What, if anything at all was the selection success criterion based upon?
Were all those interviewed asked the same questions (a fair practise in most employment selection procedures)?
Were the questions weighted allowing candidates to be selected on the merit of their performance and quality of their answers?
Was past activity, accomplishments and experience a factor in the choice?
What training (if any) did the panel have in fair selection procedures (as per the Labour Party Rulebook and Labour Party Legal Handbook 2007 – to be posted shortly)?
The people of Ealing Southall are still waiting…

It does not appear that the selection was correct hence the backlash that has errupted. I feel that Gurcharan Singh and the other now 5 Cllrs’ as yesterday a prominent Muslim Cllr resigned are right in their actions.

I’m not into party politics, but I am a Labour Party member as well as someone who works for the good of the British Sikh community. I find the contents of the article you have written is everything that puts ordinary people off party politics. I am a Labour Party member, but also a person who passionately believes in campaigning for Sikh rights.

Upset you may be with the Labour Party defections, but if you and others thought so little of prominent local Labour Party members in Southall you should have done something about it when they were in the Party. Also I find some of your comments offensive.

Why should Sikhs children not be able to practice their faith in French schools? Why should Sikh teachers, lecturers, police officers in London not be able to freely travel and work in France without having to compromise their faith? What is wrong with Gurcharan Singh showing his support for religious freedoms in France for Sikhs that live there and others that may choose to go and work there from the UK (even Ealing Southall). You are in serious danger of resorting to racist behaviour as you are upset. You should be upset with the likes of Keith Vaz who has put Labour in this position.

You also link Gurcharan Singh with the pro-Khalistan movement and make allegations about him rejoicing after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Anyone in the Sikh community in Southall or elsewhere in the UK will tell you that Gurcharan Singh’s role in promoting the Khalistan movement in the last 23 years is minimal to say the least?

You however make no mention of the official Labour Party candidate having strong family ties and being the agent and member of a foreign political party – the Indian Congress. How can the Labour Party allow someone to stand as a Member of the UK Parliament who has open allegiances to Congress and will always be at the beck and call of the Indian High Commission in London rather than the constituents of Ealing Southall? This also explains the pivotal role of Keith Vaz, an Indian Government stooge, in ensuring a one horse race in the Labour Party short list.

Given Labour friends of Virendra Sharma have bought up the Khalistan issue and the events of 1984 I thought it only right to share the following information more widely so the opposition parties can challenge the ‘invisible and silent’ Labour candidate that owes his allegiances to the Indian Government and the Congress. Although recent revelations have also shown that as a prominent Hindu he also has close ties with right wing Hindu groups, such as the VHP and RSS.

Congress was not only responsible for the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs at the Golden Temple Complex that ultimately led to two of her Sikh bodyguards taking revenge for the desecration, but also for the anti-Sikh pogroms that took place in over 130 different cities in India that took the lives of over 20,000 innocent Sikhs following a four day orgy of violence.

India’s whole scale military crackdown in Panjab in June 1984, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Sikh civilians during the Indian Army attack on the Golden Temple complex and the subsequent draconian sweep through Panjab.
Preceding the attack on the Golden Temple there was a non violent agitation for political, religious and economic rights for Sikhs and all Punjabis. This was due to the non fulfilment of promises made to the Sikhs by Nehru and Gandhi on independence from Britain in 1947.

This was the biggest non violent agitation for rights since Indian Independence movement and thousands of Sikhs were thrown in jails for simply protesting for their rights. Many Sikhs were also killed in extra judicial murders carried out by the police.

Under this persecution Sikhs used their historic centre for political and religious rights the Golden Temple and Akal Takht to pursue their agitation. This was nothing new as the Sikh Guru’s had done this in the past when standing up against oppressors, and told Sikhs to do the same if they faced persecution in the future.

