Campaigner tells of daily attacks on Sikhs in wake of Henry Nowak murder case

Attacks on Sikhs have allegedly taken place “all over the country” since Vickrum Digwa was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Henry Nowak.

Dabinderjit Singh, a senior executive at the Sikh Foundation, which supports Sikh issues, made the comments at a march to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, which killed hundreds of people.

The incident drew thousands of Sikhs to the capital after violent protests began in response to the murder of Mr Nowak, who was stabbed by Digwa in Southampton with a ceremonial knife that prosecutors said he carried as part of his Sikh religion.

Mr Singh added that there had been daily attacks on Sikhs since Digwa was jailed for the crime on Monday, “bringing home” the violence Sikhs faced in the 1984 Golden Temple massacre.

He said: “What has happened since last Monday is reminiscent of what happened 42 years ago – when that body camera footage emerged there was real anger.

“We understand that – we were equally angry at the police officers and of course at Digwa because he is a murderer (and) the lies he told, but unfortunately Sikhs in the country have been attacked every day since Monday.

“Children, men, women, retirees, doctors, people going shopping, people walking in the park.

“One person went to the gym and was told, ‘We will hang you by your turban.’

“What if someone gets killed?”

He added: “We were the first to condemn this and yet our society went through the same thing we went through 42 years ago. If you are a Sikh, then you are a potential victim.”

Mr Singh said comments made by politicians such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and US vice-president JD Vance had sparked a “worldwide frenzy”.

While Mr Farage’s calls for the public to respond with “pure, cold anger” to Mr Nowak’s murder sparked criticism from across the political spectrum, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy revealed on Sunday that he had told Mr Vance that he was “wrong” to link the murder to a “mass invasion” of people into Europe.

Mr Singh said: “If politicians can use a sad event like Henry’s death to incite hatred, they need to look at themselves in the mirror. But that’s why we say to them all: ‘Look at the facts.’

“Once we uncover the facts, let’s work together to avoid another incident like we saw last year, where Henry was murdered through no fault of his own.”

Among those taking part in the march was retired doctor Davinder Singh from Kent.

He accused politicians of turning Mr. Nowak’s murder into a racial and religious issue in order to “promote themselves.”

Mr Singh said: “People with their own interests, especially politicians, want to use this incident to spread their own popularity.

“They don’t understand, this is not a Sikh issue or any other belief issue. This is someone committing murder, committing a crime, so instead of making it a race issue or a religion issue, it should be treated that way.

“Those who raise this kind of issue have other interests… they are trying to promote themselves.”

His wife, retired researcher Pritpal Kaur, described Digwa’s crime as “appalling” and said he did not represent Sikhism.

Ms Kaur said: “It is important to understand that the person who committed the atrocity was completely against the tenets of Sikhism.

“He is alleged to be carrying the kirpan… it is for self-defense purposes only, it can be used as a last resort, when all methods of communication (and) dialogue have ceased, but only for self-defense.”

He added: “The crime that was committed was completely wrong. It was wrong. It was terrible.”