Chandigarh: According to the findings of the UK Sikh report 2016, majority of the Sikh population in UK prefer not to identify themselves as Asians .

Of the 1400 participants that took part in the survey half (48%) of the Sikhs identified themselves as British Sikhs and 13% as British. While only 8% identified themselves as Indians, 7% described themselves as Punjabi.Significantly none of the Sikh population called themselves as Asian , the word which is majorly used in media for the portrayal of the Sikh community in UK .

Though Sikhs constitute only 0.8% of the British population, they are seriously challenging all notions associated with immigrants .The Sikh community don't view themselves as foreigners and have infact deeply immersed themselves in the culture of UK .
The Sikh youth have transformed themselves and don't seek the traditional channels of family , religion etc. Infact the main concern surrounding the Sikh youth is the maintenance of traditional and cultural values while engaging themselves with the mainstream culture as well. A large number of the sikh youth go out for higher education in UK .

The Sikh community in UK performs a number of charitable acts. It donates 125 million annually and devotes 65 million hours on voluntary services yearly .The community is being accepted all across the UK and advertisements featuring a Sikh youth only vouches for the fact Britain is celebrating its diverse population .

The survey also found that 53% of respondents felt that the military action in Syria was unjustified, 60% Sikh felt that immigrants created a positive impact in the UK, and 60 % felt that caste was not important.

Jasvir Singh, Chair of the City Sikhs Network – an organization that has been instrumental in preparing the report said, "All important issues ranging from Britain's place in the world, the upcoming EU referendum, immigration, treatment of refugees, UK military action on Syria, have been touched up on in the 2016 survey."

Source: The Times of India