Valerie attends Vaisakhi celebrations at parliament

I attended the Vaisakhi event and launch of National Sikh Awareness Month at parliament on Tuesday 2 April 2019. In 2019, Vaisakhi will take place on 14 April.

At the event, which was organised by the British Sikh Consultative Forum in association with Pat McFadden MP and supported by many others including Preet Gill MP, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP and John McDonnell MP, we heard from speakers from across the parties as well as from the Sikh community.

Vaisakhi has been celebrated in parliament for many years, and this year the event was combined with the launch of Sikh Awareness and History Month, which began after the idea was suggested by Seema Malhotra MP.

In his speech at the event Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia OBE KSG remarked that:

“Vaisakhi is a time for joyous celebrations, reflections and resolutions, a time for expressing gratitude, a time to make commitments for sacrifice and benevolence as well as a time for exercising an abundance of compassion, forgiveness and love for all.”

Events for National Sikh Awareness and History Month at parliament also include the launch of British Sikh Support, Turban Awareness Day, a lecture on Guru Nanak and feminism and a planned debate in parliament on Sikh history and Sikhs in the UK.