AN internationally renowned Sikh blogger from Malmesbury has appeared on the television network Al Jazeera, defending his right to marry interfaith.

Navjot Sawhney, 26, was contacted by the international news network after he wrote an article denouncing a protest that took place at an interfaith marriage held at a Gurdwara in Leamington Spa last year.

The protest took place in September when 55 Sikh men, part of a group called Sikh Youth UK, tried to stop a wedding between a Sikh and a Hindu.

Navjot said he was left worried by the protests as his girlfriend is a white non-Sikh and he says he wants to have the option to marry her in a Gurdwara.

“Why should a Sikh be prevented from participating in a ceremony that is important to them because of who they fall in love with?” he asked.

“I understand the sensitivities around allowing interfaith marriage ceremonies in the temple.

“After all, both people getting married must accept the concept of one God and renounce any other beliefs they hold which are contrary to that.

“But I believe it is up to the couple to decide whether they are comfortable with that commitment.

“I cannot reconcile the claims of the Leamington Spa Gurdwara demonstrators, who say they are proud Sikhs who only want to defend and protect their faith, with the reality of the footage I’ve seen, a gang of men, dressed all in black, hoods up, some in balaclavas.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said: “This isn’t the correct way of going about these protests. What would be good is an open dialogue.

“Take off your balaclavas, sit down with the community and let’s all find common ground.”

Navjot believes that although the protestors have a right to air their views, he believes that the methods chosen were too brash.

“Even those who are sympathetic to the protesters point of view must object to their methods,” he said.

“They have reinforced the perception that a turban and beard equate to dangerous fundamentalism.

“They have given the racists and the bigots justifications for their ignorant hatred.”

This was one of many interviews that Navjot took part in in the past year which made national or international news, as a result of his hugely successful online blog Nav’s Project 365.

The blog is followed by more than 17,000 people online and can be found on Facebook by searching ‘Nav’s Project 365’.

Navjot is currently in India helping to develop cleaner stove cookers for families dying of smoke inhalation.