Then from June 1984 India launched a brutal attack on 125 Sikh Gurdwaras including the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. Thousands of innocent civilians died during the initial attack with thousands of others being simply disappeared in an army operation across the entire of Punjab. The worst aspect of the massacre was the killing of women and children by the army.

http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/bluestar/ (weblink giving full background to the attack)

Media Quotes on 1984

On 4 June, a day of pilgrimage for Sikhs when thousands had gathered at the Golden Temple, army tanks moved into the Temple Complex, smashing into the sanctum and shooting everyone in sight…. Those left alive were then prevented from leaving the building, many wounded were left to bleed to death and when they begged for water, Army Jawans told them to drink the mixture of blood and urine on the floor. Some 3000 dead, including many who were only unconscious, were piled high in trucks and removed. Four months later no list of casualties or missing persons had yet been issued. Then can the army occupation of Panjab with frequent humiliations, arrests and killings of Sikhs by soldiers. It caused a feeling voiced by many ordinary people who had never before been separatists that …Sikhs could not be safe there.”

Amrit Wilson: New Statesman – 16 November 1984

PUNJAB UNDER SIEGE

‘For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. There is a 24-hour curlew. All telephone and telex lines are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses -not even a bullock cart can move.

Christian Science Monitor – 8 June 1984

‘HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL’

“As long as the army keeps news reporters and other outsiders from traveling in Punjab except on tightly controlled military tours, there is no way of knowing what excesses might be committed”

New York Times – 8 June 1984

COLD BLOODED MURDERS

“The Amritsar deputy police superintendent who helped remove bodies from the temple grounds said at least 13 of the victims were shot with their hands bound. It was a virtual massacre,” said the Jullundar doctor. “A large number of women, children and pilgrims were gunned down.”

Associated Press – 14 June 1984

INHUMANITY

“…medical workers in Amritsar said soldiers had threatened to shoot them if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in the hospital.”

Christian Science Monitor – 18 June 1984

SILENCING THE PEOPLE

“Mopping up after the death of Jarnail Singh Bhindanwale…the government has now arrested more than 3000 of his….followers. The government has also turned up its propaganda machine

Newsweek – 25 June 1984

DISINFORMATION

“As for anti-Sikh feeling, the word ‘Sikh’ and ‘terrorist’ became almost synonymous in the government controlled media and in the speeches of politicians. The storming of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was reported by most national papers and radio and television in a shamelessly biased fashion.”

Amrit Wilson: New Statesman – 16 November 1984

During the Golden Temple attack, young boys ages 8 to 13 were taken outside and asked if they supported Khalistan, the independent Sikh country. When they answered with the Sikh religious incantation “Bole So Nihal,” they were shot to death. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scriptures, written in the time of the Sikh Gurus, were shot full of bullet holes and burned by the Indian forces.

Other useful points that could be put to the Labour Party candidate, Virendra Sharma, include:

India has not allowed Amnesty International or UN Rapporteur for Torture to be allowed to visit and investigate in Panjab for almost 30 years. What is India hiding?

Three Early Day Motions that were tabled on the 20th anniversary of 1984 are reproduced below and attracted cross-party support from over 150 UK MPs. Would Virendra Sharma sign such EDMs?

EDM 664 – 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STORMING OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE COMPLEX
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the June 1984 assault by the Indian army on the Golden Temple complex, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, where sacred buildings and historic artefacts were destroyed or damaged beyond repair; further notes that the unprecedented action using artillery and tanks took place on one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar, when there were huge numbers of pilgrims in attendance, which resulted in thousands of innocent Sikhs being killed in cold blood, many with their hands and feet bound, including women and children; is appalled that scores of other Sikh Gurdwaras were stormed by the Indian army throughout Panjab and that thousands of Sikhs were arrested, tortured, and killed, including children; recognises that these actions by the Indian authorities continue to have an immeasurable impact on Sikhs throughout the world; and extends its sympathy and support to the law-abiding, hard working, and well respected international Sikh community.

EDM 663 – VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF SIKHS IN INDIA
That this House notes and applauds the efforts of human rights activists in India to highlight atrocities, including false imprisonment, torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and disappearances, perpetrated against Sikhs in the last 20 years; further notes that it is estimated that over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered and/or disappeared since June 1984; is deeply concerned that 20 years later the Indian Government continues to deny full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and to the UN Rapporteur on Torture; regrets that thousands of families are still waiting to know the fate of relatives who have disappeared; and calls on the Prime Minister, on behalf of the estimated 700,000 Sikhs in the United Kingdom, to lead the international community in demanding full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and the UN.

