Let me start by stating the obvious: I know most people don’t follow politics every day. For most, the comings and goings of Westminster and the repeated statements of Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems are enough for most people to change the channel.
It is hard to think of a time when politicians have been less popular. I hear people say all the time that ‘politicians are all the same’ and ‘there’s no point voting’. There is, sadly, a prevailing view in the British Indian community that voting and elections are something that should be left to others.
This is absolutely one hundred percent wrong. Voting is a right that has taken centuries to acquire. It is an honour that people have campaigned and died to acquire over generations. The power to elect your Member of Parliament is one of society’s great civic responsibilities; your way of deciding the future of our great nation.
If there is one community who should know the value of voting, it’s those of us who were forced from East Africa in the 1970s. There was no vote in Uganda when the Asians were expelled; Idi Amin’s racist policies were not based in democracy, but were instead rooted in prejudice and ignorant of the rule of law.
My father never had the right to vote when he lived in India and Uganda. Like me, he voted for the first time in Britain at the 1974 election. Imagine living for fifty years and never having the right to say who you believe should be in Government. Prior to then he never had a say on Government priorities like tax rates and health spending; he was a second-class citizen.
British Indians are amongst the most successful immigrant communities anywhere in the world. From education league tables through to the Board Rooms in our leading FTSE 100 companies, the British Indian contribution to Britain is disproportionately high compared to our numbers.
Our community has successfully integrated into British society without losing its long-held values; the importance of education, entrepreneurship, faith, family and respect for the law. Yet we’ve also maintained our long-standing political ambivalence; this has to end.
There are too many important issues at stake for our community to stand on the side-lines. The economy, Immigration, the NHS, tax rates, welfare reform, education; all of them vital to our lives. We can’t let others decide who should be in charge.
Last year when India went to the polls, Narendra Modi brought people out to vote in record numbers. Many people will be voting on who they want to see as their Prime Minister, Ed Miliband or David Cameron. Others will decide which candidate is best to serve their local constituency.
However you decide to do it, I urge all British Indians to get involved in this election. Not only are you deciding who will be Prime Minister and who will form the Government, you are also deciding which path our country should follow. At a time of great global uncertainty -in the Middle East, Nigeria and Ukraine- it is a responsibility we should all cherish.
