British multiculturalism and Sikhs

British Sikhs are often portrayed as the pioneers of British multiculturalism, a public policy that has come under serious introspection since 9/11 and 7/7. This article argues that although the development of the British Sikh community since the Second World War has contributed significantly to the shaping of national and local policies to manage religious and cultural diversity, this achievement has been realised within a traditional British statecraft that promotes opt-outs from general rule-making, localisation and asymmetrical pluralism. The dispute over the recent play Behzti highlights the tensions between this mode of diversity management and the need to address the claims of deep multiculturalists who call for the further cultural democratisation of public spaces.