There are strong objections and fury in the community about the unprecedented inaugural meeting and the proposed launching of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Gujaratis. This is being cited as mischief to divide the Indian community in the name of a separate APPG.
Questions are raised on the creation and selection process of its committee members and posts. It is being argued whether they consult the community and who authorised them to insert vindictive vendetta in the name of APPG. Community members wonder whether everyone is aware that, we already have the APPG for British Hindus which serves all our needs, then what was the need to create this new parliamentary group.
The demand for postponement of the proposed launch on 25 April is soaring.
Asian Voice columnist Kapil Dudakia also mentioned in his column - Kapil’s Khichadi this week, “It is one of the silliest ideas I have come across in a long while. It seems this is the playbook of the left in the West to influence the elections in India in 2024. It’s time to stop this madness of trying to divide us in the UK to profit some politicians.”
National Council of Gujarati Organisations UK (established in 1985) stated in their mail to APPG for British Gujaratis, “We seek an urgent face-to-face meeting with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the APPG to seek further clarification and listen to our views. We would also suggest that you postpone the launch until these and many other questions are answered.”
The APPG is under scrutiny to answer whether there was a consultation that was carried out for this. If so, the details of the organisation and individuals must come to light. If such meetings/consultations happened, demands to share the details and any minutes have emerged. It is being questioned why major Gujarati Organisations are not a part of any consultation. The aim of the APPG is under the spotlight to discover what it intends to serve the Gujarati community. There’s also a demand to disclose the APPG’s creation and selection process of its committee members and posts.
President of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Mrs Trupti Patel has written to Gareth Thomas MP & Hon Bob Blackman MP Co-Chair of the proposed APPG Gujarati. Her letter reads as follows: “It has come to our attention that an APPG Gujarati is being created and to be launched shortly. From our assessment, it has become clear that the vast majority of Hindu/Gujarati/Indian organisations have not been consulted. Had this basic first step taken place then it would have become abundantly clear that the said APPG Gujarati commanded no confidence and is rejected by Gujaratis and the Indian diaspora in general. I feel compelled to point out the obvious to you, that we already have an APPG British Hindus and APPG India which meet the needs of the community. Similarly, other faith communities and nationalities, have their own respective APPG. In essence, there is no gap to fill since what exists already serves the various communities. We are also astonished that any parliamentarian would think of creating an APPG to serve the interest of just one community from India would be a good idea. By that logic, one assumes in the not-so-distant future we will have one for every state. And will this principle then apply to every nation and its states? It is our view (and that of our members) that the APPG Gujarati is ill-conceived, that it serves to divide the Indian diaspora and that it seems to have a suspect political agenda that has little to do with the needs of the Gujarati community, or indeed that of the Indian diaspora. In light of this, we advise you to cease immediately all operations of APPG Gujarati. It should be disbanded and all reference to it in any parliamentary register should be removed forthwith. We hope you take the contents of this letter with the seriousness it deserves. The community will not accept any parliamentarian abusing their name.”
