Jeremy Corbyn Adviser Apologises For 'Offensive' Sikh Message

Jeremy Corbyn Adviser Apologises For 'Offensive' Sikh Message
PA/PA Wire

An adviser to Jeremy Corbyn has apologised after the Labour leader was accused of offending the Sikh community.

On Thursday, Corbyn tweeted a message sending his best wishes to Sikhs celebrating the “birthday of the last living Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh”.

Guru Gobind Singh was the 10th Sikh Guru. He died aged 41 in 1708.

However the Guru Granth Sahib, a sacred scripture in the religion, is seen as the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs.

I'd like to send greetings and best wishes to Sikhs who are celebrating the birthday of the last living Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh pic.twitter.com/qRemj4IE4U

— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) January 5, 2017

Several people took to Twitter to complain the the Labour leader.

@jeremycorbyn a welcome msg - but also incorrect. SGGS is the living Guru. Pls check with @sikhs4labour @TheSikhNet @SikhPA fr future ref.

— Narinder Singh (@NSP55) January 5, 2017

@NSP55 @jeremycorbyn @sikhs4labour @TheSikhNet @SikhPA clearly Comrade Corbyn needs better faith advisors!

— Jay Singh-Sohal (@JSinghSohal) January 5, 2017

@TheSikhNet @SikhPA @JSinghSohal @jeremycorbyn @sikhs4labour disappointed his team allowed such a mistake, with so much help available.

— Narinder Singh (@NSP55) January 5, 2017

Jasvir Singh, who drafted the message for Corbyn, apologised on Twitter. “Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the eternal Guru. Happy to clarify that. Without death without birth,” he said.

Conservative Sikh member Harsimrat Kaur said: “This offensive mistake by the Labour leader shows just how out of touch he is with ordinary people. It could have been easily avoided had he actually engaged with the Sikh community and learnt about why we were remembering this important day.”

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