Jasvir Singh (barrister)

Jasvir Singh CBE is a British family law barrister, media commentator and social activist. He is a co-founder of South Asian Heritage Month. Singh regularly appears in the British media to speak about the British Sikh experience and also interfaith related matters.[1] He is described as being "one of the most prominent Sikh voices in British public life".[2]

Jasvir Singh

CBE FRSA
Born
London
NationalityBritish
EducationLaw
Alma materBPP Law School
University of Law
King's College London
Occupation(s)Barrister, Media commentator, Interfaith
Years active2006–present
Known forMember of several organisations
Political partyLabour Party
Board member ofCity Sikhs, British Sikh Report, South Asian Heritage Month, St Pauls Institute, Edward Cadbury Centre, Moral and Ethical Advisory Board
AwardsCBE (2023), Edward Cadbury Centre Honorary Fellow (2018), OBE (2017)

Career
Jasvir Singh CBE accompanying the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.
Jasvir Singh CBE presenting at the Parliamentary Launch of the Asian Professional Awards

Born in London, Singh has worked as a family law barrister since 2006. He made the decision to join the legal profession after he saw an aunt to whom he was close go through a traumatic divorce when he was eight.[3]

He is the former chair for the Faiths Forum for London, an interfaith organisation based in London representing the interests of the nine major faith traditions.[4] He is chairperson for City Sikhs, a charity which represents the interests of progressive Sikhs. In 2016 he also became an associate of St Paul's Institute.[5]

He is the main Sikh contributor to the Thought for the Day segment on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.[2]

Singh is a Labour Party activist and following the successful election of Sadiq Khan to the position of Mayor of London in May 2016, he was selected to join the shortlist of Labour candidates for the Tooting by-election.[6]

In 2017, Singh was instrumental in launching the Grand Trunk Project in partnership with DCLG to mark the 70-year anniversary of the independence of India, creation of Pakistan, and the partition of Punjab and Bengal with the aim of bringing the diverse communities of South Asia together.[7] The project was named after the Grand Trunk Road which has connected Bangladesh, India and Pakistan for over 2,000 years.

Singh is the founder of South Asian Heritage Month in the UK, a national awareness month which aims to celebrate British South Asian culture and identity.[8]

He was co-chair of the Moral and Ethical Advisory Group, which provided independent advice to the UK government on moral, ethical and faith considerations on health and social care related issues from 2019 to 2022 and was active throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.[9]

In February 2021, he was appointed to the Mayor of London's Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.[10]

Singh is also a trustee of the Kaleidoscope Trust, a nonprofit organisation that campaigns for the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world.[11] Its mission is to help create a world where LGBT+ people are free, safe and equal everywhere.[12]

Honours, awards and recognition

Singh was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to promoting community cohesion[13][14] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to charity, faith communities and social cohesion.[15] His CBE was awarded in recognition of his work bringing together faith communities and advocating for groups that are vulnerable.[16]

In 2018, he was made an honorary fellow of the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion based at the University of Birmingham in recognition of his Interfaith work.[17][18]

Personal life

Singh is a Sikh and is openly gay. He married his husband in summer 2022.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Jasvir Singh: Bridging faiths in troubled times". theindiandiaspora.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  2. "Jasvir Singh: 'I'm a devout Sikh - and married to a man'". BBC News. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  3. Lowther, Anusha Kumar, Aidan Castelli and Ed (9 May 2018). "More UK Punjabis 'seek alcohol support'". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ABPL. "London Faith Forum elects new Co-Chair". asian-voice.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  5. "Welcome to the new Associates of St Paul's Institute – St Paul's Cathedral". stpauls.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  6. "Shortlist for Tooting selection announced | LabourList". LabourList | Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  7. "Project marking 70-year partition anniversary seeks to unite communities – Eastern Eye". Eastern Eye. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  8. "South Asian Heritage Month". 14 July 2020.
  9. "Moral and Ethical Advisory Group".
  10. "Panellists appointed to improve diversity of London's statues and memorials".
  11. https://www.kaleidoscopetrust.com/trustees.php
  12. https://www.kaleidoscopetrust.com/about.php
  13. "British Sikh Barrister Jasvir Singh Receives Order of the British Empire From Prince William". NDTV.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  14. "London barrister becomes youngest Sikh to receive OBE". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  15. "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N11.
  16. "Meet Jasvir Singh, a leading Sikh voice in UK who is ready to take on the world over his homosexuality". easterneye.biz. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  17. "Jasvir Singh appointed fellow of UK religion centre". Hindustan Times. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  18. ABPL. "Chair of City Sikhs appointed Honorary Fellow of the Edward Cadbury Centre..." asian-voice.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
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