Issue 2018

4 July 2018
UNITED KINGDOM
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
British Sikhs remember the sacrifices made by Sikh and
Indian Servicemen at Chattri Memorial Event in Brighton
Sikhs from across the UK attended an annual
remembrance event at the Chattri Memorial in
Brighton on Sunday 10th June 2018 to remember
the sacrifice made by soldiers who came from
India and Punjab to fight in the First World War.
The service at the Chattri, on the Downs above
Brighton, included a prayer and the laying of
wreaths to commemorate the sacrifice made by the
servicemen.
Among those who attended the annual memorial
service at the Chattri were the Lord Lieutenant
of East Sussex Peter Field, High Sheriff Major-
General John Moore-Bick, Indian High
Commissioner YK Sinha, the Marquess of
Abergavenny Christopher Nevill, the mayor of
Brighton and Hove Councillor Dee Simson, council
leader Councillor Daniel Yates, council chief
executive Geoff Raw, Chief Constable Giles York,
Crawley Mayor Councillor Carlos Castro, Slough
MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi as well as veterans,
representatives of the Armed Forces and relatives
of the fallen.
A delegation of representatives from the Sikh
Community & Youth Service UK based in
Handsworth, Birmingham including D S Dhesy
(Chairman), R S Virdi and R S Randhawa also
attended the service. Gurdwaras from Barking,
London : A late masterpiece by British
painter Lucian Freud "Portrait on a White
Cover" was sold for around Rs 205 crore (almost
$30 million) in the Contemporary Evening Sale
by art auctioneer Sotheby's London on Tuesday.
The painting is reclining nude of Sophie
Lawrence, who worked for Tate publishing and
was spotted by Freud whilst preparing for his
Tate retrospective in 2002. This is her only
Seven Kings, Hounslow and many other
Gurdwaras also took their congregation in coaches
to pay homage to the servicemen and also provided
refreshments at the memorial event.
UK MP Dhesi meets Air
India Operations Director for
Heathrow-Amritsar flights
At the recently held celebration
of the 70th Anniversary of
Air India’s first flight between
London and Bombay (Mumbai),
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP for
Slough met various key members
of Air India’s senior management,
including their international
Director for Operations
Captain Arvind Kathpalia, who
had flown into London especially
from Delhi for this celebration.
Tan Dhesi spoke of the
long-pending demand of the
Punjabi diaspora for direct
flights between London
Heathrow and Amritsar, and the
progress he has made in this
regard. Mr Dhesi said “Captain
Kathpalia confirmed to me that
he had received all the required
information, about the demanded
Heathrow to Amritsar route,
from his UK team in particular
the new UK & Europe Regional
Manager Debashis Golder. He
known portrait, and was created towards the culmination
of Freud's career. He was 80 years old
when he commenced the work, as per Sotheby's,
and he had already achieved almost all that one
could as an artist. The painting was created in
2002-03. It has become the most valuable work
by the artist ever to be sold in London, superseding
the sale of another of his portraits --
"Pregnant Girl" of his expectant lover
assured me that he, in consultation
with others in New
Delhi, would soon be making
the final decision on connecting
the two major tourist
hubs.” The Member of
Parliament for Slough had
earlier hosted the UK
Parliamentary launch of the
campaign for direct flights
between London and
Amritsar, and gained the support
of other
Parliamentarians in Britain
and India. Statistics show that
in 2016, even with no direct
connectivity, approximately
188,869 passengers (517 per
day) travelled between
Amritsar Airport and UK as transit
passengers via other Indian
and foreign airports.
Within picture are, from left
to right: Anil Mathen (Air India
Manager for Heathrow Airport),
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (MP for
Slough), Captain Arvind
Kathpalia (Air India Director for
Operations, based in Delhi) and
Debashis Golder (Regional
Manager UK & Europe, Air
India).
Various British Sikhs serving in the armed
forces were represented, along with the Royal
British Legion, other veteran organisations and
local cadet units. The main spokesperson and event
Bernardine Coverley. This was the auction debut
of "Portrait on a White Cover". Freud is known
to paint only those close to him. However,
Lawrence was not "one of the artist's lovers,
children, or celebrity friends". "All portraits are
difficult for me. But a nude presents different
challenges. When someone is naked, there is in
effect nothing to be hidden. You are stripped of
your costume, as it were. Not everyone wants to
organiser was Mr D S Dhesy who is the Chair of
the Chattri Memorial Group and has been working
tirelessly to organise the annual memorial events at
the Brighton Chattri over the past 17 years. This
year was the 68th annual memorial event which
was started by the Royal British Legion in 1951.
Dhesy Sabh said, “it is good to see so many
Sikh Gurdwara’s have taken on the responsibility
to arrange transport for their worshippers to travel
and pay their respects to the brave Sikh servicemen
who fought alongside British troops and laid down
their lives fighting for Europe’s Freedom.”
After the Brighton Chattri memorial the delegation
of Sikhs from the Sikh Community & Youth
Service UK visited the Runnymede Airforce
Memorial in Surrey which commemorates the airmen
and women who were lost in the Second
World War during operations from bases in the
United Kingdom and North and Western Europe
who have no known Grave.
Jagjit Singh – Airforce Flying Officer and
Rajender Singh Sandhu – Pilot Officer are two
Sikhs whose names are prominently displayed at
the Runnymede Airforce Memorial.
The delegation of Sikhs from the Sikh
Community & Youth Service UK also visited the
Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara in Slough.
LUCIAN FREUD'S NUDE PAINTING SOLD FOR $30 MN
be that honest about themselves. That means I
feel an obligation to be equally honest in how I
represent their honesty. It's a matter of responsibility,"
Freud was quoted as saying in Phoebe
Hoban's book, "Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide
Open". The British portraitist died in 2011.
The Contemporary Evening Sale saw a number
of artworks being sold at record prices, with
Freud's painting leading the auction.