Paki Tin

Sikhs in the city: Castewatch UK update

2010-01-06T22:40:00.009Z

Happy New Year to all readers of Paki Tin

The last few months of 2009 were ones that flew by in an instant for me. In what has been a momentous year for many, I will remember 2009 personally as one which opened my eyes to the many ills of our society. By opening my eyes, I saw the problems - now its up to me to either close them again and ignore them, or speak up and address them. But to avoid starting the new year on a negative note, I wish all of you a prosperous 2010 and begin this year with an update from our friends at Castewatch UK - always fighting the cause for equality amongst all and making excellent progress. So much so that the Sikh community has backed Castewatch's efforts to push the Single Equality Bill through parliament. Good work.

CasteWatchUK Press Release

Sikhs support “caste amendments” to Single Equality Bill

A delegation of CasteWatchUK met delegates of a number of Sikh organisations from East London and Essex to discuss Caste Based Discrimination and the need to outlaw it with respect to the forthcoming Single Equality Bill.
It was unanimously agreed that Caste Based Discrimination is now a serious problem facing Asian Communities in Britain and agreed to support the campaign led by CasteWatchUK. The meeting also recognised that Caste Based Discrimination practices (due to various cultural reasons) also pervade the Sikh community contrary to its religious ethos. All the organisations present unanimously condemned without equivocation and ambiguity Caste Based Discrimination practices and agreed to support the proposed amendments to outlaw Caste via the Single Equality Bill. It was emphasised that Caste must be declared as a protected category along with other discrimination strands addressed by the Single Equality Bill to make for a fairer Britain.

Satpal Muman, Chairman, CasteWatchUK
Davinder Prasad, General Secretary, CasteWatchUK
http://www.castewatchuk.org/ e-mail: info@castewatchuk.org
13th December 2009

Positive action in 2010 - follow the correct path and you shall find what you seek

HOW RACIST ARE YOU?

2009-10-30T00:15:00.011Z

As a Punjabi, I often enjoy the delights of being a Punjabi man through endless drinking of alcohol and meat eating on a Saturday with my mates (stereotypes? Oh no). So when in conversation, the word 'paki' is bandied around it's usually not a problem. It's kind of like how American black rappers call each other 'niggas'. So when a member of my drinking party referred to another as a 'paki' it was laughed off in conversation - it's usually not a racial term and there is no malice in it (it's used almost as a counter racist word - turning it on its head). All laughed apart from one - our Muslim friend who joined us that evening. He had obviously been the recipient of this racial slur before. The rest of us laughed away until I noticed I could not see his pearly whites - he wasn't laughing at all.

What did that tell me? If it doesn't affect you, you often cannot see the problem! Today, I saw the channel 4 programme 'The Event: How Racist are You?' which aimed to explore racism in the UK by rallying up a cross section of British people and subjecting them to a race experiment. The whites in the group were made to feel what it was like to be on the receiving end of racism through a crude social experiment led by Jane Elliot - the self confessed bitch.

It was interesting viewing and one that I think revealed that racism is very subtle in Britain. It's not all about paki-bashing and shouting paki or nigga at the ethnic minority in the street. Racism is inherently built into our society and people who are not recipients of racism will not realise how racist Britain can be because they are not subject to it. The people in power may not see that there is a problem. In the experiment, Elliot turns it on its head and subjects the blue eyed white people to discrimination. Some of them fail to learn from it - denying that it exists. By not seeing the problem, they became part of the problem.

A mixed race gentleman talks of not collecting his daughter from her middle class school because he didn't want her friends and their families to see that her father was an outward black man - it was shocking but I could sympathise. He chose to conform and do what was necessary which meant his life was easy and uncomplicated. Why rock the boat? Why fight the perceptions and stereotypes associated with being a black man with dreadlocks - it means he will be marginalised and so will his daughter so he just doesn't create that problem for his daughter. He is acutely aware that his presence would cause an outrage or a subtle frown from the parents. It's not as though he is going to roll up to a middle class school where mummies and daddies pick up their children in their estates in a blacked out BMW rolling on 20's with the music blurting the rhythms of Bob Marley and hotboxing his car as he smokes a spliff is it? Isn't that what rastas or dreadlocked men do? The man was aware of the limitations of his being - completely out of his control and subject to the scrutiny of others.

