MP Blackman Abuses UK Parliamentary Privilege To Baselessly Brand Sikh Protestors As "Terrorists""[Blackman] is also well known for supporting India's far-right and Hindutva BJP government."
Mankamal Singh On January 23, 2025, British Conservative MP Bob Blackman abused his parliamentary privilege by branding lawful Sikh demonstrators who had gathered to protest the release of the Indian film Emergency as “terrorists.” The protesters Blackman attempted to malign were part of a broader movement against the film that had taken place across British cities and towns, resulting in cancellations of screenings across the country. Some cinema chains did decide to cancel movie screenings very early on, many in advance of any protests being organised, due to its problematic content. The film is produced and directed by Kangana Ranaut, who also stars in the leading role of India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Ranaut has often resorted to bigoted rhetoric targeting Sikhs over the years, including calls for another genocide, which heightened during and after the Indian Farmers’ Protest in 2020. The film has been dubbed Anti-Sikh propaganda by major Sikh bodies and authorities, such as the SGPC, who were successful in having screenings cancelled in Punjab, partly due to the false portrayal of historical events and individuals. Closer to home, the Sikh Council UK sent an open letter to three of the largest cinema chains in the UK requesting cinemas to stop further screenings due to the film distorting “facts about the 1984 Sikh Genocide, causing great disharmony in the Sikh community.” Bob Blackman is the Conservative MP for Harrow, a borough in London with one of the largest populations of Hindus of Indian origin in the UK, officially making up just over 25% of the population. He is also well known for supporting India's far-right and Hindutva BJP government. “Bob Blackman has worked hard to target Hindus with appeals to nationalist causes on the subcontinent,” CNN once reported about the MP. The parliamentary record lists him receiving donations from various Hindu Nationalist and Indian-connected sources. In 2019, Blackman attended an election rally in support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2020, he was rewarded for his pro-India work with the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours. In 2023, he labelled the BBC documentary on Modi as “propaganda.” When Blackman took his oath of office in July 2024, he swore allegiance to King Charles on both the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. He has, over several years, taken many opportunities to misrepresent issues about the British Sikh community. It is challenging to separate his consistently Anti-Sikh positions from his relationship with what is widely recognised as an autocratic ethno-supremacist political party which currently holds power in India. The fact that Blackman baselessly referred to Sikhs as “terrorists” during a statement in Parliament as a sitting MP should be of far greater concern than a lawful, non-violent protest against a movie by concerned citizens. These protests have passed without incident, arrest, charge or any recorded allegation of lawbreaking. Blackman's description of the protesters as “masked” was also intended to inject a false sense of menace, but is it any wonder some would elect to wear a mask given that the law enforcement agencies of two of Britain's closest allies, the US and Canada, are currently prosecuting an Indian state-linked assassination and transnational repression program that targeted their respective Sikh citizens for exercising freedom of speech and democratic norms? As British citizens, we expect politicians to refrain from divisive rhetoric. We are the most visible minority in this country. Our presence, as with many minorities here, is the legacy of British colonialism. While we do not ask for special treatment, we demand equal treatment. However, it is often felt that the fundamental rights of British Sikhs are traded to please the Indian Government. Many UK-based Sikhs have written to their constituency MPs requesting them to challenge Blackman, to demand that he either apologise and retract his dangerous and libellous labelling of peaceful protesters as terrorists or formally put his name to his spurious accusations by engaging the Metropolitan Police. “MPs should face disciplinary action for incorrectly describing peaceful protesters as terrorists in Parliament. This gross misrepresentation cannot be in the public interest and it damages the reputation of the House of Commons,” Dabinderjit Singh OBE, the Sikh Federation’s Lead Executive for political engagement said, going on to add that “We will therefore be making a formal complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards regarding Bob Blackman’s unacceptable conduct.” On January 26, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards responded to the Sikh Federation, stating that Procedural Protocol prevents an investigation into Blackman’s conduct in the Chamber, but the Commissioner will reflect carefully when he reports on the MP’s choice of language in the Chamber. Mankamal Singh is a London based Sikh who is an advisor to The Sikh Network and is one of the hosts of ‘The Sikh Network Podcast.’ He has served on the Sikh Council UK, local Gurdwara committees and several public committees. You can follow Mankamal Singh on Twitter at @MankamalSingh. 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