Do Sikhs want to play their part in David Cameron's 'Big Society'?

How Can the Sikh Community become involved in David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’?



Britain’s coalition government and Prime Minister David Cameron in particular have been putting forward proposals for the Big Society. What does this mean for the Sikhs who form a significant minority in the country?


The fact that the vast majority of Sikhs wish to be seen to be loyal to the aspirations of government, whatever their political persuasion, is not in doubt. The Sikhs see themselves as ‘nation builders’ and those who arrived in the UK from small and highly visible minorities in East Africa also know why investment in mainstream societies is very important. Those Sikhs who have migrated from India have also, with a few exceptions, enjoyed tremendous respect from the wider community for being dedicated and hard working.


Hard work and success, however it is defined, is also a benchmark of the new economic heritage of the Sikh communities in the United Kingdom. I expect to carry out a small survey of Gurdwara leaders and hope to come back with a few answers.


It is also important to open the question to Sikh communities themselves. I am hoping to talk to potentially influential people; they are unlikely to be leaders per se, but they will be the people who I consider to have the open mind and more importantly the vision to make some suggestions. It is also worth noting that the big society has always been there in the Sikh consciousness and many Sikh institutions may have played a useful part in their local societies. The problem is that Sikhs are not very good at PR. In some cases they believe in ‘getting on’ with the task and many a local cause and project may have received Sikh funding but the actions may not have received the publicity. But that is not what Mr Cameron has in mind.


It would be good to talk to Mr Cameron as well. How do David Cameron and his colleagues in Government wish to engage minority communities such as the Sikhs in the Big Society? We have made some plans to ask these questions.