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Sikh man first non-white member
of far right party
WSN
Network
LONDON: Rajinder Singh, a Sikh of Indian descent, who has supported
some of the controversial ideologies of a far right British
political party, may become the first non-white member of the group.
Most Sikhs in
Britain and elsewhere are however not supportive of the move and
maintain that Rajinder Singh does not represent the community’s view
point on key issue that the political party is famous for, including
migration.
The British
National Party has accepted only white members since its foundation
in 1982, leading to widespread accusations that it is a racist
organisation. Its leader, Nick Griffin, has a conviction for
inciting racial hatred.
78-year-old
Singh, who provided a character reference for
Griffin at his
trial, said that he was a long-term supporter and was prepared to
overlook the issue of racism.
“A retired
schoolteacher, Singh will be put forward by the far right party
executive as its first non-white member after it makes changes to
its constitution,” media reports here said.
The BNP was
forced to agree to the changes in September after the Equality and
Human Rights Commission took legal action against the party claiming
that its rules, which restricted membership to “indigenous
Caucasians”, were a breach of the Race Relations Act. Singh, who
emigrated from Punjab in 1967, said he would be honoured to join
the BNP because it was the “only party which has the guts to say the
word ‘Muslim’. The BNP is openly anti-Muslim.
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He does
not represent us all, for God’s sake
Jumping the
gun and drawing quick conclusions faster than the BNP can spread
hatred among races and communities, The Observer’s Paul Harris
was in 2001 quick to deduce that “Racists from the British
National Party have joined forces with extremists from the Sikh
and Hindu communities in an anti-Islamic campaign that has been
blamed for stirring up racial violence.
”The fact,
however, remains that a majority of the British Sikhs as well as
Diaspora members in other countries do not subscribe to the BNP
agenda. If Rajinder Singh, who was named by Harris in his
article, has indeed joined the BNP, that disproves little. The
Guardian gave much publicity to Harris’ comments that said “the
campaign involves the distribution of thousands of CDs, tapes
and leaflets claiming that Islam poses a threat to
Britain.
Sikh activists in Southall, west London, have passed hundreds of
addresses of Sikh and Hindu community leaders to BNP activists
who want their support.” The CD included an informal discussion
between BNP leader Nick Griffin and Rajinder Singh wherein
Griffin
read and analysed the Koran, followed by a discussion with
Midlands-based Rajinder Singh. “The language is inflammatory and
anti-Islamic,” Harris wrote. What he and others need to
understand is that the Sikhs at large do not support it. |
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25
November 2009
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