The Prime Minister’s surprise announcement last week of the forthcoming General Election has sent a surge of electricity through Westminster.
All of the predicted roadmaps through the 2020 have been ripped up, and instead we will now get another opportunity at the ballot box to decide the future of our country.
I very much welcome the Prime Minister’s decision. Having watched opposition Peers in the House of Lords collaborating to try and derail the people’s will on Brexit, I think it’s absolutely right that we let the people decide who is in charge.
I supported remain in the referendum, but I respect democracy. My side lost. So – like a lot of remain voters – I am now dedicated to ensuring we make Brexit a success and reshape our country for the better.
That is what Mrs May wants to do. Strengthen her hand when negotiating with our European partners, and implement the best possible plan for Brexit. The Lib Dems, Labour and the SNP are all obstructions to our country’s better future.
But there is another matter that is troubling me. And it’s something that always arises around the time of Elections. Calls to publish Hindu specific manifestos.
I find these manifestos deeply troubling. They seek to divide us; to see ourselves as subgroups of a nation rather than being part of the whole.
The greatest strength of the Hindu community and the British Indian community has been how we’ve integrated into society. We’ve maintained elements of our culture and faiths but married them perfectly with the values of the country and society we live in.
When we approach the election, we should be basing our decisions on what is best for our country, not on what promises we can extract from politicians based on our faith, skin colour or homeland.
There are of course issues that affect our community more than others; the need to repeal the Caste Discrimination legislation immediately springs to mind.
But this is something that affects a principle across all communities – that of community cohesion – and should therefore be in the main manifestos of the different parties, not in a sub-manifesto. That’s exactly what Bob Blackman MP, Lord Gadhia and I have called for.
The national debate on the election is focusing on the economy, Brexit and leadership; these mirror exactly the issues that most British Indian voters raise with me.
We should be very proud of how successful the British Indian community has been, and we have done so largely because we are more integrated that other BME communities. Although there is a trend in society towards seeing ourselves as part of ever-smaller sub-groups, we should resist this trend.
There is one area where we do still need to make progress, and that is on seeing more British Indians in Parliament.
Compared to other BME communities, we tend to have less elected officials from Indian backgrounds.
We tend to put too much emphasis on success in business and the professions at the expense of political engagement. But this is a separate point to community manifestos; we need them to come forward to ensure politics is representative of our society, not just to demand concessions for one community.
We need more British Indians, particularly younger members of the community, to come forward as Councillors and MPs. People like Cllr Ameet Jogia in Brent North has the opportunity to give a different voice and different experiences in Parliament. I hope over the next few weeks we will have a national debate on the key issues facing our country, and that – within the British Indian community – we do not fixate on the matters that only affect us because of our religion or background.
We should not have a separate Hindu manifesto like other BME communities have. Our manifesto is what is good for our country. What is good for our country is good for us as we are part and parcel of the United Kingdom.
I urge the British Indian community to vote on May 7th, but not based on the politics of Kashmir, but on who you think will be best for your constituency and for our United Kingdom.
