Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Barnie Choudhury: 'Don't be fooled by this sinister divisive ploy'

by BARNIE CHOUDHURY

Former BBC journalist


EVERYONE knows where they were on September 11, 2001, when two planes slammed into the World Trade Centre twin towers in New York.

But few of us will remember where we were the day before. Except I can, and for reasons

which will soon become apparent. I was in an audience listening to the then BBC director-

general, Greg Dyke, about his plans to make the organisation more racially diverse. I remember arguing with another correspondent that we should not be just making the BBC

more racially diverse, but social-class-diverse, and that should be our number one priority.

After the event, Dyke came across to see me and said two things that I will never forget. First, that I was right, the biggest battle for diversity and the BBC was social class; and second, he enjoyed my piece on Radio 4’s Today programme that morning.

I had broken a story about how some Sikhs were in talks with Nick Griffin’s British National

Party (BNP) to join him. The reason was to undermine and get rid of Muslims from the UK,

whom the BNP blamed for targeting young Hindus and Sikhs for conversion to Islam.

Post-9/11, I would follow this story and discover that one anti-Islam group had faked a letter ‘proving’ young Sikh girls in Derby were being targeted by Muslims for conversion.

Nowadays such divisions are more covert and the messages more vile. Take, for example,

the WhatsApp prompts doing the rounds urging Hindus not to vote for Labour. According to

the Guardian, one said: “The Labour party is now the mouthpiece of the Pakistani govern-

ment … It is anti-India, anti-Hindu and anti-[Indian prime minister Narendra] Modi. So if

there are any Indians who are still voting for Labour, or are still members of the Labour

party – then respectfully I say, they are traitors to their ancestral land, to their family and friends in India and to their cultural heritage.”

Examine the disgusting language. If you are a Hindu and you vote Labour, then you are a traitor. Wow. This is one step away from incitement, and we do not know how far the author of this missive has gone to foment hatred.

The Conservative party should be denouncing such tactics and leading the charge for a

police investigation. At least one Asian Media Group (AMG) staff member has been included in the WhatsApp group, and they sensibly deleted the message.

The idea of using religion and race to divide people of colour is nothing new. We only

need to reflect on the colonial history of Empire when the East India Company bought

off one Indian king after another by playing to their corruption.

This election, any election, is about exercising our democratic right to support a politi-

cal party which most resembles our way of thinking. But if I have learnt one thing in my

50 years in the UK, it is that the party in which we have put our faith will eventually disap-

point us.

Think about Tony Blair and his New Labour victory in 1997. Who would have thought that

he would use his false 45-minute claim as a basis to take us to war with Iraq? Sure, Saddam Hussein was a dictator, but Britain and America had been propping up his despicable regime for decades.

Imagine how Tory voters felt when David Cameron ran away after taking them to a refer-

endum no one wanted.Look at how Liberal Democrat members deserted the party after

Nick Clegg allowed his coalition colleagues to put up university tuition fees.

At elections, we deliver our verdict on the incumbent administration, and we should be

allowed to do so without emotional and emotive words.

Of course, we should have robust discussions and debates of eloquence which change

minds. But where do we draw the line? When does a secretive message become sinister

and undemocratic? When you accuse a fellow voter of being traitors because they have

the audacity to disagree with you, I would argue.

The secrecy of the booth has never been more sacred. The murder of Labour MP, Jo Cox, reminds us that some unhinged right-wing extremists do not believe that the pen is

mightier than the sword. The sanctity of disagreeing with your neighbour, co-religion-

ist and opponent is the foundation of true democracy. It does not matter which party gets

your cross on the ballot paper. What matters, surely, is that you are exercising your right to

vote unencumbered.

Those who seek to split us should remember that this is more than freedom of speech

and freedom of expression. This is about the freedom to live without fear in a country which has spent the past 70 years making sure south Asians of all religions thrive, no matter the hue of the government.

As Hindus, we must not let stupid, unthinking idiots jeopardise the axiom: strength in unity.

More For You

‘My daughter’s miracle recovery from fall defied all expectations’

Lord Bilimoria and daughter Zara

‘My daughter’s miracle recovery from fall defied all expectations’

IN MY entrepreneurial journey, I have noticed that crises happen out of the blue. In fact, global crises are more than not, unpredicted. Sadly, the same is true in one’s personal and family life, where everything can turn on a dime.

On December 23, last year, at 2:15 am, our 26-year daughter Zara fell off the terrace outside her first-floor bedroom at our house in Cape Town. It was a freak accident, and it happens, her younger brother and sister were awake and saw her fall.

Keep ReadingShow less
Does likeability count more than brilliance?

Higher education participation is 50 per cent for British south Asian students

Does likeability count more than brilliance?

THE headline in the Daily Telegraph read: An 18-year-old with a higher IQ than Stephen Hawking has passed 23 A-levels.

The gushing piece went on to report that Mahnoor Cheema, whose family originate from Pakistan, had also received an unconditional offer from Oxford University to read medicine.

Keep ReadingShow less
Comment: Why it’s vital to tell stories
of Asian troops’ war effort

Jay Singh Sohal on Mandalay Hill in Burma at the position once held by Sikh machine gunners who fought to liberate the area

Comment: Why it’s vital to tell stories of Asian troops’ war effort

Jay Singh Sohal OBE VR

ACROSS the Asian subcontinent 80 years ago, the guns finally fell silent on August 15, the Second World War had truly ended.

Yet, in Britain, what became known as VJ Day often remains a distant afterthought, overshadowed by Victory in Europe against the Nazis, which is marked three months earlier.

Keep ReadingShow less
Judicial well-being: From taboo to recognition by the UN

The causes of judicial stress are multifaceted, and their effects go far beyond individual well-being

iStock

Judicial well-being: From taboo to recognition by the UN

Justice Rangajeeva Wimalasena

Judicial well-being has long been a taboo subject, despite the untold toll it has taken on judges who must grapple daily with the problems and traumas of others. Research shows that judicial stress is more pronounced among magistrates and trial judges, who routinely face intense caseloads and are exposed to distressing material. The causes of judicial stress are multifaceted, and their effects go far beyond individual well-being. They ultimately affect the integrity of the institution and the quality of justice delivered. This is why judicial well-being requires serious recognition and priority.

As early as 1981, American clinical psychologist Isaiah M. Zimmerman presented one of the first and most comprehensive analyses of the impact of stress on judges. He identified a collection of stressors, including overwhelming caseloads, isolation, the pressure to maintain a strong public image, and the loneliness of the judicial role. He also highlighted deeply personal challenges such as midlife transitions, marital strain, and diminishing career satisfaction, all of which quietly but persistently erode judicial well-being.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fauja Singh

Fauja Singh

Getty Images

What Fauja Singh taught me

I met Fauja Singh twice, once when we hiked Snowdon and I was in awe he was wearing shoes, not trainers and walking like a pro, no fear, just smiling away. I was struggling to do the hike with trainers. I remember my mum saying “what an inspiration”. He was a very humble and kind human being. The second time I met him was when I was at an event, and again, he just had such a radiant energy about him. He’s one of a kind and I’m blessed to have met him.

He wasn’t just a runner. He was a symbol. A living contradiction to everything we’re taught about age, limits, and when to stop dreaming. And now that he’s gone, it feels like a light has gone out—not just in Punjab or east London, but in the hearts of everyone who saw a bit of themselves in his journey.

Keep ReadingShow less