Indarjit Singh Becomes a Lord
Dr Indarjit Singh OBE CBE has become the first Turban-wearing Sikh to be appointed a life peer in the House of Lords.
Dr Singh, who is the director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, will sit as an independent Lord.
He played a central role in the landmark case of Mandla v Dowell Lee in 1982, which established an important degree of protection for Sikhs to wear the symbols of their faith.
He also has played his part in promoting inter-faith understanding, having been a founding member and current vice chair of the Inter Faith Network UK. Dr Singh is also head of the Sikh Chaplaincy Service, which works for the pastoral care of Sikhs in prisons. He is also the co-coordinator of pastoral care for Sikhs in hospitals and in the Armed Forces, and a trustee of the World Congress of Faiths.
Dr Singh has represented the UK Sikh community on national occasions, including the Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph and the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. In 2008 he became the first Sikh to address a major conference of at the Vatican, when he gave a keynote address on the need for respect and tolerance between world faiths.
Dr Singh said he was honoured to become a life peer and wanted to use his position to further promote harmony and tolerance between different communities