EDM 662 – 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF NOVEMBER 1984 ATTACKS ON SIKHS
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the November 1984 pogrom against thousands of innocent Sikhs in a matter of days in cities across India; further notes that Sikhs became the target of organised violence with murderous gangs swarming into Sikh houses, hacking the occupants to pieces, chopping off the heads of children, raping women, tying Sikh men to tyres set aflame with kerosene and pulling Sikh passengers from public transport to be lynched or burned alive; recognises that Amnesty International in a memorandum to the Government of India, complained that far from being spontaneous expressions of popular grief and anger as made out by the authorities, the killings were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commission and omission by important politicians of the Congress and by authorities in the administration; believes that investigation and criminal proceedings are long overdue; and calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to take the lead in the international community to establish an independent UN inquiry into the failure of successive governments in India to take sufficient actions against those responsible for the events of November 1984.

1984 to the Present

In November 1984, thousands of Sikh civilians in New Delhi and other major cities, were systematically hunted down and murdered in their homes and on the streets; with the open complicity of the Indian police.

• Over the last 25 years, India has imposed a regime of gruesome repression and murder on the Sikh population in Panjab. Tens of thousands of Sikh civilians have been killed in a combination of staged ‘armed encounters’ and ‘disappearances’.

• Amnesty International(2) and Human Rights Watch (3) have together produced over twenty separate reports, documenting widespread human rights atrocities in Panjab by India’s police and army. Torture, arbitrary incarceration, and custodial deaths, are reported as routine and widespread. India has refused to open up to an international scrutiny of these incidents. It has barred Amnesty International, since 1978; and has refused to permit access to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture and Disappearances.

• Many human rights activists, such as Jaswant Singh Khalra (4), have been killed in police custody or ‘disappeared’ in sinister circumstances.

Human rights should be enjoyed by all people at all times. We believe that awareness of these issues will help the struggle to end grave abuses of the fundamental human rights in Panjab and elsewhere in India. We come from all walks of life, with widely different political and religious views, united by our determination to ensure everyone enjoys basic human rights. We want to give hope to the people of Panjab that justice will be done. At the same time, we strongly and unequivocally condemn the killings of other innocents, including Hindus, that took place during the same period. Acts like these were used to further communalise the situation and impose further draconian measures.

Will Virendra Sharma call upon the British Government and European Union to bear pressure on the Government of India to prosecute those who have committed these crimes against humanity. Will he also call upon the United Nations to establish and supervise in the Panjab a full and independent Commission for Truth & Justice in order to document the atrocities that have been committed over the past 20 years.

Notes

(1) Politics of Genocide (1995) by Inderjit Singh Jaijee of the Movement against State Repression, p 41 quoting three human rights groups and three Advocates Generals who researched the killings for the period 1984-1994.

(2) Break the Cycle of Impunity and Torture in Punjab (2003), Amnesty International.

(3)Dead Silence: The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab (1994), Physicians for Human Rights.

(4) A Mockery of Justice – The case concerning the ‘disappearance’ of human rightrs defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined, Amnesty International (1998

Continuing Violations
The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1948, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government’s murders of Sikhs “worse than a genocide.”
The police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to trial for the Jathedar Kaunke murder. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra.

Human Rights Reports on Sikhs and Punjab

Amnesty International

India: Punjab – Twenty years on impunity continues – Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200992004

India: A vital opportunity to end impunity in Punjab – Amnesty International
In 1996 in response to two petitions filed in the Supreme Court containing allegations of human rights violations in Punjab, the Court ordered th National Human Rights Commission to examine the al…
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200241999

India: Will past human rights violations in Punjab remain forgotten? – Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200291999

India: Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab – Amnesty International
Torture and custodial violence continue to be regularly reported in Punjab, despite the end of the militancy period in the state in the mid-1990s. In this report Amnesty International makes the …

India: AI membership expresses solidarity to the families of the disappeared in Punjab – Amnesty International
There is no abstract for this document
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200052003

India: Fear of torture/Fear for safety – Amnesty International
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of at least 100 individuals including social activists, human rights defenders and lawyers in Punjab. Some are being illegally detained in connect…
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200022004

India : Fear of torture/fear for safety of Rajiv Singh – Amnesty International
Rajiv Singh, a key witness in the trial of police officers accused of abducting a human rights activist has been arrested by Punjab police. Amnesty International fears this is an attempt to prevent …
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200482000

