More than 200 gurudwaras in the UK formed to provide collective voice to reset relations with the government

Toi correspondent from London: A government of Pakistan visited London for the launch of the first UK Gurudwara alliance established to improve relations between the Gurdwaras and the UK government.The coalition, the UK-Wide Gurdwara Body, which offers a collective voice for more than 200 UK gurudwaras, was launched in a program of the UK Parliament Committee this week to mark the 20th anniversary of all party parliamentary groups for British Sikhs.Ramesh Singh Arora, Pakistan Punjab Minority Affairs, a minister who visited London for the event, described the alliance as a “excellent initiative”.Arora said, “A collective voice is extremely powerful and will not only help the UK government’s engagement, but will also improve the relationship between gurdwara bodies worldwide.”The alliance will contact with institutions such as Akal Takht and SGPC in Amritsar and PSGPC in Pakistan. This will issue a statement, call on meetings and support Sikh community operations.The twenty -five leading Gurudwar in 12 regions will be responsible for consulting and coordinating all the gurdwaras in their region. They will focus on issues that affect gurdwaras and are engaged with the UK government on matters related to gurudwaras, sangat and trust related issues.After its launch, one of the first activities of the alliance was to call the Charity Commission to “understand and work differently with gurdwaras”. Gurdwaras in Britain will have to register with the Charity Commission if their income is more than £ 5,000 (Rs 5 lakh) per year.Kuldeep Singh Deol, former president of Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Smethwick, said: “The current approach of the Charity Commission for the Gurudwaras is old and is out of step with the increasing challenges facing these institutions. This continues to rely on advice from individuals who lack the necessary understanding and experience of how gurudvars work. ,He said, “The UK Gurdwara alliance has been established to address a disconnect at the national level which is present between the central government and the gurudwaras,” he said.“Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha) London President Gurpreet Singh Anand said,” The UK government should make a step change in the way the Sikh community join the Sikh community. “