In statements to Lusa, deputy José Soeiro explained that the BE received today, in a hearing at the Assembly of the Republic, a group of workers from the Sikh community, from various sectors of activity such as agriculture, catering and digital platforms, namely TVDE.

"It is a community with about 150,000 people in Portugal already, which originated in Punjabi, in India. It is a very peaceful religion and has been the target of defamation by the extreme right. André Ventura has published videos saying that members of the Sikh community are a threat because they carry religious amulets," he said.

José Soeiro recalled that Sikh men are religious, meditate and mostly wear an orange turban, have a long beard and the kirpan (a curved dagger or knife), a sacred object with religious significance.

"There is a photograph that went viral and that was transformed into an element of falsification, of false information and of inciting prejudice against the Sikh community by André Ventura, saying that members of the community were a threat because they were armed in public transport which constituted a threat to people," said the Bloco deputy.

José Soeiro denounced that these statements by the leader of Chega are "a lie, a falsehood", explaining that, in fact, the kirpan is "a religious symbol that cannot be used to attack anyone".

"They are concerned that the extreme right is spreading this false information because this false information treats these people, who are working here, as if they were a threat to national security, to collective security and are very serious because they are ways of creating insecurity," he said.

According to the reports he heard at the hearing, José Soeiro said that he was told "that they have already felt the prejudice that results from this defamation of the extreme right and that they are victims, because it is normal for many people to be unaware of what the religious symbols of the Sikh religion represent".

"From this ignorance, if there are those who try to transform this ignorance into distrust and hatred, treating them as a threat to the Portuguese, of course they themselves will suffer the consequences of this hate speech. And there is a concern they have about the insecurity that is created by these prejudices, which sometimes translates into actions," he warned.

José Soeiro also added that the Sikh community is integrated into society, professes a peaceful religion "which has prayer, meditation as its principles" and that they are people who "work hard", contributing to social security and paying their taxes.

Leia Também: TVDE demonstration? "The government and the platforms cannot ignore it" (Portuguese version)