80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Friday 9th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a great honour and privilege to take part in this VE Day debate in your Lordships’ House. The Second World War was a conflict that had to be fought to save our civilisation from the tyranny of fascism. It lasted nearly six years and claimed the lives of over 75 million people. It was a bloody, brutal war marked by the genocide, destruction and unimaginable horror of the Holocaust.

On the allied side, people of all faiths and backgrounds came together to defeat the forces of Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. When a call went out from Britain to its subjects in Asia and Africa, millions volunteered to serve. It became the largest voluntary army the world has ever seen. From the Indian subcontinent alone, some 2.5 million people answered the call. Of those, approximately 15% were Sikhs—despite Sikhs comprising only 2% of the Indian population at the time. Their overrepresentation speaks volumes about their bravery and loyalty.

They served in virtually every theatre of war, including Burma, Italy, El Alamein and other places. Their valour did not go unrecognised. They were awarded numerous honours—Victoria Crosses, Military Crosses and Distinguished Service Medals. In the Burmese jungle, Naik Gian Singh of the 15th Punjab Regiment received the Victoria Cross for exceptional courage. I mention this because my maternal uncle, Santokh Singh, served in the same regiment and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in the same campaign. His medals remain cherished by our family to this day.

Sikh soldiers were recruited in such numbers because they were considered a martial race yet, despite their commitment and sacrifice, they were not paid the same as their British counterparts. This injustice was the result of colonial policy. In death, all soldiers were equal; on the battlefield, they were not.

After the war, their contributions were too often omitted from the dominant narrative. The newsreels of the time showed only white British troops returning home in triumph. The perception that victory was achieved solely by British forces took hold. It was born not from the malice of the public but from a lack of leadership, political will and historical honesty. While British soldiers were rightly honoured, paraded and cared for, many Commonwealth soldiers returned home to their hardship with meagre pensions. Those who once stood shoulder to shoulder in the trenches became a footnote in history. Their sacrifice slipped into obscurity.

Time has moved on. Today, Britain is one of the most diverse, tolerant and pluralistic societies, but, when it comes to acknowledging this part of our shared history—the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers—much work remains.

There have been steps in the right direction. Recently, Royal Mail issued a stamp featuring Mahinder Singh Pujji, a Sikh soldier who fought proudly wearing his turban while serving in the Second World War. These symbolic recognitions matter. Many military historians now acknowledge that, without the contribution of Indian soldiers, particularly Sikh soldiers, the outcome of several battles or perhaps even the war might have been different.

It is vital that our VE Day and other commemorations properly include service men and women from the Commonwealth. The British public deserve the full picture of how victory was secured. That must change. As the great Nigerian author Chinua Achebe once said,

“until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”.

The time has come for the lions to have their own historians.

There has been a sustained campaign by the Sikh community and Sikh soldiers in the UK, for many years, to have a Sikh regiment in the British Army. I would like to add my name to that campaign.