The British Sikh Men Trying To Stop Women Marrying Outside Their Religion

THE INDEPENDENT: Britain’s Sikhs, long seen as a minority success story, are plagued by a faction of young men ‘defending’ their vision of the culture – and seeking to impose their views by attacking the nuptials of women who marry ‘out’

It was meant to be the happiest day of their lives – a celebration of modern multicultural Britain at the biggest Sikh gurdwara (temple) in the Western world. On 7 August 2015, in west London, a British Sikh bride and her Polish Christian groom sat together and absorbed the religious blessings at their wedding ceremony. She wore a cream and red dress, while he wore a red turban, in keeping with Sikh traditions.

But that morning, 20 uninvited men were determined to put a stop to the wedding. They stormed upstairs to the main hall and demanded that the priests end the ceremony, hurling insults at people who objected. One of them told a priest that, if their demands weren’t met, he would get 1,000 of his friends to come to the temple within the hour. The police were called and eventually the couple were forced to proceed into a hurried ceremony, while the protesters watched and took pictures of them to publish online. » | Sunny Hundal | Sunday, October 4, 2015

David and Samantha Cameron Visit Sikh Temple

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Prime Minister and his wife join celebrations for spring festival of Vaisakhi

David Cameron has donned an orange "patka" headscarf as he visited a Sikh gurdwara - or temple - while campaigning in Kent.

The Prime Minister took along his wife, Samantha, who was celebrating her 44th birthday, for the visit to the temple in Gravesend, where they joined around 3,000 worship[p]ers on a parade to celebrate Vaisakhi, a spring festival.

The start of the Camerons' visit was delayed slightly after a scuffle appeared to break out among worship[p]ers when a priest objected to speeches being made while prayers were taking place.

Mr and Mrs Cameron were taken to a side room in the temple until the dispute was resolved.

During the visit to the temple, the couple wore brightly[-]coloured clothes, in line with tradition on Vaisakhi.

They removed their shoes to walk into the temple, where they queued up to kneel before an alter, and say prayers as they made an offering of coins.

Mr and Mrs Cameron were separated, with the Prime Minister joining men on the right of the temple and his wife going to the women's side on the left. » | Rosa Prince, Online Political Editor | Saturday, April 18, 2015