TOI Correspondent from London: A British Sikh man who founded the UK’s first memorial to Sikhs who served during World War I has received an OBE from the Princess Royal at St James’s Palace for services to the commemoration of Commonwealth soldiers who served Great Britain.Capt. Jay (Jagjeet) Singh-Sohal, who founded the WW1 Sikh Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire in 2015, received the award from Anne, Princess Royal, at an investiture ceremony on Friday.Birmingham-born Sohal, an army reservist, founded the memorial to ensure that the sacrifice of Sikh soldiers in WWI was remembered at the 150-acre site, which has over 400 memorials.Sohal (42), a strategic communications expert from Royal Sutton Coldfield, attended the ceremony in uniform to be admitted as an officer into the Order of the British Empire. His wife, Sukhmani, and children watched as his name was called and he went up to Princess Anne and she pinned the OBE medal on him. He had earlier received a roll of parchment announcing the order from the King and Queen.“I told the Princess Royal how much it means to Sikhs to have a memorial where we can reflect on the Sikh contribution to both world wars and help tell that story. It’s humbling because it’s a rare occurrence for someone of my socio-economic background to receive such an accolade. My hope is it inspires more people from diverse backgrounds to serve our country,” he said.His paternal grandparents immigrated to Britain from Sang Dhesian in Phillaur, Jalandhar, and his maternal grandparents came from Kapurthala.“I don’t think they would ever have imagined their grandchild would enter such a British order,” Sohal told TOI. “They came to a Britain in the 1960s still rebuilding after the Second World War and to a community in industrial Birmingham that needed them. They were humble, hard-working people with strong faith-based values who earned an honest living whilst remembering God and giving what they could to help others. Their example instilled strong Sikh values in me. I take pride in dedicating this award to Sardar Maha Singh and Mohinder Kaur Sohal,” Sohal said.