India: A Mockery of Justice: The case concerning the “disappearance” of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined – Amnesty International
This brief report documents the means used by accused police officers, including delay of proceedings and intimidation of witnesses, in their search of impunity for the ‘disappearance’ of Jaswant …
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200071998

Human Rights Watch

Letter from Human Rights Watch to the National Human Rights Commission of India

On the upcoming decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case
As the National Human Rights Commission prepares to issue a decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case, we urge the Commission to order a full accounting of the systematic abuses that occurred in Punjab, determine liability after detailed investigations into the violations, and provide for compensation for surviving family members based on a detailed understanding of the scope of violations suffered by each individual.

Other Screams of Terror
By Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch researcher
Published in The Asian Age
People who lived through 1984 in Delhi are unlikely to forget the horrors. After years of inquiries, commissions, accusations and denials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, last month, expressed regret for the horrifying anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi, saying that, “I have no hesitation in apologising not only to the Sikh community but the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood and what is enshrined in our Constitution.”

India: Justice Eludes Families of the “Disappeared” in Punjab …
“Ending state impunity for abuses in Punjab must become a priority. … We hope it will do the same in Punjab.” Smita Narula, senior researcher for South …
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/06/india061003.htm

This is one of the most stupidt things Ive ever read- why do you need to have a “turban wearing Sikh?”- do Muslims need to have a bearded MP or Jews an MP with a hat? I thought MPs are there to represnt theri constituents concerns’ -not because of how they look

This is at the crux of the matter. At the heart of it all, communalist organisations and activists like the Sikh Federation are asking that the religious observance and orthodoxy of a candidate is held as a decisive factor in the selection.

An equivalent thing would be a Jewish candidate in Golders Green being questioned on their observance and keeping of kosher, and Hassidic Jews being viewed as the only ones able to legitimately represent Golders Green.

There are already many capable Sikh MPs, politicians and candidates. But we have the principle being forwarded now, under the rubric of BME representation principles, that Sikh candidates should be differentiated on the basis of their religious observance and orthodoxy. It’s bizarre and incredible when looked at in the cold light of the day like this, that communalist organisations are ‘demanding’ this. Despite the fact that there are many Sikh candidates and politicians who do not make an issue of their background and carry out their duties in a spirit of secular principles.

We can only view this in one way; an attempt by the Sikh Federation and others to leverage themselves against other non orthodox or secular Sikhs using the rhetoric of minority rights to de-legitimise the ‘authenticity’ of liberal and secular Sikhs and practising Sikhs who put general secular principles above sectarian concerns.

That the Sikh Federation and their kind are religious nationalists concerned with narrow sectarian causes, fomenters of communalism and bigotry, we should always be alert to their agendas and not allow multicultural harmony be compromised at any level in this way. Especially when it is contested that in a constituency as varied in religion and ethnicity as Southall, in which in the overall constituency Sikhs only comprise 23%, that they should have a divine right for the candidate to be only from that background. Had anyone asserted that only white candidates can represent constituencies in which most of the voters are white, we would call that for what it is.

We should leave communalism to the BNP and the NF and soundly renounce them for it. In my opinion.

Chris Paul, you say this to Gurjeet Singh, who has The Sikh Federation as his website. They are a hardcore communalist organisation, religious nationalists and sectarians to the core.

+++++

2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 89275
Male: 49.7%
Female: 50.3%
Under 18: 24.8%
Over 60: 14%
Born outside UK: 43.4%
White: 37.6%
Black: 8.9%
Asian: 47.8%
Mixed: 2.8%
Other: 2.9%
Christian: 35%
Hindu: 12.4%
Muslim: 13.3%
Sikh: 23.2%

+++++

In other words, almost 80% of the constituency is actually non Sikh, and by a small majority, non Asian.

This throws interesting light on those who say that the MP for this constituency can only come from one community.

You obviously have not read all I said, which also included – a “…canddate who would represent equally and fairly, and (obviously effectively) ALL the constituents.”

No body, in this instance not even Dr Js Rai could have been a greatr stooge than what Piara Khabra has been.I dont live in Southall, but even I noted the pathethic perfomance of Piara Khabra in Parliament, who was always notonly a bore but an out right stooge,with poor command of the langauge.This guy would be a far imnprovement, that I can assure, considering the fact, I am NO fan of RAI.In fact I have had run ins with him on nets in Sikh forums.

