British Sikh MP receives threat mail saying ‘watch your back’; security beefed up
Britain’s first female Sikh MP, Preet Kaur Gill, has claimed she received email threats to ‘watch her back’, prompting her to tighten her security.
The 50-year-old is the opposition Labor MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston, and a front bench politician as shadow secretary of state for international development.
According to an interview with ‘GB News’ on Saturday, she said she is worried about her family’s safety as she goes about her regular duties as an MP, holding ‘surgery’ meetings with her local constituencies.
“It was very straightforward. This is worrying because I am with my daughters in the constituency all the time. My family lives there. It really puts it in the context of the kind of job you do,” he told the channel.
“This latest direct threat worries me. As a woman, when you put yourself forward and you want to address injustices and you care about issues that affect your constituents, you face people who think That it’s okay for you to say stuff like that. I couldn’t believe this guy used his workplace email to make a threat,” she said.
“Usually most people would probably use an alias, or try different ways of creating hate campaigns. A large amount of hate campaigns have also been launched against me through WhatsApp groups,” he added.
She revealed that she informed West Midlands Police about the threat and uses a bodyguard for protection.
“This is something I discuss with my team. I am not only concerned about my safety but theirs. I don’t want to limit my surgeries, I don’t want to go to an appointment-based system, I want to be open and be able to be in my community and make sure people feel like they have that access. can Myself,” he noted.
Speaking about her ethnicity, the frontline politician said being the first female Sikh MP in the UK Parliament can be “quite isolating” in terms of support.
“And so, sometimes I think as a woman when you’re trying to do something good it’s very difficult to face that kind of hate and criticism,” she added.
In December 2021, Gill came under fire on social media for a tweet she later deleted that referred to a “Hindu terrorist” as being behind the violence at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
(with inputs from AP)
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