaijit kaur Computer costs Brochure and Sikh M￿senger Interfaith Network Depreciation 7,721 23,974 33,658 899 289 37S 33 66,949 Total espenses 66.949 et Ios5 for the year {21259) TTWORK OF STKH ORGANJSATIONS 43 DORSET ROAD. MERTOI% PARK LONDON SITr19 3EZ BALANCE SHEET AT 31 M.4RCH 2021 2021 'ote Fixed assets: Tangible assets 186 Current as$ets: Trade debtors Cash at bajjk 43,000 125J44 Current iixbilities: Other crcditors 523 $23 Net current assets 167,821 168,1107 Capital: At l Aprtli 2020 N¢t loss 189206 21259 21,259 168,007 page 3 LONDOY. SM'19 3EZ NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS.4T 31 MARCH 2021 TANGIBLE FIXKD ASSETS Equipment Tolal Cost At l April 2020 2,076 2.076 At 31 March 2021 2.076 2,076 Depreciation At l April 2020 For the year 1,857 33 1.857 33 At 31 March 2021 1,890 1,890 Net BookAmounts At 31 March 2021 186 186 At 31 March 2020 219 219 page 4 NETWORK OF SIKH oRG￿NIsAT[o￿s 43 DOILSET ROAD MERTO) PARK LO)TON SW19 3EZ ACCOU￿[￿NTs. REPORT You have approved the accounts for tbe year ended 31 Marcb 2021 set out on pages 2 tr> 4. ID aceordance with your instructions: we have prepared these unauth.ted accounts from the a¢¢ouniing retor(Ls and iThfornHtion and explanations supplied to us. 26 October 2020 Haartwells Chartered CertifiedA¢coulltaDts 25 Park Street West Luton Beds LUI 3BE EXECUTIN'E COMMIThEE'S CERTIFICATE W¢ ¢ertify that the books. vouchers and ]Df0m￿tion produced to out accountants. from which the attAched accounts haNe bcen prepare4 colltain a fvll and correct ￿e0rd of out business Iransa¢lions to the begt of our knowledge. Ind#￿'it Singh page I