Sikhism in the United Kingdom

Sikhism was recorded as the religion of 420,196 people resident in England at the 2011 Census, along with 2,962 people in Wales, 9,055 in Scotland and 216 in Northern Ireland, making for a total Sikh population of 432,429.

Sikhs have established themselves in all sectors of industry and Business in the UK. Many educated Sikhs are in professional roles in sectors ranging from Medicine, Engineering to IT. Sikhs have developed into the leading ethnic minority in the UK for Business and have the highest private home ownership rate over other religious groups.

Note that the first Sikh settler in Britain was Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838-1893), the last Sikh Emperor of the Imperial Sukerchakia Dynasty, from 1844-1849. He arrived in England in the year 1854, having been exiled from his Kingdom by the British. His mother, Empress Jind Kaur (1817-1863), arrived in 1860 at Kensington in Victorian London and settled permanently, after fighting the British for a long time until the fall of the Sikh Dynasty in 1849. She was given permission by the British Parliament to settle on English soil. A jewel on the UK queen's crown belonged to, and was stolen from Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

The First Sikh Settlers started migrating from the Punjab in 1911, when the first Sikh Gurdwara was opened in London. During the start of the First and Second World Wars respectively, there was already an established Sikh presence in many parts of England. In London itself the community was small but this grew very rapidly during the 1950s and 60s and faced much racism and discrimination, mainly owed to the appearance and skin colour.

Sikhs still suffer from this racism. In June 2013 the British Sikh Report was first published documenting the Sikh communities needs for the first time in a concise report. The report also details the history of the Sikh community in Britain since the start of the 19th Century to the present date. The report indicated that around 74.5% of Sikhs experienced racism in the United Kingdom, with around 53% experiencing racism in the past 18 months alone. The BBC also reported that around 71% of British Sikh women "have experienced gender discrimination" and "have done so within their extended family". Other findings include that 30% of British Sikhs identified with caste, but only 3% thought it was important. In addition to this around 95% said they were proud of being born and living in the UK. Overall 650 Sikhs filled out an online questionnaire from which the data was extrapolated.

Sikhs are exempt from a couple of British laws; for example they are permitted to ride motorcycles without a helmet (so long as they are wearing a turban) and are permitted to carry around their Kirpan in situations where it would otherwise be seen as an offensive weapon. In February 2010 Sir Mota Singh, Britain's first Asian judge, criticised the banning of the Kirpan in public places such as schools.

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