It is inherent that groups in societies will feel privileged over others. I felt privileged at school because I was in the football team and captain - it meant I could pretty much do what I wanted because I was the man - it didn't matter that I had a top-knot anymore. The reality of modern life in Britain is that racism still exists - ask Boris Johnson. One of his senior team uses the 'n' word as it was described in the press. Why is it ok to scrawl PAKI all over the front pages of all the newspapers? There are millions of people in the UK who are crushed when called a paki - the media however thinks its ok to re-use the word in their stories but we can't say nigga oh no - way too politically incorrect. Who makes the rules here?

The funny thing about all of this is the underlying currents that still haunt the civilised nation we call ‘United Kingdom’. Only recently, an actress is called a paki on the most watched TV programme in the UK. It’s a disgrace and Anton Du Beke should have been forced to tango straight out of the door. Remember Carol Thatcher? Maybe Ms Rouass wasn’t too bothered by the comments but I was – the most watched show on TV allowed a race crisis to unfold and gain national attention. Then Brucey had the nerve to say it was just banter. No Brucey bonus for you mate.

So racism still exists in all forms and subtleties theres no question about it. The Experiment proved that racism is often inherent amongst the ruling classes - its not just a white and black thing. Ask anyone who has been discriminated against - whether for colour, age, sex, sexual orientation. Unless those who discriminate rethink and acknowledge their actions and beliefs nothing will change.

CHAOS rules OK - are you in control?

2009-10-03T00:01:00.005+01:00

Even those that think they are completely in control of their lives are actually not. What is being in 'control' and where do we draw the line between fate, circumstance, chance, luck and coincidence? I don't know... but if I take myself through a normal day then I come to realise that in fact I am in control of nothing. While I make choices that create my everyday life experience, I am constrained and pushed by external forces greater than myself - the forces of mankind that as a whole create a much greater effect than my own choices alone. Out of the chaos that sorrounds us, we all live an existence constrained by law, environment and our conscious thoughts through rights and wrongs and morals.

So I wake up in the morning - why do I wake up at 7am? Who said 7am is the right time to rise? Why not 3am or 3pm? Man has decided that a working day begins in the am and ends in the pm and there is certainly a mathematical and historical reasoning behind this - but in 2009 do any of us know what that reasoning was?

I rise, put on the TV and begin taking in the days news. The recession bites harder, the Labour party causes more havoc, The Sun decides to change political allegiance, property prices fall yet again, a Tsunami hits Sumatra etc. The days' negativity has begun.

I go to work to please my boss. I board a train. From the chaos, a small time table allows me to plan my day, creating boundaries and order out of potential disorder. How else would I know the train arrives at 8.11am? On the train, I am quiet and calm, executing my 'business' posture like everyone else. Conformity is annoying is it not?

During work, timings are obeyed - lunch times, meeting times and close of business time. All of these 'times' and gateways structured to create my working day. Returning to the train platform, consulting my little timetable. Being held up on platform 4 because train x is late... I am constrained by the fault of others and the knock-on effect is not my fault. I get home late and get in my car - drive through endless traffic. I stop at man-made traffic lights, negotiate through roads constrained by traffic laws and roads that almost tell me which way to travel - after all I cannot drive onto the path can I? That would be dangerous and against the law? Who knows what would get in the way, a lamp post? Designed to provide light and visibility on this clear evening. Or maybe a person - forced to walk on the sidewalk because that is the right thing to do. Or maybe a building. Man made.

In fact everything around us is man made. Look around. What is natural? Everything you see around you is ergonomically designed, fit for purpose and functional. Even my patch of grass in my urban jungle sprawl has been placed with intention - no rhizomes here. No chaos - just functional.

