Vickrum Digwa jailed for life for killing student with knife
Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man aged 23 described as “weapons obsessed”, has been jailed for life for killing Henry Nowak, an 18 year old student in Southampton, with a knife which he said he carried for religious reasons. He will serve a minimum of 21 years. The court was told that Digwa was carrying two knives: a kirpan, the ceremonial blade that Sikhs are legally permitted to carry for religious reasons, and a larger knife, which was used to stab the teenager to death. His legal team argued that he “carried that knife in the same way that he does every day in his life: as part of his religion.”
In an interview with journalist Fraser Nelson, Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal OBE, Professor of Sikh Studies at the University of Birmingham, discussed the claims that the weapon was carried for religious purposes. The case has sparked calls for the kirpan to be banned and has heightened community tensions. Bodycam footage released by the Crown Prosecution Service with the family’s consent shows the teenager telling officers that he had been stabbed and was struggling to breathe. Despite this, he was handcuffed after police were told by members of Digwa’s family that he had racially abused Digwa who then acted in self-defence. In court this allegation was described as “a wicked lie”. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has since apologised and referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Bishop of Gloucester backs international opposition to West Bank plan
The Bishop of Gloucester has warned that any future Israeli plans to build new settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, could end hopes of a viable Palestinian state. E1 is land between Jerusalem and the large Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Writing after recent visits to the region, Bishop Rachel Treweek highlighted international opposition to proposed Israeli settlement construction in the E1 area, which governments including the UK say would threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state. The bishop also urged people to reject an “either-or” approach, arguing that it should be possible to oppose antisemitism in the UK while criticising the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank, describing the two issues as distinct and not mutually exclusive. In her article on the Diocese of Gloucester website, she said: “Whilst a spotlight is rightly shone on the heinous antisemitism which insidiously prevails in this country, I am deeply perturbed that people are seemingly discouraged from also shining a spotlight of scrutiny on the heinous actions of the Israeli government meted out on the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, not least for fear of being accused of fanning antisemitism into flame. This is not a zero-sum space, and it is not incompatible to shine a spotlight on both of these issues at the same time.”
Peace activists call for anti-hate crime alliance in Britain
Maoz Inon, who lost both his parents in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, has called for an alliance in Britain to combat anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hate. He was speaking at the JW3 Centre in north London, alongside Abu Saah, a Palestinian whose brother died from internal injuries after being released from an Israeli jail. The pair have travelled the world with their non-profit organisation “InterAct”, calling for coalitions to bring peace. In their book, “The Future is Peace”, they say: “We have resigned ourselves to this unending war as the only way forward. But we have tried this. We have tried war. The only war that is won is one that leads to peace.”
Radio Maria England becomes Radio Maria UK
Radio Maria England is to become Radio Maria United Kingdom (Radio Maria UK), broadcasting 24 hours a day with programmes that promote and express the Christian faith, support Catholics in their spiritual lives and “offer an open door to all who wish to explore the Catholic faith more deeply”. Radio Maria says it has 85 stations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia-Oceania, broadcasting in more than 65 languages and reaching approximately 700 million listeners across the globe. Fr Toby Lees, of the Dominican Order, the priest director for almost four years, said the UK station would be “an instrument of evangelisation for all of the UK”. Radio Maria UK is a charity funded by donations, and operated by professionals and volunteers, lay people, clergy and religious.
Australian woman seeks bail after returning from Syria
Rayann El Houli, a 34-year-old Australian mother recently returned from Syria, has been charged with going to a declared conflict zone between 2013 and 2014 and joining Islamic State, charges which each carry a potential sentence of up to ten years. She appeared at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court yesterday seeking bail. The court was told that she travelled to Raqqa in 2013-14 where she married more than one IS fighter, and remained there until the collapse of the caliphate in 2019, when she was detained by Kurdish forces and spent years in the al-Hawl detention camp in north-eastern Syria. She escaped and made her way to Lebanon and then Australia. Her defence team said she renounces IS and violent jihad. The court adjourned the hearing. Australian authorities say there are multiple ongoing counter-terrorism investigations involving returnees from camps in Syria.
‘Taking the sacred seriously again’ through telling stories
A series of events is being held in Britain to consider how to “rediscover the sacred in a world where it is ignored”, and to explore what it means to take the sacred seriously again. It’s organised by the US based Fetzer Institute, in a project to “help build the spiritual foundation for a loving world”, and in partnership with the think tank Theos, and the Faith Centre at the London School of Economics. The first of three events is held today in London with the title “Exploring Sacred Stories in a secular age”, with speakers including Mark Vernon, Elizabeth Oldfield, Prof Linda Woodhead and Daisy Scalchi. The series is accompanied by a book “Retelling Sacred Stories”, a compilation of stories from all main faith traditions pointing to a shared sacred story across religious divides. More information here.
