An installation titled 'Standing With Giants', depicting more than 100 life-sized British and Indian soldiers at Hampton Court Palace, London in 2021. Reuters
An installation titled 'Standing With Giants', depicting more than 100 life-sized British and Indian soldiers at Hampton Court Palace, London in 2021. Reuters
An installation titled 'Standing With Giants', depicting more than 100 life-sized British and Indian soldiers at Hampton Court Palace, London in 2021. Reuters
Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
July 31, 2023
When Humza Yousaf became First Minister of Scotland, he was the first person of Pakistani heritage to take up the role. It came hot on the heels of Rishi Sunak, someone of East African-Indian background and son-in-law of an Indian business magnate, becoming the first British Prime Minister of South Asian heritage. To the backdrop of Brexit and Scottish agitation for independence, there was a joke doing the rounds among those of us of South Asian heritage in the UK – in typical dark British humour – that a Pakistani-heritage first minister and an Indian-heritage prime minister might end up presiding over the Partition of Britain.
There is plenty of history, politics and identity wrapped up in that joke, not to mention some anticipatory schadenfreude on the part of some. What it absolutely points to is how intertwined the histories of Britain and India are, and how knowing the centuries-old backstory of the relationship is so vital. And what a backstory it is.
Also crucial is knowing that this backstory is a pillar of any future understanding of the identities, heritage and engagement of the UK’s South Asian-heritage people, to how and why India sees itself the way it does, and the connections and cultures of the many varied and geographically spread Indian diasporas.
In the UK, we are currently in a moment of the year attempting to do just that.
The events of 2020 – the murder of George Floyd, the anti-racism protests and conversations that followed – prompted shifts in the importance of stories that had been erased, overlooked or untold. While discussions of black communities were rightly centred, in the UK this also prompted a cry for its other minorities – which are also part of Britain’s complex colonial past and its diverse present – to open up space for their stories to be told too.
Hindu devotees dancing and chanting Hare Krishna during a parade in London. Getty Images
There is no better gift than the gift of understanding of what has made us into the people we are, and what we bring to the world
One of those initiatives is South Asian History month, which is taking place right now, running from July 18 to August 17. Eight countries are grouped under South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan.
According to the UK’s 2021 census, 5.5 million people (or 9.3 per cent of the total population) were from Asian ethnic groups. About 1.9 million (or 3.1 per cent) of those identified with the Indian ethnic group, and 1.6 million (or 2.7 per cent) with the Pakistani ethnic group. And according to work I have led at WPP and Ogilvy, the world’s largest advertising and branding networks, the aggregate annual disposable income of the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage groups in the UK is more than £105 billion ($136 billion).
None of these astounding facts should be overlooked. But what, if anything, do we know of the stories of nearly 10 per cent of the UK population? Looking at an even bigger picture, what do we know of the stories of the people who make up the South Asian nations that total more than 25 per cent of the global population.
And that’s before we consider the size, spread and impact of the South Asian diasporas around the world.
As a child, the little snippets about Indian communities around the world fascinated and puzzled me.
My own heritage is in Tanzania, with origins in Gujarat. I didn’t realise until I was older the many and varied stories it is composed of. From piecing together my own family history, it seems my heritage in East Africa was for economic improvement as my forebears left India in the 19th and 20th centuries to find better lives, possibly to escape the famines in India, or to take advantage of bustling ports such as Aden and then on to the Swahili coast. Others came to build the railways and founded the city of Nairobi in the late 19th century.
Then I remember discovering in my twenties – by accident – about indentured labourers who had been shipped in servitude to East and South Africa. I still remember being knocked sideways by the book Jesus is Indian and Other South African Stories by the South African author Agnes Sam. The book had been discarded by the local library as no longer of interest to them. But in it unfolded the most extraordinary tales about Indians that I had never known before.
An art teacher in Mumbai makes paintings to congratulate Rishi Sunak on becoming UK Prime Minister last October. AP Photo
Today, I have discovered that after slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833, in need of cheap labour, indentured servitude was invented and one, possibly two, million Indians were shipped around the world.
I remember hearing that there were Indians in Trinidad; again, to the ears of a child this was a mystery. More recently, I have come across Indian communities in Fiji, still harvesting sugar cane, as they once would have done for the British.
When the 70th anniversary of Partition was marked in the UK in 2017, it was an eye-opening moment for the younger South Asian generations who knew little, if anything, of their family history. And the very kernel of a wider British discussion was planted about the relationship with India.
Fast-forward to today and South Asian countries have moved on in time. And as Britain itself has moved on, many of the (limited) ideas about the region and its people persist. And this is to the huge detriment of domestic culture and societal narratives as well as to Britain’s expression of itself in the world and its relationships with South Asian diasporas as well as the region itself.
But, perhaps, the most exciting and vital part of this moment in the calendar is the chance to “Tell Our Stories” – the theme of this year’s South Asian Heritage month. This is an invitation to understand our own backstories, our own powerful heritages, and our identities. There is no better gift than the gift of understanding of what has made us into the people we are, and what we bring to the world.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17 Spanish Super Cup: 2017 Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017 Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
Gifts exchanged
King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
