Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Shami Chakrabarti: ‘People must reject the politics of hate in this general election’

by BARONESS SHAMI CHAKRABARTI

HARROW is my home and where I was raised. It felt special going back there during a general election campaign over the weekend.


I was lucky enough to visit the Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple, one of the religious hubs at the heart of the Harrow East community. It was clear from speaking to people at the temple last Saturday (7) that Harrow East urgently needs a Labour government. People spoke to me about the concerns around social care, NHS and the spike in hate crime in the area.

The rise in hate crime is not something that comes as a shock to me. When my parents first arrived in England from India, they were attacked by far-right skinheads as they pushed me in my pram in north London. Still they believed in the power of democracy, of votes inspired and earned with ideas and policies; not those bought or demanded on the basis of faith, race or hate.

A classic racist smear on members of any minority ethnic community is that we are somehow not to be trusted because of allegiances to foreign powers. We remember Norman Tebbit’s infamous “cricket test” aimed at Commonwealth migrants and their kids. Jewish people the world over are painfully aware of stereotypes about their politics in general, or

views on any particular action by any Israeli government of the day.

And after last month’s appalling murders at London Bridge, British Muslims will once more fear guilt by association and even reprisals. So how irresponsible is it for any group with self proclaimed primary allegiance to politics elsewhere in the world to feed such smears and conspiracies by actively intervening in an election here in the UK?

I am talking about a sinister campaign that uses WhatsApp messages demanding that Britons of Indian-Hindu extraction vote Conservative on the basis that Labour members such as me are “traitors to their ancestral land, to their family and friends in India and to their cultural heritage”.

The Times of India reports that an organisation called the Overseas Friends of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata party) has identified 48 Labour-Tory marginal seats in which to campaign, spread fear and sow division. In July this year, Canadian officials reported the very same group spreading misinformation to influence that country’s October election.

Labour is accused of being pro-Muslim and anti- Hindu. This is simply not true. Human rights cannot be the preserve of any one group. They belong to everyone, everywhere, including in conflict-ridden Kashmir. Labour has unequivocally condemned terrorism in that region and called for India and Pakistan to come to a peaceful resolution and respect human rights.

This has also been the consistent, publicly stated policy of the Conservative government.

It is particularly bizarre that some of the messages circulating include Islamophobic rants by

Katie Hopkins. When my father received his “Pakibashing” while trying to protect me and my mum in 1969, the fascists forgot to check whether he was Indian or Pakistani. I doubt the far-right thugs of today are any more discriminating.

To add insult to injury, the Tory candidate in my late parents’ constituency of Harrow East seems to be up to his neck in this cynical attempt at divide and rule by faith. People in Harrow have already spoken out. Bob Blackman is neither Hindu nor Muslim, but is employing this far-right playbook at the expense of others so as to weigh their votes without counting the long-term cost of fanning the flames of racial tension.

It is awful to admit, because I miss my parents every day, but it is a small consolation that they did not live to see this behaviour in the place they crossed the world for, and where they invested their entire adult lives. So, before this week’s election, it was important that I returned to my childhood home to ask people to vote Labour – not on sectarian lines but for the schools, hospitals, universities and housing that all families deserve. I asked them to vote to halt a climate emergency that knows neither national nor religious borders. And to vote for personal and community security and for peace.

I reminded them that burning towers and hostile environments protect no community over another. I will never urge people to vote on grounds of faith or race. This far-right playbook is neither Conservative nor “one nation”. It is taking its inspiration from the worst foreign politics more than any migrant ever did. This divisive nightmare has to end.

I call on people to reject the politics of hate.

More For You

Government launches urgent national maternity care probe

Black women nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth compared to white women, while Asian mothers face double the risk. (Photo for representation: iStock)

Government launches urgent national maternity care probe

HEALTH SECRETARY Wes Streeting has ordered an immediate nationwide probe into England's maternity services following a string of NHS scandals that have cost the lives of hundreds of mothers and babies.

The fast-track investigation will focus on the country's poorest-performing maternity and baby care units, with findings expected by December 2025, the BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Hardeep Singh Puri

India's Hardeep Singh Puri, who is leading a 7-member delegation, meets Irish prime minister Micheal Martin. The delegation paid tribute to the victims of the Air India Kanishka bombing at the Ahakista Memorial, on the 40th anniversary of the incident, in County Cork, Ireland. (Photo: PTI Photo)

PTI Photo

On Kanishka bombing anniversary, India's Puri calls for end to terror financing

INDIAN minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday (23) called for ending funding channels to terrorists and separatists and urged collective action to counter global terrorism, as he paid tribute to the victims of the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka bombing on its 40th anniversary.

The Montreal–London–New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded mid-air on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board. The flight was 45 minutes away from landing at London’s Heathrow Airport. Most of those killed were Canadians of Indian origin.

Keep ReadingShow less
International yoga day

International Day of Yoga stood as a powerful reminder of yoga’s enduring role in personal and collective transformation

Parmarth Niketan

Global leaders gather in Rishikesh for 11th International Day of Yoga

Key points

  • The 11th International Day of Yoga was celebrated at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh
  • Ambassadors, high commissioners, and guests from over 25 countries participated
  • The event followed the global theme: “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”
  • The Common Yoga Protocol was conducted by trained instructors with government audio
  • Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati Ji led the spiritual programme
  • Celebrations concluded with a World Peace Yajna and the national anthem

A global gathering on the banks of the Ganga

Rishikesh, 21 June – The 11th International Day of Yoga was marked by a large-scale, spiritually uplifting gathering at Parmarth Niketan Ashram on the banks of the River Ganga. Diplomats, dignitaries, and yoga enthusiasts from over 25 countries participated in the celebration, which followed the global theme of “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”.

The event began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp and the recitation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The session featured the Common Yoga Protocol conducted by trained instructors to the government-issued audio guide.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh's former election chief arrested over vote rigging claims

FILE PHOTO: Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the media at a vandalized metro station in Mirpur, after the anti-quota protests. (Photo by -/Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh's former election chief arrested over vote rigging claims

BANGLADESH's former chief election commissioner K M Nurul Huda has been arrested on charges of manipulating elections during his tenure, police said.

Dhaka metropolitan police’s deputy commissioner Mohidul Islam said Huda was arrested in the case filed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against the former election commission chief and 18 others, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump

US president Donald Trump. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Pakistan under fire for nominating Trump for Nobel Peace prize

PAKISTANI politicians and citizens are demanding their government withdraw its nomination of US president Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace prize, following American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar sent a formal letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee in Norway last Friday (20), recommending Trump for the prestigious award.

Keep ReadingShow less