London: Mota Singh, the UK's first Sikh and Asian Judge, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, receiving the highest civilian honour for his services to the administration of justice and community relations.
"I really feel little humbled. It is such a great honour. It means recognition of the services rendered to the British community at large," an elated Mota Singh, who is also a Queen's Counsel, said.
His decision to wear a white turban in court, instead of a wig, came to be seen as a sign of a multicultural Britain.
A Ramgarhia Sikh, 79-year-old Mota Singh was raised and educated in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1954, he shifted to England to compete the remaining part of his studies of law.
He joined the English bar in 1967 and within months developed a successful practice in civil law.
He will now be known as Sir Mota Singh.
Mota Singh, who had said that he never experienced racism in Britain when he became the country's first Sikh and Asian judge in 1982, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in her New Year Honours List 2010.
London-based Mota Singh was honoured for "services to the Administration of Justice, Community Relations and to the Voluntary Sector".
Mota Singh, who has been a prominent member of Britain's Asian community and sits on several trusts and boards, had said in a recent speech: "I am a Sikh. As a Sikh, I have found no difficulty in adjusting to life in Britain, in integrating into the society here."
"I cannot recall an occasion when I have felt that my way of life was at risk and, by and large, I have found no difficulty in reconciling my personal life, lived in accordance with the tenets of my faith, with life as a fully-fledged member of British society," Mota Singh had said in the speech.
"At the heart of our thinking is a Britain where Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Sikh and others can all work and live together, each retaining proudly their own faith and identity, but each sharing in common the bond of being, by birth or choice, British; in stark terms - in our loyalty to this country, our country," he had said.
Besides Mota Singh, 18 other NRIs figure in the Queen's New Year Honours List.
Prominent among them is Achhar Paul Dharni, who has been awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services to business and to the community in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Dharni, 68, who is also the chairman of Bradford's Hindu Cultural Society, emigrated to the city from India in 1963. He worked as a bus driver, ran and sold his own insurance broker and travel companies.
Dharni was a key figure behind the £3 million project to build the Laxmi Narayan Hindu temple in Leeds Road, which was opened by the Queen in May 2007.
In his reaction, he said "I'm honoured. It's good for the whole Indian community and it will bring more people forward to do the work I have been doing all my life."
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