I now live in an urban jungle and in all of the functional, fit for purpose elements that sorround me lies a person making sense of the chaos... My organised religion gives me reasoning to make sense of the chaos but then I fear the priest is taking advantage of me. After all, the priest was late getting to his sermon today, a traffic jam and strong winds makes for a delayed prayer. Why would the priests' blessing have any bearing on me? He is a human being, breathes the same, cries the same tears, shits like everyone else. Divine wisdom or inspired bullshit? Man-made religion - adjusted and negotiated to suit those who practice it? An opiate to make sense of the chaos?

So if I live with total freedom then why is every element of my life almost governed by the elements both natural and man-made?

Mr Singh and Mr Khan in the VIP, F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G.... Identity is non-existent…

2009-08-20T23:06:00.008+01:00

Today I saw a comment on none other than the abominable Facebook about what it meant to be a Sikh. A Sikh is a learner, he who is willing to learn. “Wearing the turban and maintaining an outward Sikh identity does not make you a Sikh” it said. “Being a Sikh is an emotion” it said. So all of you who adopt a religious symbol that defines your being, I’m sorry to say it may mean nothing. Wearing it for the sake of wearing it, does not make it worthy of the status it seeks to own. Counter this with the argument that any symbol designed to display allegiance to a way of being makes it worthy of being what it seeks to be – it’s the intention that gives it meaning. After all aren’t we all trying to be something or someone?

A layered argument makes for a great debate – and my debate is one of identity. I argue that identity is non-existent. “I am what I am” said popeye the stubborn sailor man (I think he was Sikh) – stubborn, big muscles and likes Spinach. Definitely Mr Singh characteristics. Ask popeye why he didn’t embrace the turban. Hypocrite! Even his fat arch enemy Bluto (I think that was his name) went one better and grew a beard!

There is a whole raft of generations who are confused about who they really are. Take Mr Singh, a 20 something educated British citizen who follows his religion on a semi-permanent basis, drinks alcohol at the necessary social gatherings and partakes in the Khalistan debate when he is forced to think of the atrocities of 1984 in the presence of the Sikh society at his university. For a few minutes he feels the injustice only to later feel the comfort of his bed sheets in his parent’s semi in Slough and he forgets the whole thing till next time. Take Mr Khan, similarly follows Islam to a degree that he is comfortable with. Mr Khan likes to dabble in recreational drugs and enjoys the odd tipple. He participates in the Islamic society and associates mainly with other Muslims. Mr Singh and Mr Khan have a lot in common, they are not opposites. They are products of their environments – where boundaries and accepted norms are created by those who possess enough clout, enough power to define a reality for them. Mix this with a parental influence (usually an eastern disposition), an identity that associates them with a religion and a digital culture (of a western disposition) I like to call the ‘Digital Kalyug ’ and we have some confused kids on our hands. Kalyug: meaning dark days. In man’s evolution, the final era or ‘yug’ is the worst – with injustice being the norm amongst humankind (a Sikh philosophy).

Mr Singh has no real idea of what 1984 was really about. He knows that Sikhs were innocently slaughtered in the holiest Sikh shrine. But does he understand the significance of such an event? He is forced to hate Hindus and other non-Sikhs as a result of this – partly by the views of injustice he hears at the ‘cha and samosa’ party at his university lecture hall and partly by the militant fashion in which ideas are propagated. A well informed ‘man in the know’ uses his knowledge to instigate a vision of any reality he wishes. “The Hindu government have forced the Sikhs to take arms, to demand a separate homeland”. Munching his samosa, Mr Singh is oblivious. He takes away the propaganda and contemplates for a while.

Mr Khan has a similar hate of his own. In recent times his community of predominantly Musilim folk has been scrutinised since the terror bombings of 7/7. He is stared at in public places and he is stopped by the police more frequently when in his car. Mr Khan develops a hatred for rules. Sajjid at university talks of the ‘white power’ that maintains the firm grip of the ethnic man – the ‘whip hand’. He talks of the innocent murders of brothers and sisters outside of the borough of Berkshire in far-off lands. Mr Khan thinks for a second. A sense of justice defines his identity and he should do something about injustices.

