As a proud descendant of a family of Sikh soldiers who served in the British Indian army during the World Wars, Jagdeesh Singh expresses his joy at the unveiling of the statue at Smethwick, but at the same time urges the debate to go beyond memorials and look into the involvement of Sikhs, Panjaabis, Gorkhas and others for a full and inclusive discussion, debate and dialogue beyond British imperial politics. 

T he 10 feet-high monument of a smiling Sikh soldier with his rifle stands tall paying tributes to the thousands of Indian troops who died fighting for Britain from 1914 to 1918. The inauguration of the ‘Lions of the Great War’ monument in Birmingham, UK is both commendable and a notably long overdue tribute to the mammoth sacrifice of Sikh soldiers in Britain’s World War I.

The young president of the Gurdwara Sahib Jatinder Singh and Edgbaston MP Preet Kaur Gill were visibly happy at this extremely honourable moment for the local community as well as for the whole community in the UK.

Coming from a family of three consecutive generations who served in the British Indian army (Subedar Bassan Singh in the 1st Sikh Infantry from 1850 through to Maghar Singh in the Central India Horse up to 1944), I have a personal and collective affinity and connection to these serious and emotive matters of recognition and inclusion.

The monument, funded by the Smethwick Sikh Gurdwara, is a gigantic, visible 10 feet tall Sikh soldier statue of World War I; immaculately crafted by world renowned sculptor Luke Perry occupies prime place created by the Sandwell Council. It has been launched in the last several days, with due acclaim and ceremony with the backing of the local public authority for that specific area of Birmingham city, in the foreground of the prominent Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, UK.

A small number of similar monuments already exist in various locations across the UK, as set up by local Sikh communities – in Gravesend, Coventry, etc. These monuments convey to the British population and media about the acutely unrecognised role of Sikhs, Panjaabis, Pathans, Gurkhas and more from the Indian continent, whose role and contribution in British military history deserves mainstream awareness and qualitative appreciation.

These monuments are a long-overdue public step, which the Sikh heroes of World War I and II, would, unfortunately never have been able to see. It has been a painfully long time of 100 years, to finally begin to see such monuments emerging in the UK. There are now a scattering of small to medium Sikh soldier monuments installed in various places across the UK. Hopefully, this will grow and accelerate, combined with a public awareness raising of the unqiue role of people like the Sikhs and fellow peoples from South Asia in the defence and military history of Britain, through the rigors and sacrifices of battle.

It must be stated that, the coming of such monuments is due to the sustained voices within the British Sikh community, which have variously and collectively been pushing over many decades for recognition of the pivotal role of Sikhs, Panjaabis and wider South Asian contributions in Britain’s wars. Tragically, this role and sacrifice has been all too much excluded from public media information and UK government public announcements and declarations.

“Coming from a family of three consecutive generations who served in the British Indian army (Subedar Bassan Singh in the 1st Sikh Infantry from 1850 through to Maghar Singh in the Central India Horse up to 1944), I have a personal and collective affinity and connection to these serious and emotive matters of recognition and inclusion. ”

Slough Member of Parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has rightly remarked, “It’s wonderful to see a statue of a turbaned Sikh soldier being unveiled in Smethwick and I congratulate everyone who was involved in making it a reality.  Sikhs are very proud of their distinct identity and their rich military tradition dating back centuries. Memorials such as this, along with the one we installed in Gravesend (Kent) in 2014, and the National Sikh War Memorial being worked upon for central London, are a fitting tribute to the hundreds of thousands of turbaned Sikh soldiers who fought and made (or were willing to make) the ultimate sacrifice for our collective future. We are extremely indebted to them. Such statues also help in our country’s integration and community cohesion, while countering the far-right politics of hate and division, since it makes everyone aware that people from different faiths/backgrounds all made an immense contribution to the country.”

It is good to finally see the emergence of such public monuments, although 100 years very late and much overdue. Much agony has been caused by the British establishments’ and British mainstream media’s gross and crass exclusion of the monumental role of Sikhs, Panjaabis and wider South Asian soldiers in British global wars. This has been a major, enduring omission for 100 years, leading to not just a cruel non-recognition, but to racial hostility and tension towards us migrant ‘foreigners’ in the UK.

We are not ‘foreigners’. Our forefathers created a solid place in British history through their unfortunately concealed and un-highlighted sacrifices. It is very much long overdue for these indelible sacrifices – which made the pivotal difference between defeat and victory for the British – to be mainstreamed into British schools, British media and British celebrations and public declarations about these wars and sacrifices. We are not there yet, but hopefully his monument will add to that momentum.

Ace traveller Harjinder Singh Kukreja from Ludhiana who paid tributes to Sikh soldiers at Gallipoli in Turkey last month says, “As a keen traveller to Sikh historical sites for World War I and II Sikh veterans, I would say that this is a proud moment that this beautiful statue has been established by the British Sikhs. Now they should focus on building such memorials in distant lands of Europe, about which local population don’t know much.”

Furthermore, it is important to stress that, the subject of Sikh soldiers being recognised, is not just about statues and ceremonial events and speeches. It equally involves the need for a full and inclusive discussion, debate and dialogue about the use of Sikh, Panjaabi, Gurkha, Pathan and wider soldiers from the Indian continent (South Asia) by the British Empire for its global wars; and whether this was fair, exploitative and/or dignified. For example, why did Sikh soldiers mutiny in the 1915 Singapore Mutiny and Bombay 1944 Mutiny?  

“It’s wonderful to see a statue of a turbaned Sikh soldier being unveiled in Smethwick. Sikhs are very proud of their distinct identity and their rich military tradition dating back centuries.  ”

Slough MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Hopefully, as part of public debate in the UK, we can progress towards that exploration and scrutiny, against the overwhelmingly official paraphernalia which induces us to uncritically applaud, celebrate and participate in the enduring one-sided praising and posturing on such matters. The untold story of the Sikh soldier when unravelled, involves war, sacrifice, battlefield courage, British imperial politics, exploitation, dis-recognition and abandonment to this very day.

“This is a proud moment that this beautiful statue has been established…it is now time to shift focus to building memorials in distant lands where Sikh soldiers died unsung.  ”

Harjinder Singh Kukreja, ace traveller and social activist

The uniquely expressive words of Colonel Landen Sarasfield, from his magnum opus ‘Betrayal of the Sikhs’, (Lahore 1946), “Wherever in the East, and very often in the West, a British soldier has been in action, there also were to be found his Sikh comrades, ever loyal, ever courageous and ever ready to give their life’s blood in the Common Cause. From those days in 1857 when nearly all India rose against us and massacred as many Europeans as were defenceless, the Sikhs have always been on our side. Whether at Dheli or on the plains of Flanders, in Salonika or in the Islands of the Pacific, they have covered themselves with immortality in our service” pay impassioned tribute to the indelible role of the Sikh soldiers and the Sikhs shall remain grateful to him for his early, honest and sincere recognition.

“..with their backs to the wall, the Khalsa fought and died as men. ”

Colonel Landen Sarasfield, Betrayal of the Sikhs

This author hopes that the immortal words of Colonel Sarasfield filter through into the mainstream British media, establishment and beyond to generate qualitative considerations of these unrecognised heroes and their current communities in the UK and Panjaab.

The monument at Smethwick reads that the Sikhs and other South Asian soldiers fought for a country which was not theirs, but as the Sikhs and the local population view the statue in awe, respect and adoration, they will do well to reflect on the golden words of Colonel Landen Sarasfield, who says, “..with their backs to the wall, the Khalsa fought and died as men.”