THE historian Kusoom Vadgama does not think Sir Sajid Javid’s plan to build a monument to honour Muslim soldiers who fought for Britain during the two world wars is a good one, because she feels it would be a divisive gesture. Her argument is that Hindu, Muslim and Sikh soldiers…
A Tangkhul Naga man from India’s northeastern state, Manipur, who served in both the British and Japanese armies during World War II, has died in Ukhrul district due to age-related ailments, his family said. He is survived by his wife, son, and five daughters. Yangmaso A. Shishak was 93 years…
With the next UK general election looming over the horizon, upwardly-mobile British Indians will be a critical voter constituency in various parts of the country. In recent times, there has been a fraying of relations between the wider British Indian population and the Labour Party. In the 2015 general election,…
Birmingham has recently appointed its first British-Indian Lord Mayor, Councillor Chaman Lal, following the decision of local councillors in the West Midlands city of England. Representing Birmingham as its first citizen, Lal hails from the Ravidassia community of British Sikhs and was born in the village of Pakhowal in Hoshiarpur.…
A portrait of two Indian soldiers who fought in the First World War has been placed under a temporary export bar by the UK government to allow time for its acquisition in order to prevent it leaving the country. The unfinished portrait, by Anglo-Hungarian painter Philip de Laszlo, depicts cavalry…
Plans to set up a memorial to the British Indian Army in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow have been given a go-ahead. The plans for the structure, which will be erected near Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, were submitted on behalf of Colourful Heritage, which records first-hand accounts from first-generation members…
A statue of a Sikh soldier was unveiled in the UK’s Leicester city on Sunday to honour Sikhs who fought for Britain in conflicts around the world. The bronze figure on a granite plinth went on display in Victoria Park on Sunday, the BBC reported. The Sikh Troops War Memorial…
A public historian in England is trying to track down relatives of soldiers of the British Indian Army held as Prisoners of War (PoW) in Germany, Italy and France during the Second World War. Dr Ghee Bowman in South West England and author of the book The Indian Contingent: The…
I AM extremely proud of my Indian heritage. I am even prouder to be the first Sikh MSP and one of the first women of colour elected to the Scottish Parliament. That is why it was such an honour for me to have the opportunity to get recognition for the…
A 97-year-old Indian veteran whose leg was blown off in Italy in World War II has won a battle for a bigger pension that was previously denied to soldiers injured before independence in 1947. Sepoy Balwant Singh was one of more than 2.5 million soldiers from British India who took…
Hampton Court installation tells little-known story of Army camp at the palace THE contribution of Indian soldiers in the First World War is to be remembered at Hampton Court Palace with an outdoor arts installation called Standing with Giants. The display will include “25 specially commissioned silhouettes representing the Indian…
A Memorial Tree in memory of Chaina Powar was planted on July 19, who served in the British Indian Army during World War II in Burma and was also awarded the Burma Star medal. He is the first Indian soldier who had been Memorised in the one hundred years history…
By Dr Irfan Malik GROWING up in the Meadows area of Nottingham, we were told stories about our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. I was aware they were soldiers and had descended from a celebrated military village. My parents arrived in the UK from Pakistan in the early 1960s. My father…
By: Mohnish Singh On the occasion of Sam Manekshaw’s birth anniversary, RSVP Movies’ Ronnie Screwvala and filmmaker Meghna Gulzar announced the title of his much-anticipated biopic. Starring National Film Award-winning actor Vicky Kaushal as Sam Manekshaw, the biopic has been titled Sam Bahadur. Sam Manekshaw’s career in the military spanned…
By Amit Roy NARINDAR SAROOP, a former Indian army major who died on December 19 in London at the age of 91, played a crucial role over 40 years in laying the foundations of the close relationship that exists today between the Conservative party and voters of Indian origin. In…
UK prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer have supported the ‘Remember Together’ initiative ahead of Remembrance Sunday. The campaign, a joint initiative by thinktank British Future and the Royal British Legion, urges greater efforts to commemorate the service and sacrifice of black and Asian servicemen and women…
