‘If they are murdered it is your fault.’ That was the accusation levelled at councillors in Slough who blocked a call to Slough Borough Council over alleged threats to Sikh residents.

Councillors had been set to decide whether to write to the government expressing concerns about the safety of activists in Slough campaigning for an independent Sikh state of Khalistan. Two activists in Slough say they are being targeted by the Indian government and are reportedly in danger.

But Conservative council leader Dexter Smith said the debate should be blocked, highlighting a petition signed by 57 people that branded the motion divisive. He said: “They [petitioners] feel it will be divisive to good community relations and will create ill feeling towards the Sikh community.

“It is the first time in my experience as a member of this council for more than two decades that here has been a petition asking for a motion to be withdrawn from debate.”

Councillor Smith acknowledged that ‘to some it sounds like a pro-Sikh motion and to others it sounds anti-Sikh, anti-Indian, or even anti-Indian government.’

Slough Independent Group councillor Sabia Akram who proposed the motion argued that the issue should be debated, highlighting fears for the safety of some Slough residents. She said: “The safety and security of our citizens is protected in law. The fact that security agencies have contacted families in Slough where two members and their families – British citizens – lives’ are at risk is a real concern to us all.

“We as councillors are duty-bound to raise and demand answers on behalf of our citizens.”

Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors voted not to debate the issue while Labour councillors abstained. Only eight councillors voted for the debate to go ahead meaning it was blocked.

But angry protests from several Sikh residents watching from the public gallery meant the mayor Balwinder Dhillon paused the meeting until they’d left the room.

One person shouted: “There are Sikhs in Slough that are under threat by the Indian government – what are you guys doing about it? If they are murdered it is your fault.”

The motion by councillors Akram and Waqas Sabah – both of Muslim backgrounds – called on Slough Borough Council to write to the government to ‘strongly convey the very deep concerns felt by Slough residents over alleged reports of Indian Government agencies targeting Sikh activists in Slough'.

It also called on the council to support campaigns against anti-Sikh discrimination. But some 57 Sikh residents of Slough signed a petition calling on the motion to be removed from the council’s agenda on Thursday, July 25.

It said the proposal was ‘a deliberate attempt to create division and ill feeling towards the Sikh community’.

However other Sikh groups supported the call including the Sikh Federation UK and the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in the West Midlands, one of the largest in Britain.

Following the vote the Sikh Federation UK said blocking the debate was ‘a direct attack on democratic British values'. It said it is speaking to councillors to bring another motion to the next meeting in September.