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Sikhs fight for space on British census
London, Feb. 28: British Sikhs are considering taking legal action against the UK statistics authority over the 2011 census form. The Sikh organisations in the UK are lobbying to get the Sikhs recognised in the census as an ethnic category.
The
Sikh Federation, which is taking lead in the campaign, wants a box for
Sikhs to be included in the ethnicity section apart from the section on
religion.
“Sikhs have been legally recognised as an ethnic group
in this country, so it is baffling that they have not been included in
the ethnicity section,” the Sikh Federation co-chair, Mr Jagtar Singh,
told this newspaper. Legal action against the ONS will be our last
resort, the Sikh Federation leader said, adding that any legal action
would halt the 2011 census and affect the census process.
The
Sikh groups have also started public consultations using the Sikh
television channel and will get feedback by middle of next week.
“Our legal action against ONS will be two pronged — we will claim racial discrimination and we will highlight the fact that the census Act 1920 uses the word race and not the word ethnic, which is being used in the 2011 census,” Mr Singh said, adding that the group is consulting four sets of lawyers on the issue.
The
money to fight the case will not be an issue, Mr Singh said. The Sikh
community is affluent and we will ask the Sikh TV channel to take lead
in fundraising from the community, Mr Singh added.
The UK Parliament will soon approve the census regulations and these will include the census questionnaires and the data collection methodology.
Source URL:
http://www.deccanchr...tish-census-170 |