by LAUREN CODLING AS A teenager, Air Trooper Munib Sheikh dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Growing up in Pakistan, Sheikh idolised Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo for his work ethic and rise to the top of his field. The self-proclaimed “football crazy” teen was inspired to pursue his own dream…
by LAUREN CODLING A SOUTH ASIAN historian has emphasised the importance of remembering the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers during the Second World War, following events last month to mark the 75th anniversary of VJ Day. The Royal British Legion (RBL) paid tribute to the millions of soldiers who lost their…
By Amit Roy THIS slight to the British Indian army and to Commonwealth soldiers in general might not have been intended, but when the 75th anniversary of the ‘Victory in Europe’ Day (VE Day) was commemorated on May 8 this year, the British Legion and other organisations managed to give…
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak on Sunday (2) backed a campaign for influential ethnic minority figures to be featured on a set of UK coins to celebrate Britain’s diversity. Mahatma Gandhi is in the running as an influential Commonwealth figure, as the UK’s Royal Mint considers the plans as part of…
UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering a proposal for influential ethnic minority figures to be featured on a set of UK coins to celebrate Britain’s diversity. According to The Sunday Telegraph, plans have been submitted to the Royal Mint to work out some proposals as the…
By Amit Roy AN ACADEMIC who has been studying the two- and three-fold incidence of heart disease and diabetes, respectively, among Asians for 35 years, has some common-sense advice on how they can protect themselves during the coronavirus pandemic. Professor Raj Bhopal, 67, emeritus professor of public health at Edinburgh…
By Amit Roy WHEN Joanna Lumley appeared as a guest on Classic FM last Sunday (12), she was introduced by a star-struck presenter John Humphrys – he is no longer the fierce inquisitor from his Radio 4 Today days – with the gushing words: “There are so many Joanna Lumleys…
BRITISH actor Laurence Fox has apologised for the comments he made on a Sikh character in a World War I film. Fox had previously referred to "the oddness in the casting" of a Sikh soldier in Sir Sam Mendes' movie 1917. Fox tweeted: "Fellow humans who are Sikhs, I am as moved by…
A British Sikh Army Reserve was on Monday (23) was named as the winner of British prime minister Boris Johnson’s Points of Light Award for his exceptional service commemorating Sikh contributions to the country's armed forces. Jay Singh Sohal, who is the Conservative Party candidate for West Midlands Police and…
Former British prime minister David Cameron released his memoirs on Thursday (19), in which he speaks of getting on well with "saintly" former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, who even confided in him about the prospect of military action against Pakistan in case of another Mumbai-like terrorist attack. For The…
Archbishop of Canterbury Revd Justin Welby on Sunday (8) said he would make a statement on the "dreadful" Jallianwala Bagh massacre when he visits Amritsar, but insisted that it should not be "pre-empted". "... I did make a statement on the anniversary of this dreadful massacre... I will make another…
by LAUREN CODLING A NEWLY refurbished memorial room dedicated to the British Indian Army was unveiled at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst last Friday (6). The Indian Army Memorial Room (IAMR), reinvigorated by the National Army Museum (NAM), displays an array of objects and paintings commemorating the contribution of South…
After Bard of Blood and Class of 83, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is now gearing up to produce yet another webseries for leading streamer Netflix. Titled Betaal, the series was announced a couple of weeks ago and has created a lot of buzz in media. Though the makers are…
Netflix is one of the biggest OTT platforms and has many series being streamed on it. Recently, Netflix announced five Indian originals and two of them will be produced by Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma. Apart from being actors, SRK and Anushka are also successful producers. Shah Rukh Khan’s…
by Nadeem Badshah FORMER UK military staff from Commonwealth countries should be exempt from paying “rocketing” immigration fees to settle in Britain, campaigners have said. Personnel who leave the Armed Forces after four years of service have to pay visa application costs that have risen by 127 per cent in…
by LAUREN CODLING BRITISH prime minister Theresa May expressed regret for the Amritsar atrocity, but stopped short of a full apology on Wednesday (10). “We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused,” she said in the House of Commons at the start of Prime Minister's Questions, as India marks…
