London Letters: Church cancels conversion event after Sikhs complain

The speakers listed for the occasion were Dr Ram Gidoomal CBE, Chairman, South Asian Concern, Sutton; Pastor Kuldip Rajo of Lighthouse International Church, Southampton and Rev. Dr. T.V. Thomas, Chairman, Lausanne Global Diaspora Network, Canada. Notably, the church comes under the authority of London Borough of Redbridge, where Sikhs have a visible presence.

Leader of the Redbridge Council Councillor Jas Athwal, in his public statement said, “I am pleased to hear that following our discussions with Ilford High Road Baptist Church, the National Sikh Consultation event due to take place in Ilford on Thursday 15th June has now been cancelled. Our community prides itself on embracing and celebrating diversity. We firmly believe that all individuals, regardless of their faith, should have freedom to practice their faith without fear of coercion or undue influence from external sources.

“Events that target specific religious communities with the intention of converting them to another faith not only disregard this fundamental principle but also undermine the spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation that has been carefully nurtured in Redbridge.” He said he had requested the organisers to reflect and reconsider going ahead and that the host venue, should instead engage in activities that foster harmony, respect and dialogue between different faith communities.

The Ilford High Road Baptist Church had scheduled the consultation event “calling Sikhs to Christ” for June 15 from 9.30am to 4.30pm where plenary presentations and discussions were going to held on topics: New Beginnings, New Challenges, New Horizons.

Jasveer Singh of Sikh Press Association said, “Whilst every faith group will consider their own faith superior, to present this belief so confrontationally in face of one specific group was always going to cause rifts, and those behind the event would be aware of this, making it a direct attempt to provoke the Sikh community. There is also a long history of Christian missionaries acting in a predatory fashion, targeting those perceived as vulnerable, promising them miracles and sometimes even money.

In the UK, such Christian conversion events prey on insecurities minority communities like Sikhs can have, which can stem from being the ‘other’ whilst living in a Christian country. Cancelling the event was the right thing to do. However, there remains an ongoing issue of this agenda to target Sikhs, for whatever reasons, and this will be explored and resisted by the panthic community.”

Renowned Sikh faith group Basics of Sikhi, in response to the event, have made a video on the issue of Sikh conversion and it has gone viral. “Calling all Christians to Sikhi, that sounds quite rude right? But this is something we would never do as Sikhs. But recently, a post has been circulating, calling all Sikhs to Christ, intended to convert and target Sikh population in the UK. We find it very dis- respectful to scheme and target a community with an agenda to convert them,” says a presenter, in a three-and-a half minute-long-video that is being widely shared on various social media networks.

“I mean why the specific targeting of Sikh in particular? By all means attract people to your faith but by specifically targeting to convert from one faith to another will antagonise and create rifts,” tweeted, UK Immigration lawyer and TV presenter Harjaap Bhangal.

Meanwhile, the Sikh Federation UK has asked people to come forward and notify if they come across similar events happening in the future. They have lauded the local community leaders, including the leader of the Redbridge Council, for “supporting the Sikh communities concerns and working with all parties to ensure that this controversial event targeting Sikhs was cancelled.”

The organisers of the event have been contacted but no response was received till the filing of this report.

(The writer is a freelance journalist based in London, and contributes content to digital, print, radio
and TV platforms)