Understanding The English Defence League

Guramit Singh is the spokesman for the English Defence League. He has recently been under attack from fellow Sikhs in the UK who are more politically correct than he and the EDL are. A group called the “Turban Campaign”, made up primarily of Sikhs and Hindus, is strongly opposed to the “fascists” of the EDL.

Mr. Singh has asked that the following open letter to the Turban Campaign be publicized. The text below was drawn from the International Civil Liberties Alliance website.


To whom it may concern,

I’m writing with regard to the document you signed, a document issued to you by members of the Turban Campaign, something that slanders not just myself but also the English Defence League.

When I noticed the lies in this joint statement I thought to myself, “just ignore it”. I thought that anybody who is deluded enough to believe this nonsense is not worth wasting time on. Time trying help them realise the truth seemed just a waste of effort. Some people are just blind to truth anyway so why even bother? But when I was speaking to my grandmother the other day about this situation, she made me understand that this could be a negative way to proceed. So upon reflection, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for my arrogance. This is me reaching out to all those people who have been hoodwinked into believing slander from the ideological opponents of the EDL.

The joint statement asks for members of mainly Sikh and Hindu organisations to denounce the English Defence League because members of the Turban Campaign believe we are a bunch of racists and that we are trying to divide the Asian community. They are also asked to denounce the BNP.

Well, would anyone be amazed by me agreeing with denouncing the BNP?

I completely agree with that statement. But they associate the EDL with the BNP to gain support, I’d like to state now that the English Defence League denounces the British National Party! It would also be fair to say that although we do not like or agree with the BNP’s agenda, we are aware there are people who vote BNP quite simply out of sheer frustration, and it is also fair to say that there are racist idiots involved in the BNP, Its current leader was a member of the National Front and one of the founders, John Tyndal was a neo-Nazi. Why would the EDL want to be linked to the BNP?

We don’t, but our opponents want us to be!

This was their first lie, an eye-catching opener to engage any right-minded people who abhor racism. What they failed to do was to release the full details of our organisation’s mission statement, This is easily found on our website. I would appreciate it if our ideologically opposed friends did a little more research, were honest in their reporting and understood what we are really about. As of this very moment I am making it clear to those who believe this propaganda. You have been given false information. Please open up your eyes to the truth. We are certainly not a racist organisation, we never have been and we never will be. We are open to all and I am not the only one who is testament to that fact.

The English Defence League is a non-racist street movement that welcomes people from all backgrounds, any race or religion; our motto is “Black And White Unite”. This is the very cornerstone our organisation is built on.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in the past and up to this current day, certain far left movements such as the UAF (Unite Against Freedom) and Turban Campaign can’t stand people standing up to real issues and real concerns. These groups like to play the racist card because they can’t debate us on any platform relating to the imposition of sharia and its clear links with Radical Islam and the hatred and intolerance towards “Kuffar”.

Groups like the NF and BNP are fundamentally opposed to what the EDL stands for. We are not a racist organisation, unlike the NF. Just because we march and hold protests, it doesn’t mean we have anything ideologically in common. They have perverted Nationalism and turned it into something that nowadays is all too commonly associated with racial supremacy. I’m pretty sure Winston Churchill honoured all those who fought for our country, Black, White, Brown, did it matter to him? Ethnicity never ever played a divisive role in our armed forces. In fact it only strengthened us more!

There have been real racists who have infiltrated our organisation. Some have come along to demos and divisional meetings without anyone knowing. There have been Nazis and members of C18 that have tried to infiltrate and disrupt our organisation. Those people have left a stigma behind, a stigma that we are still trying to get rid of. One thing is for sure though, we don’t like them and they are not welcome. We could have never ever predicted when we started this organisation that this would happen. We stated very clearly in the earliest of days that we were an Anti-Nazi, Anti-Racist movement and that we were not the BNP.

It is very hard to spot these disgraceful so-called Nationalists unless they have swastikas tattooed on their heads, or they make their feelings and thoughts public. The EDL have not only been targeted by the Far Left, the Police, the Government and some public bodies, we also get attacked from the real “far right”.

When we find out who these racist idiots are, we do out them, and we even do it publicly if we have to!

From what I have heard, the Turban Campaign have many a time called us “Nazis” to people that have co-signed the joint statement. I’d have to admit if someone from my local community came to me with a document as important as denouncing a Nazi organisation I’d jump to sign it too, but this is not the case, this is just another lie to keep us from breaking into the mainstream.

