BBC Presenter Forced to Close Facebook Account for Angering British Sikhs

When a BBC News presenter fronted a documentary on a Sunday night about one of the most controversial events in recent Indian history, I thought it an interesting topic to end the week. 1984: A Sikh Story, felt like a journey of self discovery and social cohesion, I was reminded of one of the most over-looked wars in Asia's past. I did feel it was important to understand, since Britain has such a large Indian "population".

Yet, I was flabbergasted to learn at the weekend that Sonia Deol had been subjected to a deluge of personal abuse. Admittedly, I haven't noticed that much of Sonia - who not many us Brits know is actually Sihk (most of us think their all Hindu). I'm not obsessive in newsreaders, though Ms Deol hosts BBC Breakfast at weekends and News 24 bulletins.

It seems most disar that she was forced to delete her page on the Facebook website amid a barrage of criticism from fellow Sikhs over her film about the Indian army storming the Golden Temple in Amritsar, one of the faith's most holy shrines, and the killing of controversial religious leader , in 1984.

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« Is There a God?Ash Wednesday Forehead »And now they say they want to boycott the licence fee in disgust at what they see as a slur on their religion. I thought only the Muslims protested about religion. It seems many Sikhs consider him a saint and are furious that in Ms Deol's documentary, he was described as a militant. And they say he was depicted in the film similarly to Osama Bin Laden.

Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered the assault on June 4, 1984, in whats been known as Operation Blue Star, after Bhindranwale and up to 500 armed supporters took refuge in the holy site, apparently fearing arrest amid rising Sikh-Hindu tensions. Ms Deol also interviewed General Kuldip Singh Braer, who commanded the Indian forces that stormed the temple in what. The general, who also comes from a Sikh family, said of Bhindranwale: 'He may have started out as a saint but he didn't end as a saint.' Since the end of the operation, General Braer has had his life endangered, and is still on the move.
Around 500 people died in the ensuing battle, which some Sikhs now refer to as 'our 9/11'. The BBC has received 52 complaints about the documentary, which attracted 1.3 million viewers and was billed as Ms Deol's 'emotional journey back to India in a bid to discover how such an attack could ever have taken place'.

However, a British Sikh community TV station says it received more than 8,000 calls to a phone-in about the controversial film. The Sikh Channel owner Davinder Singh Bal said: 'The documentary contained many sweeping statements and didn't attempt to uncover the truth of what happened. Our viewers were not happy. BT said that our exchange was going into overdrive. The BBC is not responding to the Sikh community and we are thinking about organising a campaign to invoke the non-payment of licence fees by the 700,000 Sikhs in Britain.'

Dr Sadhu Singh, chairman of the Council of Sikh Temples, said many viewers were angered that 'the BBC showed him [Bhindranwale] looking like Bin Laden'.
He said, 'They used pictures of him wearing a turban and holding a gun. To someone who doesn't know what Sikhism is about, it would be very misleading. Some people are very upset that the documentary also showed Sonia Deol dancing with Hindus as if there is no problem between Hindus and Sikhs. The feeling is still there that people who were responsible for 1984 have not been brought to justice.'

'Sikhs were attacked after September 11, but Sikhs are nothing to do with Bin Laden.' Staying with that thought; stupid American's still fail to recognise that most Turban wearers are Sikh, not Arabs, and certainly not fundamentalist. I've worked with a few of them, and apart from a few language barrier's, they are good people to talk to.

36-year-old Ms Deol in her introduction to the film, said Bhindranwale was 'viewed as a militant who had terrorised for long enough'. Operation Blue Star is believed to have led to the assassination of Mrs Gandhi, who was killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards four months after the attack. Her death triggered three days of attacks on Sikhs across India, in which 3,000 people were killed. Certainly alot of memories would have been brought back; i can only imagine.

A BBC source said Ms Deol's documentary was never intended to be an investigation, saying: 'It was her personal journey, a look at her reaction to rediscovering her faith as a Sikh. It was for a mainstream channel, BBC1 and there's only so much you can say in an hour. A lot of the attacks on Sonia have been because people think that the documentary reflected her views on Bhindranwale, but she did not give her opinions about him at all. She's also had a lot of supportive comments.'

It's plain to see that this program touched a raw nerve. Alot of people were damaged back then, and certain lessons still havent been learnt. But this was a long time ago! So, the Sikh community should be focusing on forgiveness; not just for the hindu's, but for themselves too! And I do hope this all blows over within a month, and Sonia can have her facebook account back without problems.