Jasvir Singh (barrister)


Jasvir Singh OBE is a British family law barrister, media commentator and social activist. He is the founder of South Asian Heritage Month.

Career

Jasvir has worked as a family law barrister since 2006. He made the decision to join the legal profession after he saw one of his close aunts go through a traumatic divorce when he was only 8.
He is the chairperson for the Faiths Forum for London, an interfaith organisation based in London representing the interests of the 9 major faith traditions. 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.
He is a presenter of the Thought for the Day segment on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He also contributes to British and overseas newspapers including The Times, The Guardian and The Independent.
Jasvir 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.
In 2017, Jasvir 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. The project was named after the Grand Trunk Road which has connected Bangladesh, India and Pakistan for over 2,000 years.
Jasvir is the founder of South Asian Heritage Month in the UK, an awareness month which aims to celebrate British South Asian culture and identity.

Awards and recognition

In the 2017 New Year Honours, Jasvir Singh was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to promoting community cohesion. He is the youngest Sikh in the world to currently hold this distinction.
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.

Views

Jasvir regularly appears in the British media to speak about the British Sikhs experience and also interfaith related matters and is on a mission to unite society.