UK riots: SGPC to write to PM, UK High Commissioner

Chandigarh, Aug 11 (PTI) Expressing concern over rioting
and looting in some cities of Britain, Shiromani Gurdwara
Prabandhak Committee on Thursday said it will write to the
Prime Minister and the UK's High Commissioner in India to
ensure security for the Sikhs and gurudwaras in the country.
"We are concerned over the events which have unfolded
over the past few days in UK. A large number of Sikhs are
settled there and the country has several gurudwaras," SGPC
President Avtar Singh Makkar said in the backdrop of Sikhs
taking to the streets to protect the Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara
in Southall.
He said soon he would be writing to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh urging the government to take up with British
authorities to ensure adequate security measures so that the
gurudwaras and the Sikh community are protected.
"We are also in touch with Sikh community leaders in UK
and keeping a close watch on the situation," Makkar, head of
the apex religious body of the Sikhs who today filed his
nomination papers in Ludhiana for the next month's SGPC polls,
told PTI over phone.
"Sikhs are a peace loving community. Around the world
they have contributed to the development of nations where they
have settled. We hope that good sense will prevail on those
fomenting trouble (in UK) and peace returns fast," he said.
An uneasy calm prevailed over Britain's cities on
Thursday after four days of rioting and looting, with security
being beefed up and a stern warning from Prime Minister David
Cameron that law and order will be restored at any cost.