British Sikh Council

The British Sikh Council UK is a small charity registered in England and Wales as a charitable incorporated organisation (number 1173066). It works with the Sikligar, Vanjara and Satnami Sikhs of India, communities that the council says the SGPC and the Delhi gurdwara committee have neglected.

How it began: SikhNet reported in 2014 that Kulwant Singh Dhesi and Tarsem Singh Deol started it after reading a UK newspaper article about these communities, and founded British Sikh Council UK in 2002. Dhesi was president and Deol general secretary. By October 2016 The Tribune was calling Deol the council's spokesperson, and by April 2017 its president.

Key moments

• 2002: the council is founded.
• 2003: the first gurdwara is built, at Warud in Maharashtra. SikhNet counted 11 in Maharashtra by 2014.
• In Madhya Pradesh it built a school and two gurdwaras, at Aaron in Guna district and Mathana in Ashok Nagar district. SikhNet says the Scottish Sikh Council helped build houses, and that the council took up with state governments the "denotified tribe" label that these weapon-making communities carry.
• 22 October 2016: at a Jalandhar press conference with Harpal Singh Cheema of Dal Khalsa, Deol said the council had built about 200 houses, gurdwaras and schools, and condemned the SGPC and the Delhi gurdwara committee for not working for these communities. He also said they are not even counted as Sikhs in the census. These are the council's own claims.
• April 2017: Deol raised fears for the safety of Sikligar Sikhs in remote parts of Madhya Pradesh, describing police suspicion and raids, one of them by nearly 500 police in a forest area of Khandwa district. This is his account, not independently checked.
• Financial year 2025: income of 126,943 pounds and spending of 66,848 pounds, according to CharityLens, which republishes Charity Commission filings.

Where it stands: It is still filing accounts. CharityLens lists its work as help with food, clean water, education and housing, health and eye camps, and reducing drug and alcohol use.