Mr Singh and Mr Khan live their days in a bubble of reality that is created by the social circles in which they move. They have no real idea of what it means to be British, or to have a British identity. Their lack of understanding of their social environments afforded to them by a chance decision of a great grandfather to ‘find work’ and make money in a foreign land does not make them feel grateful for being in a better place away from gunfire, poverty or war with even the lowest levels of UK poverty being equivalent to a seven star hotel elsewhere. They have access to education, food, water and warmth far beyond what is deemed “acceptable” in India or in Pakistan. They have a chance to be educated free from the constraints of a caste system (debateable: see earlier articles for enlightenment) where class will prevail. Mr Khan however thinks the NHS is a waste of space because A+E took five hours to treat his slash wound when he decided to ‘claat’ some Singhs in the club who retaliated. Mr Singh thinks the law system in the UK is flawed since he was allowed to get away with a paltry 3 month driving ban when he got “smashed” on Chivas Regal at his mates wedding and attempted to navigate his way home. A small price to pay for a lifetime of stories with friends and a mountain of Facebook picture tags. Singh and Khan have a problem with etiquette speaking a hybrid English punctuated by sucking of teeth and an ‘init’ to end every sentence. It’s the norm. That’s what it means to be a Brit-Asian init?

A few Muslims have a run-in with some Sikhs at a club. Apparently Muslims and Sikhs do not get along… Khan doesn’t really know why. What the hell a fisticuff makes him more of an eligible bachelor in the eyes of the intoxicated females. Singh hates Muslims because they give it large and take all of ‘his’ women – its acceptable to fight and that’s what Sikhs do isn’t it? They are a warrior religion and they defend the weak. So when a Muslim brother chats up a Sikh sister, Mr Singh defends the weak (with the prospect of fornication with said “sister” upon dispatch of Muslim).

Fuelled by bravado and alcohol (and some recreational drugs) a showdown takes place. Mr Khan is bottled and Mr Singh is stabbed. Another innocent bystander however is caught in the struggle, is knocked unconscious and suffers multiple stab wounds. Police barricade the club and scores of clubbers of the Asian variety discuss proceedings outside amid the sirens as if they understand what is really happening – it’s exciting though. “Don’t mess with me” thinks Mr Singh. “I’ll take you down” says Mr Khan. The essence of the initial brawl is lost only to leave a re-enforced hatred based on… well nothing.

Mr Singh and Mr Khan sitting in A+E, S-T-A-R-I-N-G at each other. “This is not over” thinks Khan. “You will feel the wrath of my kirpan” thinks Singh. So the cycle continues… And for what? Meanwhile, a child dies every six seconds in Africa alone from poverty, HIV / Aids and hunger.

There are lots of Mr Singhs and Mr Khans who operate in the same way as above perpetuating a so-called reality of hatred and clash of religious groups. In fact some of them that will be reading this will be one of them too (females included – no gender bias in this debate oh no). The bigger picture is this: define your own reality. Ask questions and decide for yourself what is right, what is wrong and what can be dismissed. Just because all the lemmings went south and sank in the quicksand, will you too? The bubbles in which we live, those that define our realities can be easily burst if we open our eyes and minds a little more. There is a whole world out there.

Question who you are but do not question others for they are also prescribing to an identity of some degree – it’s a continuous process. We are born alone and we die alone. What we do in the middle is up to us. Learn something new today. Be proud of where you have come from and be proud of where you are now. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. More importantly, be sure of where you are going because the direction you take is down to you…

Identity in the crudest sense is non-existent. We become whatever we want to be in the moment. If I see an injustice, I become the law enforcer or the morally right. If I see prejudice, I become the peace maker… I am in the moment and the moment is me. Be not constrained by a category or boundary… Be the person who you want to be. Being dressed in the hijab or wearing the turban will not make you more favourable in God’s court, but you deserve some credit at least. If you adopt the “Mr Khan and Mr Singh” approach as above, you only scratch the surface, you will never fully know who you really are because you don’t question and ask why things work this way…Think about it.

