Ramblings of a Sikh Profile picture
Jan 13, 2022 20 tweets 7 min read Read on X
1/19 So what's the story behind this man & why did he take such an oath?

The 1960s were full of instances of Sikhs fighting for their right to wear their turban all over the UK. #ThursdayThread
2/19

⭐️Sant Singh Shattar (Royal Mail) Birmingham, 1960
⭐️Amar Singh (TFL) London, 1964
⭐️Mukthiar Singh Pardesi (Manchester Bus) 1967
⭐️Tasem Singh Sandhu (Wolverhampton Bus), Wolverhampton, 1967-69
3/19 In a similar vein to Amar Singh (who worked for TFL, on the left), Tarsem Singh Sandhu (right), after suffering an illness, returned to work in 1967, wearing his turban and beard.
4/19 However, he was suspended, as the rules were such that all bus conductors had to be clean shaven and wear a cap. He was one of six Sikhs who were testing the ban on turbans and beards.
5/19 Tarsem subsequently fought for two years for the right to wear his turban at work. This included helping to mobilise the local community, resulting in a march of somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 local Sikhs against the ban. [BHAM POST - Jan 29 1968]
6/19 When nothing happened, Mr Jolly heaped pressure by making the ultimate threat - "He said he would burn himself to death because it's not worth living in this country where the discrimination is that much."

Mr Jolly set a deadline of 30 April 1969 for the ban to be lifted.
7/19 In order to find work Tarsem hadto move from Wolverhampton, in order to support his family. [BHAM POST - Tuesday 18 June 1968]

It wasn’t just public transport service regulations that were being contested.
8/19 In the same year, two hundred Sikh workers at the Goodyear Tyre & Rubber plant in Wolverhampton were told that the company does not want to employ “men with long hair and turbans” in the interests of safety.
9/19 In fact, Mr. I. Thomson, the managing director of Goodyear, went as far to say “the company did not object to turbans and as long as they were one piece and not of the wound-up type.” [BHAM POST - Friday 12 May 1967]

My guy had a penchant for starchy paghs.
10/19 Some politicians, such as Mr. David Ennals, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office, stated, “it is unfair and discriminating to require a Sikh to shave his beard.”
11/19 A year later, Enoch Powell, on 20 April 1968, moments before likening himself to the Roman witnessing "the River Tiber foaming with much blood",
12/19 the MP for Wolverhampton South described the turban dispute as "a cloud no bigger than a man's hand that can so rapidly overcast the sky". [BHAM NOV 20 - 1967]
13/19 Powell was sacked after the now infamous Rivers of Blood speech, but his words had already had their impact. “Feelings on immigration problems are so high that dangerous tensions could rapidly develop.”
14/19 The government was even requested to intervene and enforce the Race Relations Act. [BHAM POST - Monday 29 April 1968]

Ultimately, the decision was down to the Wolverhampton Transport Committee. [BHAM NOV 20 - 1967]
15/19 Two months later, bus conductors at the Hanwell bus garage of London transport decided to take a stance against Tarsem Singh Sandhu sporting his turban at work - which for them was sheer madness.

Middlesex County Times - Friday 05 July 1968
16/19 One took to wearing a mock turban, whilst others wore different kinds of hats, all in a bid to express protest at the fact that Sikh, Tarsen Singh Sandhu was requesting the right to wear his turban while driving a bus.

Daily Mirror - Wednesday 03 July 1968
17/19 Although it was originally reported that over 200 bus conductors across London took part in the “Crazy Hats Protest”
18/19 a couple of weeks later, the Union Representative, Bill Baker, admitted he only had the support of a dozen men out of the original 200 who sported 'irregular headgear'. In fact, he himself admitted, he was battered.
19/19 Finally, on 9 April 1969, Wolverhampton Transport Committee caved into pressure and they lifted their ban on turbans and beards.

Two days later, on 11th April 1969, the Daily Mirror published this cartoon.
Think you'll appreciate this @DrJasjitSingh @Sathnam @ArjunSinghL @uppy_singh @pxneer

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More from @RamblingSingh

May 9
1/ What does the Bank of England have to do with the Sikh Empire?

#ThursdayThread Image
2/ Well the following small extract from Joseph Wolff's 1861 work, Travels and adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, page 372, highlights that the Bank of England was useful, to say the least, in the transition of wealth from the Sikh Empire.
3/ "But Wolff will here, at once, finish the history of Avitabile.
Read 7 tweets
May 2, 2023
1/ What does the Bank of England have to do with the Sikh Empire?

#TuesdayThread Image
2/ Well the following small extract from Joseph Wolff's 1861 work, Travels and adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, page 372, highlights that the Bank of England was useful, to say the least, in the transition of wealth from the Sikh Empire.
3/ "But Wolff will here, at once, finish the history of Avitabile.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 30, 2023
"The Sikh force which had lately assembled in Sirhind had broke up and dispersed; according to the latest accounts, and every appearance in the Punjab gave the assurance of permanent tranquility in that country." ImageImage
The Tour to Lahore, by a Military Officer, and in course of publication in the Mirror, has disclosed many valuable facts and interesting particulars respecting the people and countries of the Punjab, which heretofore were known to very few of our Readers.
In that part of the Tour which appears in this days paper, some striking traits are presented of the Character of Runjeit Singh, the Rajah of Lahore, recently better known to the English, as the principal Chieftain of the Sikhs."
Read 5 tweets
Dec 19, 2022
🥜 Meet the Peanut Prince of #Argentina

The earliest immigrants came from Ludhiana to Argentina in the 1930s to work in the British sugar mills.

But Simmarpal Singh, or Argentina's 'Peanut Prince,' as he is known around the world, arrived in Argentina in 2005. #Thread 1/16
Before this he had attended St Xavier’s School in Durgapur, graduated from Guru Nana Dev University, Amritsar with a BSC in Agriculture Sciences and then went on to obtain an MBA from the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). 2/16
After some time following different career paths, he joined Singapore-based Olam International and worked in Mozambique before moving to Argentina where he worked for over a decade. 3/16
Read 18 tweets
Dec 18, 2022
As today is the #WorldCupFinal I thought I'd share this create clip of Mr. Singh purchasing a copy of the Evening Standard back at the 1966 #WorldCupFinal held in #England
You can see it about 16 seconds in on the replay here -

England v West Germany | 1966 FIFA World Cup Final | Final Replay '66
All credit to 'officialkasil' on Instagram who commented about this under a post about 'Sikh History at the World Cup'
Read 6 tweets
Dec 17, 2022
"One of Sada Kaur’s goals was to punish Jassa Singh Ramgharia, who had neglected to divide revenue with Jai Singh Kanhaiya and who she blamed for the death of her husband. /1 Image
In 1796, she and Ranjit Singh besieged the Ramgharia misldar in his fort of Miani situated on the banks of the river Beas. /2
The siege lasted four months at which point Jassa Singh Ramgharia, running short of munitions and provisions, sent a messenger to Sahib Singh Bedi (a descendant of Guru Nanak) to seek his intervention. Sahib Singh advised them to raise the siege but Sada Kaur refused. /3
Read 6 tweets

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