Equality of arms: seeking a solution
Sikhs have a long and distinguished military tradition. In the days of Empire Sikh soldiers were highly valued. There are still special Sikh regiments serving in the Indian Army. A proposal was made that a Sikh regiment should be established to serve in the British Army.
This enjoyed considerable support from a number of quarters. Military chiefs thought that this would be a way of increasing the number of Sikh recruits into the army and establishing a regiment which would develop a real esprit de corps. The soldiers would be secure in a unit where their customs were rigorously complied with, and would be able to both serve the Army (and the country) as well as promoting the contribution of that particular group. Sikh community leaders saw it in much the same way. We have all seen the impact that one sports person such as a cricketer can have on the public perception of a particular group within this country. Imagine the impact that tales of daring would have such as for example the Sikh regiment successfully storming the hideout of some terrorist group in foreign lands. It would be a flagship way of demonstrating how it was possible to both be Sikh and comfortable within that religious grouping at the same time as promoting and pursuing British interests. I have no doubt that such a regiment would be a considerable fillip for the status and profile of Sikh people in this country. At the same time I think that it would be likely to improve race relations.
Ministers seemed equally attracted by the idea. However the race relations watchdog, now within the equality commission, was rather less keen. That is putting it mildly. The view it took was that this was some form of unacceptable segregation and could not possibly be countenanced. The idea seems to have been shelved, at least for the moment.
This seems to be a triumph of form and political correctness over substance. I can entirely see that if the army had sought to push this forward in the face of considerable objections from the Sikh community (although in those circumstances it is difficult to see how the idea could have got off the ground in the first place) that it would be right to ensure that community was protected from discrimination. However I do not think it was even suggested that that would be offered as an option which would seek to coerce all Sikh recruits into joining that particular unit. The aim was that the unit might attract people who would otherwise not go into the Army at all. If those who would join the army anyway felt that this was where they wanted to go, fine. The whole point would be that none of this would ever be mandatory.
One of the challenges facing a multicultural society is to try and ensure that people from different cultures and backgrounds can interact, rather being fixed within their own community and not interacting with others. It is entirely laudable for any department to be astute to avoid anything which is potentially harmful in this regard. However this situation is entirely different. Although soldiers would serve together, they would still be a flagship for the entire Sikh community. It would be likely to involve more Sikhs in defence of this country than would otherwise be likely, both to the benefit of the Armed Forces and of the profile of the community itself. It would be likely to raise the self-esteem of the community as a valued part of this country, and likely to raise the profile of and respect for the Sikh community amongst others.
Above all, as has previously been stated in this series, decisions about military operations and organisation should be based purely on military efficiency and no other conclusion whether politically correct or otherwise. In addition to the other beneficial consequences of a Sikh regiment previously referred to, the army would obtain additional recruits who would almost certainly fight very hard to protect and enhance the reputation of their regiment.
Sometimes in seeking to ensure fairness you have to think a little outside the box. Sadly that did not happen here from the race relations point of view, and both from those considerations and military effectiveness the regiment could and should have been established.