Sikhs wary of UK backlash as they condemn ‘moment of madness’

Amandeep Singh, an educator with the charity Basics of Sikhi, is proud of his community’s deeply rooted place in British society. “We’re a community that has probably been celebrated as one that is very successfully integrated into the British value system,” he said. “We’ve worn kirpans for hundreds of years and since we’ve been invited to settle in this country,” he said. But in the last few days, Singh continued, something had shifted for Sikhs across the UK in response to the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa, 23. “At least 15 people have been accosted on the streets by collectives of white individuals surrounding Sikhs and asking, ‘Have you got a kirpan?’, trying to stir up racial tensions.” After recent incidents in which older Sikhs have had their turbans knocked off in racist assaults, many were fearful that the same might happen again, he said. Like Singh, other Sikh and anti-racist leaders have condemned the murder unequivocally, but also warned that inflammatory political rhetoric after the conviction was fuelling a backlash against the wider community. Digwa was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. When police arrived at the scene, he falsely claimed that Nowak had racially abused him and knocked off his turban, leading officers initially to arrest and handcuff the seriously injured teenager before they realised the extent of his injuries. …