Whether it is hilarious or otherwise,the deceived and let down Sikhs would no longer want any political party that has ignored them to win- it is called strategic voting-however, if Rai ji wins, that would be a bonus-both to him and the voters, and I would welcome that in the hope, he will change to be accountable and do the job effectively.

Daljit Ji has said the rest of what I could only echo, again.

I think you miss the point here. No one is saying that just because a candidate wears a turban it means that Sikhs should authomatically vote for him. The point is that ALL the turbanned candidates that are standing are better than Sharma. Dr Rai contrary to your assertions is a very good candidate who has a history of taking part in human rights campaigns which strike a resonnance with the electors in this constituency. Please be wary of the dirty tricks campaign afoot run by Sharma and his cronies. I suppose it was a bit too much to ask for a clean campaign from Sharma given the whole selection process was marred by underhand tactics. As for the other turbanned candidates, Dr Gulbash Singh is a GP who has served the people of southall for the last 20 years or so. He was pencilled in to be the Conservative candidiate until Cameron upset the boat by getting a relative newcomer who had not even been a party member for more than 2 weeks! To the people of Southall this reeks of political opportunism of the basest kind. Cameron hopes to capitalise on Tony Lit’s father’s good showing in 2001 elections little realising that if a week is a long time in politics then 6 years are an eternity. Much has happened since 2001 which will have an impact on the voting patterns of the Southall voter. Having met Dr Gulbash Singh, he came across as an articulate professional astute man. He has been a Conservative party member for many years, becoming a member at a time when an Asian used to be thought of as insane if they admitted voting Tory let alone being a member of the Tory party. The good showing that the Tories have had in Southall in the last few elections were down to the hard work done by people like Dr Singh. Quite rightly he feels let down for all his hard work and feels himself to have been sacrificed on the altar of Cameron’s opportunism. The same is the case with Kuldeep Singh Grewal who is a barrister, he has been a Labour party member for many years. The point is that if either Gurcharan Singh or Sonika Nirwal had been selected, Labour would have romped home. Instead as you state in your article, Labour chose an old fogey who if his tenure as a councillor is anything to go by is likely to be a disaster as a MP. The old fogies at the Labour HQ as well as the selection committee still think that they will get the votes of the Asian elders who they believe will then influence their families to vote the same as them. They have not realised that in the last decade the dynamics of the voting decision has changed within Asian households. It is the younger members who are likely to be well educated as well as professional who decide which way the family will vote. There is nothing more likely to turn off the young professional Asians off Labour than a candidate like Sharma. It used to be said that even if Labour put up a donkey as a candidate in Southall, the donkey would win. With the political shennighans of the Labour HQ and selection committee, with Sharma’s candidatcy we will now be able to test that theory!

This is a really silly point. Having a Turbaned MP in itself is no good if the person is rubbish. There’s Kulveer Ranger, who will hopefully get a seat and running not on an Asian/Sikh ticket but as a capable (Tory) candidate,.

What people in Southall need is a capable and useful MP who will champion their needs, not someone’s stooge or someone there just because he has a turban.

And the likelihood of Rai becoming an MP is hilarious. Anyone stupid enough to put him as a candidate deserve to be chucked out into the political wilderness.

Sharma’s claims for Congress are just the cosmetic layers,he and his henchies want the Southall public to see.Sharma was in fact a supporter of the RSS- a right wing Hindus facist- similar to the Nazis,and they still have their sign similar to a swastika.

Let Sharma deny that to the press, and I am sure it can be proved that he is.It is also appalling that someone like Sharam who owes his allegiance to a foreign political party is standing in british elections!! Something to ponder about,eh ?

I am not keen/follower of Dr Jasdev Singh Rai, but I would on the matter of principal, that labour has denied a proper Sikh voice in and visible representation in Parliament , and treated the Sikh feelings with such insenstivity, almost as ignorance and denial of their existence, would urge the SIKHS to vote for JS RAI, and deny labour the seat.The Punjabi press is buzzing about this this denial to a visible Sikh, like Gurcharan Singh.I just hoped he had the wisdom to stand as an independent, but as he has not, JS RAI has come along- and even if he may not win,but it will be enough to destroy the labour votes-is the only strategy left for the disillusioned Sikh voters of Southall.

