This morning a friend sent a short YouTube video of a Diwali reception that the new Prime Minister of the UK held at No 10 Downing Street a few days ago. One also saw pictures of the first Indian origin prime minister lighting Diyas outside the official residence of the UK's prime minister, a reminder of similar pictures from 2020 when he lit Diyas for Diwali at the Chancellor’s residence. One also read about the Indian sweets that were laid out when Rishi Sunak was received by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
Pictures and videos of Rishi Sunak and his family are circulating wildly on the social media, so much so that when WhatsApp stopped functioning for a couple of hours, there were memes about the heavy traffic of messaging by excited Indians that crashed the messaging app.
Rishi Sunak has never tried to hide who he is. He acknowledges his Indian heritage and Hindu faith, while repeatedly clarifying that he is thoroughly British. He is not an Indian; he is a British Hindu of Indian origin. He represents the racial diversity of the UK. In his success lies a lesson for all those that want a racially pure society. A nation’s wealth lies in the diversity of its people.
Whether it is observing Hindu festivals, going to temples, observing Hindu rituals, or tying the red Kalewa thread on his wrist, Rishi Sunak professes his faith openly. He and his wife, Akshata have also made an effort to inculcate Indian culture and values in their two daughters.
While in London, I always tried to attend functions organised by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan. At one such event, I was surprised to meet proud parents, Rishi and Akshata, who had come to attend the classical Indian dance performance of their daughter. They happily mingled with other parents and people who had come for the event.
Much is being made of their wealth in the western media. One has come across reports that his wealth may come in the way of his empathy for the less fortunate, basically questioning his ability to work for the poor because of his wealth, while questioning his acceptability.
Just as Rishi Sunak does not hide his Indian/Hindu heritage, he has not tried to hide his affluence. One should see this as a positive character trait: he is honest and authentic. This is perhaps what made him stick to the unpopular line in his election contest with former PM, Liz Truss, when he continued to insist that the country faced a tough road ahead and fairy tale solutions weren’t possible!
So why have so many questions been raised about his wealth, or even the non-dom tax status of his wife? Being an Indian national, she utilised an existing tax provision for wealth that accrued to her from her father’s company in India. Hundreds of the UK’s rich, if not more, have taken advantage of this provision since the time of the French Revolution! That’s how long the provision of non-domicile status has been available to the British in the UK! The “non-domicile” regime was originally introduced in 1799 when William Pitt the Younger was prime minister and the United Kingdom was at war with Napoleon to shelter those with foreign property from the UK’s new wartime taxes. It protected the wealth accruing to wealthy Britishers from the British colonies.
Rishi Sunak’s wealth is self made. This should be a source of reassurance to a country that needs to pull itself out of strong economic headwinds.
It is said that he is the richest person to become the PM of the UK, though he’s not the only rich person in the country’s politics. Lords Ballyedmond, Sainsbury and Goldsmith apart from several other leaders of the conservative as well as the Labour Party are multimillionaires. Both Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadhim Zahawi are said to be worth £100 million each. Current Labour Party Leader as also former PM Tony Blair are both multimillionaires. These were thrown up by a casual check of the internet.
In the US, the picture is clearer. Former President Donald Trump is a billionaire, as were some others in his cabinet. Current US President is a multimillionaire, as are politicians from Mitt Romney and John Kerry to former President Bill Clinton, his wife, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Former New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, with his wealth of over $50 billion would seem to trump others. The surprising nugget was that founding father and first US President, George Washington’s wealth exceeded $500 million and that several of the founding fathers were very wealthy.
The success of Rishi Sunak symbolises the UK's success in integrating immigrants and minorities. As countries and societies along the globe struggle to live with even their own limited diversity, one hopes that the people and media of the UK would cherish the rise of an immigrant amongst them to the top of the political echelon.
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