Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Holocaust memorial will reflect ‘the lows that humanity can sink to’

by ZAKI COOPER and DR PETER CHADHA

EARLIER this month [on October 2], we marked the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth.


One of the interesting things about the Mahatma was the special connection he had with the Jewish community. He had a number of Jewish friends from the two decades he spent in South Africa (1893–1914). For example, he had a long-lasting friendship with Hermann Kallenbach, a doctor, as well as Henry and Millie Polak, an English Jewish couple living in South Africa.

When Jews were being persecuted in Europe in the 1930s and there was a refugee crisis, Gandhi even suggested that they come to India (there was already a small, successful and well-integrated Jewish community in India, but that is a different story). The British government denied this request, although it did allow in 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-

controlled Europe on the eve of the Holocaust in the late 1930s, the so-called Kindertransport.

A decade later, the partition of India in 1947 led to brutality and the murder of millions, as well as the displacement of an estimated 15 million people. Many Asian families in the UK today were affected by this. They understand that the history of this period is still relevant today.

In a similar vein, 70 years on, the Holocaust, the systematic killing of six million Jews and

other minorities, remains as relevant as ever. Unfortunately anti-Semitism and other

forms of hatred are on the rise. After the Holocaust, people said ‘never again’, but we have

not lived up to this promise. Hatred, scape-goating and persecution have flourished in

too many places.

In a few weeks’ time, a planning committee chaired by Westminster councillor Gotz Mohindra will meet to decide the fate of the proposed Holocaust memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens. It has received support from the UK government, London mayor Sadiq Khan, senior faith leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the chief rabbi, as well as other community groups.

However, some local residents are opposed to the plans, and there is opposition from other

sources, including minority figures in the Jewish community.

The proposed memorial and Learning Centre have been designed to be consistent

with the local environment and will only take up seven per cent of the park. It’s a really important project, and we urge readers to give it their support. It will use the template of the Holocaust to also tell the story of other genocides, such as in Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda. It will convey to the thousands of schoolchildren who visit the lows humanity can sink to, the dangers of scapegoating “the other” and that we must always be vigilant

against racism and prejudice of all sorts. It will inculcate positive British values of tolerance and respecting the other.

The Asian community (like the Jewish community) is proud to be British, but is also aware

of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of racism on the streets.

The Holocaust was an indelible stain on humanity. It was not a British crime, but its

lessons are for everyone, and will help educate generations of British schoolchildren.

n Zaki Cooper and Dr Peter Chadha are co-chairs of the Indian Jewish Association

More For You

Sri Aurobindo

Heehs’s biography is grounded in extensive archival research across France, England, India and Israel

AMG

Sri Aurobindo and the rise of the Asian century

Dinesh Sharma

My friend and colleague, the American historian Peter Heehs, who has lived in Pondicherry, India, for decades, recently published a compelling new biography, The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Collaborator (2025). Heehs previously authored The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (2008), which remains one of the most balanced and scholarly accounts of Aurobindo’s life.

According to Heehs, most previous biographies of the Mother were written for devotees and relied on secondary sources, often presenting her as a divine incarnation without critical engagement. “Such biographies are fine for those who see the Mother as a divine being,” Heehs said, “but they can be off-putting for readers who simply want to understand her life – as an artist, writer, spiritual teacher, and founder of the Ashram and Auroville.”

Keep ReadingShow less
INSET Hatul Shah Sigma conference chair

Hatul Shah

Showing up with purpose: Lessons in leadership and legacy

Hatul Shah

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Circles of Connections event hosted by the Society of Jainism and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London. The event was organised by Yash Shah and Hrutika S., and generously sponsored by Koolesh Shah and the London Town Group, with support from Nikhil Shah, Priyanka Mehta, and Ambika Mehta.

The experience reminded me that leadership isn’t just about vision or results — it’s about how you show up, and why you do what you do.

Keep ReadingShow less
Aspirations ignited following Leicester schools Parliament visit

Aspirations ignited following Leicester schools Parliament visit

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL

Delighted to pause and look back on a pioneering partnership project, which saw our Randal Charitable Foundation, Leicestershire Police and the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) support pupils, from 5 Leicester schools, tour London and the Houses of Parliament with the aim to help raise aspirations and demonstrate possible future career paths.

With more young people than ever struggling to stay in education, find employment and track down career opportunities, I’ve reflected on the importance of collaborations like this one, which model just one way in that small interventions could reap rewards in the life course of youngsters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chelsea Flower Show highlights Royal-inspired roses and eco-friendly innovation

King Charles III, patron of the Royal Horticultural Society, walks through the RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden during a visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 20, 2025 in London, England.

Getty Images

Chelsea Flower Show highlights Royal-inspired roses and eco-friendly innovation

Rashmita Solanki

This particular year at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, there have been two members of the Royal Family who have had roses named after them.

‘The King’s Rose’, named after King Charles III, and ‘Catherine’s Rose’, named after Catherine, Princess of Wales. Both roses have been grown by two of the most well-known rose growers in the United Kingdom.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Going Dutch may be a solution to get the UK’s jobless into work’

The growing number of working-age adults not in jobs places a huge financial burden on Britain, according to recent reports

‘Going Dutch may be a solution to get the UK’s jobless into work’

Dr Nik Kotecha

ECONOMIC inactivity is a major obstacle to the UK’s productivity and competitiveness.

As a business owner and employer with over 30 years of experience, I have seen firsthand how this challenge has intensified as the economically inactive population approaches 10 million nationally - almost one million more than pre-pandemic.

Keep ReadingShow less