Lord Rami gives up honour after king orders it to be ‘cancelled’ for attacking Sikhs, Pakistanis
LONDON: A notice published in the London Gazette on Friday said King Charles III had directed Lord Rami Ranger’s CBE would be “cancelled and annulled”.
The Forfeiture Committee, which decides on whether to strip someone of an honour, is understood to have taken the decision after considering social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.
It also considered the House of Lords Standards Commissioner’s finding in June 2023 that Lord Ranger had harassed and bullied Indian journalist Poonam Joshi in a series of tweets.
Lord Ranger, who has donated around £1.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2009, was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.
He was later ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May’s resignation honours, but lost the Conservative whip after he was censured by the standards commissioner.
Lord Ranger apologised to Joshi for his conduct, which included calling her “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”, after the Lords Standards Commissioner found he had bullied and harassed her.
The Conservatives returned the whip to Lord Ranger in November this year.
It’s understood that while Lord Ranger apologised for his actions, the Forfeiture Committee considered his behaviour combined with the fact he was made a CBE for his work on community cohesion meant it was appropriate for him to forfeit his honour.
In early 2023, Lord Ranger apologised and withdrew comments that were abusive to Pakistanis, after a referral was made about his conduct to the House of Lords standards watchdog.
While defending Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BBC’s two-part documentary about the PM and his role in anti-Muslim 2002 religious riots in Gujarat, Ranger had accused Pakistanis as “groomers of young girls” who also do “drug peddling”.
He also alleged that “30-40 Labour MPs” depend on Pakistani votes and that “Pakistani votes are the best because they are in ghettos”.
He also suggested without any evidence that the BBC’s “Pakistani-origin staff” could be behind the documentary on Modi.
After he was criticised heavily, Ranger apologised for his racist and hate-filled comments about Pakistanis.
The 76-year-old Indian-origin peer’s conduct was investigated following a complaint by Joshi, who had raised questions about the presence of representatives of a controversial Hindu cult leader at a Diwali event hosted by Ranger and Hindu Forum of Britain at the House of Lords in October 2022.
The cult leader, Nithyananda, was then sought by authorities in India on multiple charges — including child abduction and rape and is thought to be hiding in Central America.
Joshi’s questioning of Lord Ranger on X, formerly Twitter, led to a torrent of insulting and abusive messages from the peer on the microblogging site and WhatsApp.
The House of Lords Standards Commissioner, in his final report, has recommended that Lord Ranger issue a public apology to Joshi and take a training course on social media use.
The report also found that there was a “clear imbalance of power” between Lord Ranger and Joshi and says that he “abused” that power imbalance by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating Joshi”.
Among Lord Ranger’s vitriolic tweets at Joshi were: “Who is asking you? Who has given you the authority to insult others who do not appease you? You are showing your poor upbringing by bullying”.
Pro-Khalistan group the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has survived Indian assassination plots against him, have issued proceedings at the London High Court (LHC) against Lord Ranger for making false allegations that they are agents of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and are receiving money from the state of Pakistan for running high-profile Khalistan movement.
The SFJ and Pannun are suing Lord Ranger for making statements that they are both part of a conspiracy mounted and funded by the enemies of India, namely Pakistan; that the SFJ has been declared a terrorist organisation by the Indian government; that the SFJ leader Pannun has used monies donated to the SFJ for his own benefit, including to enable him to buy a £1million house; and that both the SFJ and Pannun are funded by Pakistan and the Pakistani intelligence agency.