KESARI LEAD STAR AKSHAY KUMAR ON HOW HIS PERIOD WAR DRAMA REFLECTS THE NEVER-GIVE-UP ATTITUDE OF SIKH SOLDIERS by ASJAD NAZIR Popular actor Akshay Kumar continues to show off his impressive range with new film Kesari. The historical film, based on real-life events, revolves around the legendary battle of Saragarhi, which took place in 1897, in…
Discovery Communications India ventured into Hindi television space (fiction) with the launch of General Entertainment Channel, Discovery JEET. When the channel came into being, it promised to air five hours of original content on a daily basis. However, things did not go as planned because the channel could not garner…
The Indian government has decided to mark the remembrance of 100 years of the historical Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre next year, said India's ministry of culture in a statement. India’s minister of state for culture, Dr Mahesh Sharma visited the Jallianwalla Bagh located in Amritsar of Punjab state on Friday (23)…
by LAUREN CODLING MORE needs to be done to raise awareness of diverse personnel who have contributed to the military, a senior member of the armed forces has said. During the First World War, over a million Indian soldiers, about 400,000 of them Muslims from present-day Pakistan, battled alongside British forces.…
A UK police force on Saturday launched an appeal to arrest vandals who attacked a newly-inaugurated Indian war memorial in the town of Smethwick in the West Midlands region of England. West Midlands Police said officers are treating the vandalism to the retaining wall surrounding the 'Lions of the Great…
by AMIT ROY TWO peers, Jitesh Gadhia and Karan Bilimoria, delivered powerful speeches on Monday (5) during a Lords debate on Armistice Day marking the centenary of the end of the First World War, in which they urged the nation to remember the sacrifices made by 1.5 million Indian troops.…
by LAUREN CODLING ASIAN peers, politicians and community leaders have paid tribute to south Asian soldiers who contributed to the First World War, as Remembrance Sunday is marked this weekend. Almost half of the three million Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the First World War were from undivided India, which…
A new sculpture in honour of Indian soldiers who fought during World War I was unveiled on Sunday in the town of Smethwick in the West Midlands region of England on Sunday. Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick had commissioned the “Lions of the Great War” monument, which depicts a turbaned Sikh…
The new £50 note could become the first to feature someone from an ethnic minority. Campaigners are backing Noor Inayat Khan, a British Muslim Second World War heroine, to be the face of £50 note, which will be reissued in plastic from 2020. The campaign, started by activist Zehra Zaidi,…
Superstar Akshay Kumar, whose first release of 2018 - Pad Man - is slated for its theatrical bow on 25th January, has started shooting for his next film, Kesari. The big-budget period film is based on the famous battle of Saragarhi, which was fought between Sikh soldiers of the British…
by RITHIKA SIDDHARTHA BRITAIN’S Sikh MPs have supported London mayor Sadiq Khan, who last week called on the UK government to make a formal apology for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which nearly 400 Sikhs were shot dead by British Indian army soldiers. During a visit last Wednesday (6)…
Last seen in Colors' Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, popular television star Mohit Raina is all set to make a comeback with a powerful role. The actor has bagged Contiloe Pictures' upcoming magnum-opus called 21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897. The historical show will beam on a soon-to-be-launched channel, Discovery Jeet. 21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi…
Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown has credited a British Asian eye surgeon with rescuing him from complete blindness. Dr Hector Chawla gets a special mention as an "old friend" in My Life, Our Time written by the former Labour party leader who was prime minister between 2007 and 2010,…
by REENA KUMAR A HISTORY project is hoping to shed new light on the experiences of Indian soldiers who fought in World War One, in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire regiment. Priya Atwal, a history consultant at Oxford University, told Eastern Eye that the project entitled The Indian Army in the…
A former Indian-origin soldier-turned-politician in the UK has returned his Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in protest against what he feels is the misuse of the honour system by former prime minister David Cameron. Major (Retd) Narindar Saroop, who was born in India, went…