LONDON – A campaign group has said that the Sikh community in the UnitedKingdom is on the verge of having a separate ethnic identification in thecountry’s 2021 census after thousands rejected ‘Indian’ and chose ‘other’as an identifier in UK’s last population count in 2011.
A series of representations and initiatives have been made by local Sikhgroups in recent years to have a separate ‘Sikh’ identity box in the censusforms. But the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is responsiblefor the census, told Hindustan Times on Monday that no decision has beentaken yet.
Population counts by ethnicity are crucial for various political, social,cultural and economic purposes, including distribution of government funds.Over 80,000 British Sikhs reportedly used ‘other’ in the 2011 census toidentify their ethnicity, and mentioned ‘Sikh’ on the forms, instead ofticking the box that said ‘Indian’.
Campaign group Sikh Federation (UK) said 112 gurdwaras, with a membershipof over 1 lakh people from across the UK, have told the ONS that they arein favour of the separate Sikh box which, it claimed, means “the ONS willcertainly recommend to the cabinet office that a Sikh ethnic tick box mustbe included in the Census White Paper-2018”.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the ONS said: “No decision has been madeon the content of the 2021 census. Our recommendations for the 2021 censuswill be included in a government White Paper later this year”.
After receiving requests for 55 new ethnic identifiers for the 2021 census,ONS reduced the number being considered to four: Jewish, Roman, Sikh andSomali. A final decision, to be made later this year, has the potential ofadding to the fractious relations between some sections of overseas Sikhsand India.
In September 2017, over 100 MPs, including Preet Kaur Gill (Labour), chairof the all-party parliamentary party for British Sikhs, supported thedemand for a separate identifier for Sikhs in the 2021 census.