U.K. MPs want Sikhism to be recognised as ‘ethnicity’ in census

A group of British MPs have launched a year-long campaign to lobby for Sikhism to be added as a separate ethnicity tick-box in the next U.K. census in 2021 after the country’s statistical authority concluded that it was not required.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs accused the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of ignoring an “overwhelming” support among the Sikh community for such an additional category in order to ensure fair treatment of British Sikhs.

In a recently released White Paper, titled ‘Help Shape Our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales’, the ONS said the estimates of the Sikh population can be met through data from the specific response option in the Sikh religion question. Sikhs are already recognised as a separate religion in the optional religious question introduced in the 2001 Census.