Someone commented the Sikhs have no different needs than the rest; in the same light it can be said women have no different needs than the rest of the population-but why the special ASW for them?The argument is we ‘need to encourage women’.Along the same lines the Sikhs feel and are justified to ask that a VISIBLE TURBANNED Sikh-but one with skills to represent all the electorate equally and fairly- and one who will also identify and sensitive with the Sikh issues that arise associated with their turbansand their unique is a must in parliament- based on the simple rationale used to promote BME and women’s representations.It is as simple as that, if people have still not understood.

Finally, Southall is seen as the Sikh capital of United Kingdom, and if a turbanned Sikh is ignored and denied from here, where else can a turbanned be elected from elsewhere in the United Kingdom-where racism is rife very subtely- despite what the government or any one else says of implies.

This is not Asian factionalism, it is from the divide and rule legacy that the British used in the Indian sub- continent-it simply has come home to roost now.So stop getting upset about, one just needs to learn to accomdate it.

Of course the voters are concerned about the natuional issues,but Sikhs, who from a susbstantial bloc of this vote, are extra and BVERY SENSITIVELY concerned about how they have been IGNORED by all political parties – for a simple request- a turbanned Sikh.

As I have said, I am no fan of JS RAI, but yes, Sikhs should and would vote for him in large numbers as a protest.

Elsewhere someone wrote Gurcharan Singh holds around 3,000 Labour votes. A switch of 3,000 votes from Labour to Conservatives will mean a 6,000 vote difference.

Independents like Dr Rai must together be hoping to take several thousand votes. Also many Muslims will not vote Labour and this is a by election.

It is also rumoured that many loyal Labour voters may simply choose not to vote at all in protest at the selection process – the joke of a short list of two (or should I say one if you undertans the Ealing Southall situation!).

All of a sudden the 11,000 majority is not looking good and as someone said Labour has itself to blame. With hindsight perhaps an outsider, like Dr Harkirtan Singh, who is a youngish Sikh professional without any ‘Southall’ baggage / skeletons would have been a good bet after all.

All candidates, including V Sharma, should be up for scrutiny. But this includes independents like Dr Rai, especially those trying to take Labour votes.

I predict Dr Rai will either drop out or lose his deposit. When the media ask questions Dr Rai will no doubt get an opportunity to confirm or otherwise if:

i) he headed up the ISYF in the late 1980s

ii) the the original name of the human rights group he currently heads up was originally called Sikh Human Rights Group (ISYF) as it was the ISYF’s human rights wing.

iii) if any ISYF members were arrested and found guilty of breaking the law during his time in the ISYF

Are you perchance a relative of Mr Sharma? I know nepotism and cronyism are rife in Southall so it wouldn’t surprise me that your rooting for your relative. As Sunny said, Sharma is an old fogey and hoisted on Southall because the high command is unable or unwilling to clean up the party and just want the ‘asians’ to vote for him so they Gordon doesn’t get embarrassed. As it is Labour seems to be heading for a defeat and Keith Vaz and the other Labour dimwits on the selection committee will have egg on their come 19th July. Reading the Sikh forums and newsgroups Dr Rai seems to be getting the most thumbs up and he get the protest vote.

As for your allegations, as far as I know Dr Rai heads a well regarded human rights organisations, I am aware that to a supporter of Sharma the very term human rights is anathema given Sharma’s support for the congress party whose workers massacred thousands of Sikhs in 1984. If you think that Sikhs have forgotten that episode you are very mistaken. Sharma, the Labour party and the government may be in for a very nasty surprise come the results.

During his time in the ISYF people in Southall and west London will remember a few of its members were imprisoned for a very long time for ‘taking out’ political opponents. Hopefully, he will not resort to these tactics in Ealing Southall, even though it will be dirty!

If the media and my name sake look into this I can see him pulling out, which must do Labour some good.

The police local and Special Branch no doubt know him well and will keep an eye on him and his supporters!

Anil Sharma your definitely right about Dr Rai he is most certainly an opportunist, I heard that at one point he was going to stand as a Tory councillor but had previously supported Labour. When will we move away from pindhu politics?