London Letters: Scottish football club signs turbaned teen, Punjabi man gets life term for killing wife in Yorkshire, and more

The Chahal family journey, on the other hand, spreads across three continents. “My grandparents came to live in the UKfrom Punjab, and when my father was around 14, the family and the extended family decided to move to Canada. My mother comes from Punjab. I was born in Canada and hold dual citizenship for the UK and Canada.”

When asked if he has faced any challenges as a Sikh boy playing football, Chahal says, “When I was younger, I was afraid to do a header with my joora as I used to tie a patka. There were many Sikh boys to play with when I was young, but as we grew older, it was uncommon for Punjabis to keep long hair. There was no sardar role model for me to follow or resonate with, nor someone who wore a turban like me, and that was hard. But my dad has always said, ‘Sikhi, and the fact that you tie a dastar, shouldn’t be seen as an obstacle, and racism you face shouldn’t be an excuse. You have to be so good that no matter what colour you are, what religion you practice, they have to pick you and that is what I have always tried to live by’.”

Has he had to go an extra mile to prove his worth due to his appearance? The answer is an affirmative, and “every single time” is the expression, Chahal uses to describe his experience. But this has not left him scarred, shattered or frustrated in any way. “I still have to work harder than the average person every single day. But I am someone who loves training, working hard, even if it means training more than others. It doesn’t bother me because at the end of the day if I have to work harder to get something that I want, it will make me a better player,” says the teen, sounding totally calm and unfazed, “because all the rejections I faced as a growing teen have only built my character up.”

Talking about his offer by Kilmarnock FC, a Scottish professional team which is commonly known as Killie and based in East Ayrshire, Chahal tells The Indian Express, “I came on trial in September 2022 for about two weeks. I guess I did something right, played well and I guess the coaches liked me.”

Chahal, who has always played centre midfield and is inspired by legendary centre midfielder, former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, says the initial reaction to his selection to Kilmarnock was that of a relief. “For me, this is something I have worked so hard for, and for so long, I was excited but it more a sigh of relief.”

Does he feel burdened by the responsibility of now being a role model for othet children from the community aspiring to enter professional sports? “I wouldn’t say burdened. I am very excited and would be very proud even if I can become a role model for even one person. My father Parminder Singh Chahal and grandfather Swaran Singh Chahal have been my role-models.

“To others like me who worry about making into professional sports with their appearance, I would say, keep working hard as you never know when the right opportunity might come. Take a day at a time if it gets overwhelming. Also, to staying connected with their spiritual side might help, as it has helped me a lot.”

Talking about opportunities that are now arising in professional sports for all people, former international cricketer Monty Panesar told The Indian Express that every time a turbaned person entered a professional sport, it encouraged others from the community to take up sport. “There are more opportunities for people, girls or boys, to play across all levels. There are great initiatives like the Sikh Games to help more children to come through the ranks. It helps overcome taboo that sport is for people who are not educated, who couldn’t become a lawyer, doctor or an accountant. So, it is really good.”

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Punjabi man gets life term for killing wife, charity calls for end to domestic violence

Harleen and Satpreet Gandhi (Image source: West Yorkshire Police)

After a Punjabi man in Yorkshire was sentenced to life for murdering his estranged wife, Sikh Women’s Aid (SWA) — a charity providing help and advice to the victims of domestic violence and abuse — has once again called for the need to root out toxic cultural practices within the community.

Leeds Crown Court, on January 10, sent 37-year-old Satpreet Singh Gandhi to jail for a minimum of 23 years and four months. He had pleaded guilty to murdering his wife Harleen Kaur on September 5, 2022. The couple, Indian nationals, had come to the UK in March 2021, as students. According to the senior investigating officer Amanda Wimbles, “Harleen had come to the UK to study…She was living separately from him following an apparent background of domestic abuse and was attempting to move on with her life.” Senior Crown Prosecutor said Gandhi had deprived two young children of their parents in a most traumatic way.

Gandhi had accused his wife of cheating on him and had said, “This is my revenge for the humiliation and disrespect.” In a “premeditated” attack, he had bought a knife, waited for her near the house, before going in an stabbing her. Harleen was found unconscious inside the property with significant blood loss and was taken to hospital for emergency treatment but pronounced dead a short while later.

SWA’s CEO Sahdaish Pall told The Indian Express, “Watching the footage of Satpreet planning and executing his wife Harleen’s murder was a sobering moment. It is the professional opinion of Sikh Women’s Aid that the community has been in a crisis of domestic and child sexual abuse for decades. It should not take us decades to root out toxic cultural practices that allow abuse to go unchecked and run rampant in large swathes of the community.

“I am sitting on two Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR’s) of Panjabi women murdered by their husbands currently and I have advised on a third DHR so we are under no illusions as to just how much risk there is to the lives of Panjabi women and girls in abusive relationships. Harleen had left her husband and was looking to make a fresh start free from violence and control. Now she is dead because this decision was not acceptable to her ex-husband. We also need answers to understand if anything more could have been done by statutory services and agencies to safeguard Harleen post-separation,” she added.

Chair of Trustees of the SWA, Sukhvinder Kaur said, “Sikh Women’s Aid was set up after witnessing a crisis of abuse during the Covid-19 lockdowns. However, domestic abuse and more importantly the cultural and intersecting barriers faced by women of South Asian descent need to be better understood by agencies. The depth and breadth of current and historical abuse Panjabi women and girls are experiencing is alarming and is evident through our casework and our research data”.

According to the SWA domestic violence survey carried out with women and girls from the community living in the UK in2022, 62% of respondents said they had experienced domestic abuse; 69% of the community women and girls that their abuser was a partner/spouse; 46% of respondents who experienced domestic abuse had more than one perpetrator.

When asked about the type of abuse respondents had suffered, controlling behaviour was experienced by 62% of respondents, physical abuse was experienced by 56% of respondents, and coercive control was experienced by 52% of respondents. The duration of the abuse varied too. About 43% reported that the abuse they experienced lasted between 6 and 20 years, 18% reported that the abuse went on for more than 21 years, 51% of victims reported they experienced abuse every day to multiple times a week.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in London contributing content to digital, print, radio and TV platforms.