London: In the lead-up to the December 2019 UK General Election, an Indian journalist raised concerns about the display of “Khalistan” plaques at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Slough, triggering an investigation by the Charity Commission. Despite being part of the Gurdwara’s religious and theological practices for over 40 years, the Commission ordered the removal of the plaques, creating significant reaction from the Sikh community.

The Sikh Federation (UK) and other Sikh organizations have raised concerns about the political motivations behind the complaint, invoking the National Security Act 2023 and highlighting the broader issue of transnational repression by the Indian government against Sikh activists.

A delegation of Sikh MPs, including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, met with the Charity Commission to discuss the matter, emphasizing the need for the Commission to understand Sikh history and avoid foreign interference.

A statement released by Jaspal Singh, lead executive of the Sikh Federation UK reads, in verbatim, as follows:

Charity Commission accused of interfering and unfairly targeting Gurdwara in Slough after complaint by Indian journalist

London – 21 March 2025

In the run up to the December 2019 General Election a UK-based Indian journalist, Loveena Tandon who works for India Today visited Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Slough and questioned why the Gurdwara has plaques with the word “Khalistan” (the Land of the Khalsa).

The plaques have been at the Gurdwara for the last 40 years and there have never been any objections from the thousands of Sikhs and non-Sikhs that visit the Gurdwara every week.

The visit by the Indian journalist was part of the BJP Indian government’s policy in the 2019 General Election of targeting certain MPs, including the two Labour Sikh MPs at that time.  Slough’s MP was and still is Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the first turban wearing Sikh MP.

After the visit to the Gurdwara the Indian journalist made a complaint to the Charity Commission that has been allowed to run for over 5 years, but has now come to a head.

The Charity Commission refused to accept explanations from the Gurdwara trustees on the religious and theological significance of the Khalistan plaques or acknowledge a resolution passed by the membership of the Gurdwara at an AGM instructing trustees not to remove the plaques.

The Commission gave the trustees at Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Slough an ultimatum to remove the plaques by 10 March 2025.  Stating that failing to comply could be considered misconduct and/or mismanagement.

The Sikh Federation (UK) on 25 February in a letter to Labour MPs stated: “it appears the Conservatives used the Home Office team to also get the Charity Commission to inappropriately target certain Gurdwaras.  In one case that has been ongoing for 5 years the Charity Commission acted on a complaint by an Indian journalist known to be close to the Indian government to unfairly target the Gurdwara in Slough and the local Labour Sikh MP.”

“The National Security Act 2023 would now almost certainly regard the actions of the Indian journalist as “foreign interference” and probably require the journalist to be investigated with the possibility of prosecution. The Charity Commission need to urgently review such cases in light of the National Security Act 2023 as it appears to be overstepping the mark and denying freedom of expression.  Publicity around this could be highly embarrassing for the Charity Commission and the government”.

Representatives of the Sikh Federation (UK) along with other Sikh organisations attended a meeting with the trustees of Sri Guru Singh Sabha Slough on the evening of 25 February with the shared objective that the “Khalistan” plaques should not be removed.

We agreed to assist the Gurdwara to take up the matter with senior contacts at the Charity Commission and to liaise with Slough’s MP, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and other MPs as well as increase pressure on the Charity Commission through the mainstream media.

We have continued to write to senior officials at the Charity Commission to explain this has become a massive issue of national and global importance to Sikhs due to coverage by Sikh community TV channels.  It was made clear “Khalistan” is a Sikh “religious and theological” matter directly linked to the “Khalsa” established by the 10th Sikh Guru in 1699 and the phrase “Raj Karega Khalsa” that is part of daily prayers at all Gurdwaras.

Sikhs therefore rightly view this as unacceptable interference by the Charity Commission in a Sikh religious and theological matter and an important part of Sikh history where Gurdwara have a role to educate.

We provided evidence to the Charity Commission that there are a number of other Gurdwaras in Birmingham, Derby, Leicester and London that prominently display the word “Khalistan” that the Charity Commission has visited in the last 5 years but has raised no objections. This suggests the Gurdwara in Slough has been unfairly targeted by the Charity Commission.

We have made clear the reason why the Charity Commission targeted the Gurdwara in Slough is because of the complaint by a UK-based Indian journalist in the context of the December 2019 General Election.  The Charity Commission were informed the actions of the Indian journalist would today be viewed as ‘foreign interference‘ under section 13 of the National Security Act 2023.

The other matter we have raised with the Charity Commission and MPs is in the last two years transnational repression by the Indian government targeting Sikh activists campaigning for Khalistan has become a serious issue in the Diaspora.

In particular, we told Charity Commission officials of the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the President of Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey BC, Canada in June 2023 on the Gurdwara premises. The Canadian police investigation has directly implicated the most senior officials at the Indian High Commission in Canada and senior Ministers in Delhi.  The Canadian Prime Minister has in the last 6 months briefed and discussed the implications with the UK Prime Minister.

On 27 February we spoke with Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and on the same day the Charity Commission were requested to meet with Sikh MPs to discuss the matter that has much wider ramifications.  We spoke to Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi again on 7 March and he wrote to the Charity Commission that weekend to try and resolve the matter.

On Wednesday a delegation of Sikh MPs, including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi the MP for Slough met with senior officials at the Charity Commission, including Helen Earner the Director of Regulatory Services to help resolve the issue that has arisen at Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Slough.

The following statement was issued by Sikh MPs to reassure the Sikh community across the UK:

“We had a positive meeting with senior officials at the Charity Commission who now have a much better understanding of Sikh religious and theological matters and modern day Sikh history.”

“The Charity Commission also understand the wider context and recent developments with the targeting of Sikh activists and Gurdwaras.”

“We discussed the need for the Charity Commission to be mindful of foreign interference and the implications of the National Security Act 2023 when it comes to complaints and organisations that provide advice who have foreign connections.”

“The officials at the Charity Commission stated they valued the advice from MPs and Sikh community representatives, but needed more time to consider the representations.”

“They promised to get back to the Sikh MPs as they recognised this was causing significant distress to the Sangat (congregation) served by Gurdwaras.”