Turbans must be shown as religious symbols: UK racism victim

A prominent Sikh environmentalist from India, Ravneet Singh, who was allegedly attacked in the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday, called for the Indian government and the Gurudwara committees to indulge in "dialogue with other countries," saying that they should be known as 'Sikhs.'

"The Indian government and the Gurdwara committees should be in dialogue with other countries. We should be known as 'Sikhs'. Turbans should be represented as a symbol of a religion," Singh said.

Ravneet Singh, a resident of Punjab, was visiting Tanmanjeet S Dhesi, the Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom (UK), to discuss his global work in environmental protection.

Singh was standing in a queue outside Portcullis House when the alleged attacker reportedly said "Muslim go home" and tried to remove his turban.

"It happened inside the Parliament premises. I was not able to believe that it was a racist attack. Later he shook my turban, we realised that it had to be a racist attack," Singh added.

On Thursday, the UK MP condemned the incident, saying, "Disgusted that someone filled with hatred tried to pull off turban of one of my guests standing in a queue outside British Parliament on Wednesday night."

"I felt embarrassed that he would be left with a personal scar from his visit," he added.

The Slough MP said he experienced a similar attack at school and called upon the government to properly monitor and record hate crime against Sikhs.

"It has been pointed out previously on several occasions to the Government that their hate crime action plan totally ignores Sikhs. Given such incidents, the Government needs to address this genuine community demand to properly monitor and record hate crime against Sikhs," he added.

He further said that such incidents harm the victim's self-respect and also show the country in a bad light.

-ANI