Perspective: A Little Understanding ; the Furore Surrounding the Decision of Birmingham Rep to Close the Controversial Play Behzti has Lead to Polarised Debates Between White Liberal Defenders of the Arts and Asian Protectors of the Sikh Faith. Jo Ind Went to the Gurdwara On Birmingham's Soho Road to Hear the Views of Five Devout Sikh Women

Birmingham Post › December 22, 2004

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Summary

It is not easy for the women at Britain's largest Gurdwara to raise their heads above the parapet.

They do not want to be in the foreground. They would much rather not have their photographs taken. They are anxious about being misrepresented and misunderstood.

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Extract

Perspective: A Little Understanding ; the Furore Surrounding the Decision of Birmingham Rep to Close the Controversial Play Behzti has Lead to Polarised Debates Between White Liberal Defenders of the Arts and Asian Protectors of the Sikh Faith. Jo Ind Went to the Gurdwara On Birmingham's Soho Road to Hear the Views of Five Devout Sikh Women

But Gopinder Kaur, Manpreet Kaur, Ranjit Kaur, Amarjit Kaur and Gursharan Kaur, all young professional women, are driven by the need to explain their faith in a climate which is becoming increasingly hostile to Sikhs.

On Monday Birmingham Rep decided to drop the controversial play Behzti, written by a Sikh woman, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, because of an 800 strong protest by the Sikh community in Centenary Square that escalated into violence over the weekend.

'That isn't a victory for anybody,' says...

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