Sikh leaders to meet UK police over play protests

LONDON - Sikh leaders in central England will hold talks with police on Monday after hundreds of angry protesters stormed a theatre to protest against a play that depicts sexual abuse and murder in a Sikh temple.

Three officers were hurt and three men arrested but later released on police bail after a peaceful protest against a Saturday night performance of the play turned violent, police said on Sunday.

The play "Behzti" (Dishonour), by Sikh writer Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, is described as a "black comedy".

It was not scheduled for Sunday, but another performance at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre is planned for Monday night.

"There are meetings due to take place tomorrow (Monday). One between the police and the Rep Theatre and one between police and representatives of the Sikh community," a police spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for the theatre said managers would decide whether to go ahead with Monday's performance after the talks.

The police spokeswoman said 25 officers were initially standing by at the protest on Saturday, which marked the third night of demonstrations against the play. More police were called in when the protest turned violent and 60 officers were on the scene by the end of the night.

Protesters said the play, set in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, mocked the Sikh religion. Religious leaders rejected criticism that their protest amounted to censorship.

Mohan Singh, a Sikh community leader in the Midlands told the BBC: "When they're doing a play about a Sikh priest raping somebody inside a gurdwara, would any religion take it?"

In a statement issued earlier in the week, the theatre said:

"The characters in the play are not intended to be representative of the Sikh community; they are works of fiction characterising the fallibility of human nature and the injustice and hypocrisy that exists in the real world."

- REUTERS