Have-a-go hero stabbing – teenagers arrested

Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with the London murder of a courageous young father who has since been declared a martyr of the Sikh community.

Sukhwinder Singh, 31, died from a fatal stabbing in a snowy east London street in January after trying to apprehend two men who had mugged a young woman coming out of Barking railway station.

The Metropolitan Police described him as a hero and he was treated that way when his body was returned home to Dholanwal village in a farming community near Ludhiana in the Punjab. Hundreds of mourners turned out for a cremation ceremony made all the more poignant by the fact that his ten-year-old son, Gurjinder Singh, whom he had never seen, lit the funeral pyre.

Sukhwinder Singh, a builder, moved to Britain ten years ago to try to create a better future for his family – but never managed a return journey in that time.

He sent money home to his wife Sandeep Kaur, 29, their daughter Aman, and the little son born after he left India, but a tragedy befell the family when Aman died eight years ago after falling down the steps of a temple.

After his death it was said that Mr Singh was saving money to visit his wife and son and parents in June this year.

A regular attender at the Singh Sabha London East Gurdwara in Barking, Mr Singh was declared a martyr by Gurbachan Singh, the jathedar or head of the Akal Takht, the Punjab-based highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion.

The Thai Indian news website reported the announcement was made after a meeting of the five Sikh high priests. Gurbachan Singh said Sukhwinder Singh showed the utmost bravery in confronting the criminals in London and had brought pride to the Sikh community through his selfless act.

His photograph will be displayed in the Sikh Museum at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

Britain’s media called him a have-a-go hero after he chased and confronted youths who punched a student and robbed her of her handbag near the railway station on January 8. He was stabbed in the chest and died at the Royal London Hospital.

Initially police arrested three suspects but these were released on bail pending further enquiries. The names of the two now held have not been released.

The mugging victim, Karamjit Kaur, 28, was treated in hospital for shock. She had been in Britain for two months when the incident occurred. She was attacked as she returned from university in central London.

Police said Mr Singh had lost his life bravely and he was described by his cousin Harwinder Singh, 27, with whom he shared a house, as the “most selfless person” he had ever met.

Nirmal Singh Gill, a Barking and Dagenham councillor, knew Sukhwinder Singh and said he was a sober, clean-living young man who attended gurdwara every evening.  “He would help anybody so it doesn’t surprise me that he was trying to help a lady.”

When police launched their search for the attackers they were looking for two black men in their 20s or 30s, between 5ft 7ins and 6ft tall.

Illegal immigrant – but a great Briton?

Sukhwinder Singh’s death during an act of public-spirited bravery eventually drew attention to another aspect of his life in a report in London’s Evening Standard newspaper – the fact that he was an illegal immigrant, the reason for his not visiting India for ten years.

Sikh columnist Sathnam Sanghera, who writes for The Times of London, believes the praise that was showered on Mr Singh before his status became known made a powerful case for a change of attitude in the UK towards its hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

Referring to the vociferous opposition of many politicians and parts of the media (not to mention sections of the public) he argued that long-term illegal immigrants, if embraced, would make a positive economic contribution to the country.

Those who had entered Britain by illicit means were often labelled parasites but a report commissioned by Mayor of London Boris Johnson from the London School of Economics painted the opposite picture, he said.

Builder Sukhwinder Singh had helped make the case. His boss regarded him as one of his best concrete finishers, said “he was always the first to arrive and the last to leave” and that he sent home half his £2,000 a month salary.  But, as he had provided a National Insurance and tax reference number, tax had been deducted at source from his wages.

Sathnam Sanaghera said Boris Johnson was right to propose that the best way of dealing with illegal immigration was to give long-term illegal immigrants – those who had been in the UK for five years, had no criminal record and could support themselves – an amnesty.

“Those against an amnesty would have us believe that that it would lead to the moral collapse of our society”, but as several newspapers have pointed out, Singh worked hard to provide for his family, when he was not on the job he dedicated his time to community work at his local temple, and when he saw a British citizen in distress he went to help.

“He paid the ultimate sacrifice and in doing so he proved that, given the chance, he could have made a great Briton. And so could lots of others like him.”