The Turban Campaign also called us Anti-Semites. If you look at many of our videos you will see that the Star Of David is a flag that the English Defence League fly loudly and proudly. We believe in Israel’s right to exist, and Israel’s right to defend itself. One of my closest international allies is Rabbi Shiffren. He has come along to two of our demos and given speeches: We have such a close relationship that I invited him to Nottingham to address my local division, and I can honestly say I have never seen as much unity from our two great countries and our various religions and backgrounds in my whole life:

This was the Turban Campaign’s next lie, as you can probably guess this is getting ridiculous considering that members of the Turban Campaign claim to represent the whole of the Sikh community, I would never claim such a thing. I only represent those who are sincere to our cause no matter what colour, creed, or religion.

A Sikh who truly understands his or her religion will understand the true message of the English Defence League. Our battle against militant Islam is a battle that is also fought by Sikhs who understand the dangers, just as our Guru Gobind Singh did!

The Turban Campaign have also stated that we are trying to divide the Asian community. I’ve heard lies from the UAF saying that we recruit outside Gurdwaras and Temples, seducing young Sikhs and Hindus to join our organisation and cause friction with the Islamic community. This again is false. The lies are coming from somewhere, but at this point I cannot state from where, and I certainly won’t jump out with any accusation to smear someone. Unlike the members of the Turban Campaign, our organisation would never use such strategies. We are not missionary, we don’t think to ourselves, “our numbers are looking low in one culture so let’s try to bring them in”, we are not politicians, we are proud of our diversity, our country is a multi-ethnic country, something the EDL is very proud of.

People join the EDL because of their concerns on the issues we raise, because they have taken time to see through the lies propagated against us. It’s not our fault that a large proportion of the Islamic community refuse to integrate. It’s partly the fault of Islamic scripture, that tells Muslims not to. So blaming us for separating the Asian community is another lie. Islam has been here a lot longer than the English Defence League and it has caused far more division among the Asian community than the EDL ever could!

Islam, and of course Muslims who choose to follow their religion as close to its 7th century context as possible, are to blame for this atmosphere and culture of resentment, hatred and intolerance. This does nothing for community cohesion at all.

The Turban Campaign also threatened me with going to the akal tukat to put in an application to excommunicate me from the Sikh religion.

It was another instance where they state they represent the Sikh community, and I responded to this atrocity here. Their tactics disturbed me and made me question this whole farce of an application. I first heard of this claim when sunrise radio contacted me, then a few minutes later BBC radio Asia contacted me, then a few other press contacts got in touch for a response, (as you know I am a spokesperson for the English Defence League so I have a lot of press contacts). When I asked them how they had heard of all this, they told me that members of the Turban Campaign had contacted them. This was the first time I had even heard of it! Now they wanted to issue me with an ultimatum, served up with a generous helping of blackmail. Why did they not immediately come to me and challenge me? This was nothing more than a publicity stunt, a vicious and untruthful way to spread vile propaganda. They brought yourselves and your co-signers in to a dark PR stunt. They should be ashamed of themselves for using the Sikh governing body in such a way, especially to make a name for themselves.

I understand in the past I have made harsh comments about Islam but the truth of the matter is Islam is harsh. I’ve studied the Quran, Hadith, Sira and Sunnah. My conclusions are simply drawn from reading Islamic scripture. I have made comments that some would call racist but that is because I’m not particularly politically correct.

I am of brown skin. I understand what racism is and I’d never inflict that heartache onto somebody else. I know it’s hard to believe, but everything that’s written in google is not gospel. My auntie googled me the other day and said to me she couldn’t believe they were talking about the same person. I have sworn on stage and in interviews (and I do regret that looking back) but sometimes harsh times take harsh action and harsh words, I think that may have been a mistake so I will address that and not do so in the future.

I’m not asking for your support but I feel that you do deserve to hear the truth. It’s very easy to get misled by trusted people in this world and that can be very upsetting. I know once the Turban Campaign get this letter they will reply with another load of deaf, dumb and blind excuses, and that’s for them to deal with. Their ignorance is not my problem, but I can offer them a way to see the truth.

I know I’ve been 100% truthful and done right by my organisation, and by my grandmother to write this letter, if I can be of any assistance to yourselves in the future no matter what the issue please do not hesitate to contact me via my secretary at hel.gower@englishdefenceleague.org.

Thank you very much for your time. I only hope that people can be brave enough to give truth a real chance.

Yours Sincerely,
Guramit Singh