Henry Nowak Murder: Andrew Pope's Open Letter To Leader of the Council

Andrew Pope has written to the Leader of Southampton City Council, Labour Councillor Sarah Bogle, with an open letter following the conviction and sentencing of Vickrum Digwa, murderer of Henry Nowak.

 

Andrew Pope

It is copied below. It has also been sent as a letter to the Daily Echo, and as a media release.

You can contact us at the details at the link here.

"Dear Councillor Bogle,

I write to congratulate you on your elevation as Leader of Southampton City Council. With power comes responsibility to represent all of Southampton, particularly in times of crises.

In your recent Leader's Corner, you ask for suggestions as to how to attain unity in the light of Vickrum Digwa's murder of Henry Nowak in Portswood near the Unversity that I attended. Digwa has received his punishment under our justice system - life imprisonment with 21 years minimum. Digwa should not be seen as representative of Sikhs.

We should not respond with "rage" at Henry's treatment. We should channel any anger into constructive action to protect our City and its reputation, and to retrain the Police and if necessary, punish those who made mistakes.

I was welcomed into the Sikh community when our friend and colleague Del Singh was murdered in Afghanistan in 2014. We paid our respects at his funeral at the Crematorium and at the Gurdwara. I remember Del frequently, He was killed by religious extremists, trying to promote peace and reconciliation.

Henry Nowak was killed by a religious extremist. Somebody who warped the beliefs of Sikhism, just as the Taliban warp the beliefs of Muslims.

Any reaction to his murder that is also extreme tarnishes the needless death of a young student in our City, and is not constructive. Nowak's family have indeed asked for Henry's death to not incite racism, division or to be about Sikhs. The family want constructive action, not violence.

Overnight, we have had national news report on violence in our City. Violence incited by He-who-shall-not-be-named in an irresponsible call for "pure cold rage". Thugs have been incited by the Leader of the Reform UK party, just as their party's idol Donald Trump incited needless violence in the USA and commits needless violence in Iran that affects us all, with Trumpflation at the petrol stations and in the supermarkets.

Therefore, I urge you to put out a Statement to this effect, a joint statement agreed with all political groups at Southampton City Council - Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Reform.

Such a statement should back the Police and Crime Commissioner's call for an independent investigation into the Nowak incident. I have disagreed with Donna Jones on many things, including on the performance of the Police where I have had to quote her own office's figures back at her. But on this, I agree with her that it should be urgent. There is a very low level of trust in the IOPC's independence, so their investigation cannot be the only one.

Such a statement would be how to show unity and that you can look beyond your parties and in the interests of Southampton and its people.

Being an independent, and part of the Independent Network, we do not have party policies or a whip.

Being independent gives us the ability to see things more clearly and more objectively, free from party loyalties.

I offer you my advice as an independent, and hope that you will take it.

Regards,

Andrew Pope

Independent Network

Southampton Independents"

Councillor Sarah Bogle has replied to say:

"A statement is going out shortly.

Thanks for your concern."

 

We await the statement.