I’m off to have a beer, and maybe spend 7 hours on facebook. After all that’s what we all do isn’t it?

Don’t be concerned about the wind that goes opposite to you… it only blows to make you fly higher. Like an aeroplane, it needs the wind coming against it at unbearable and sometimes brutal speeds to fly it. Take off and see the world at magnificent heights…

Picture 1 - Ignorance, You'll never know how bad things are if you never ask.

Picture 2 - 'The Thinker'. The artist Cézanne saw no difference between a human sitter and an inanimate object such as an apple, except that the reflection value and the palette were different. In the end, his subjects and his fruit wilted - all of his pictues were sad and sombre. He didn't embrace the beauty of life.

Picture 3 - 'The Original Sin' - According to traditional Christian theology, human beings have fallen from divine grace. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to defy the command of God not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve disobeyed. Original Sin was born. All descendants of Adam and Eve have fallen from a blissful state of innocence and communion with God. Now humankind is condemned to a life of suffering and toil ("the primal curse").

Birth and Death - and the bit in the middle

2009-08-01T23:59:00.012+01:00

Wake up it’s the 1st of the month!

Its been about 8 months now since Paki Tin was conceived and I began writing about things that were essentially me "thinking aloud". It has been a strange year so far and one that has probably moved faster than any other period of my life. They say things happen all at once - very true.

Paki Tin has moved leaps and bounds since then. Here are just a few of the headlines.

Endorsement by CasteWatch UK – a leading organization aiming to address caste discrimination in the UK.
An invitation and subsequent appearance to appear on a popular current affairs TV show exploring race and identity – and other projects in the pipeline.
Invitations to attend conferences and conventions addressing identity politics and discrimination in the ethnic communities.
Many artists, musicians and writers have offered their work to us and this will culminate in the ‘Who Are You? Join the Debate’ project coming soon.

Paki Tin has covered some of the following topics:

Racism, race, ethnicity, arranged marriage, religion, terrorism, identity, outward religious symbols, institutional racism, the BNP, politics, ethnic representation in the media, white flight, and the topic that has sparked the most debate: caste discrimination.

Many of the topics discussed have stemmed from supporters of the site sharing their thoughts and I thank you all for your support. I also thank those that have contributed to the site and offered advice so far. Get in touch with me at paki-tin@live.co.uk.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the hype that has come out of this site but I’m not here for that nor did I set up this site for any of the above. They are by-products of my thought processes.

So in true Paki Tin fashion, I leave you with some words that I first posted a few months ago but subsequently removed because I felt they were too personal. We all have questions about life and God… remain inquisitive and seek answers. Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. I don't have the answers, I just hope to ask the right questions.

Every generation thinks it has the answers, and every generation is humbled by nature

I would like some answers please (originally posted March 2009)

Today is a bad day. Tomorrow could be worse. I have had the wind taken from my stomach; I have had my peace of mind eroded faster in the last week than ever in my life. I have had my life put into perspective through endless iterations in the last few days. I have learned that I am hard faced, un-reactive but strong and resilient.

A person close to me was told that they had a life threatening illness. This person was lucky and I am grateful to God that this person has been given a second chance. Talking of God, I question further God’s role in all things that formulate our destiny. A person who has been devoutly religious (more so than the average person) all of their life, has never partaken in sinful activities such as drinking, smoking and meat-eating (all cardinal sins for a Sikh) still has their life threatened in the most terrifying way. Where was God’s help and leniency? Why does God allow such cruelties? And why do we blame God when such an occurrence takes place?

I have always been a person who has been ashamed to ask God for something. I’m like your proud uncle whose pride is precious and I will die for it. I do however thank God when things go right or I am grateful for what I have. I try my best to lead a life that would be worthy of an invitation to heaven. When judgement day arrives I would approach the pearly gates with trepidation, recalling my worst human acts and hoping that I was able to counter them with equally good ones and somehow the tally sheet holds enough evidence for my allowed entry like an immigrant awaiting his fate at the border of a foreign land. I’m not foreign to heaven am I? They know of me… they were expecting me… I would be afraid of being turned away or something has been overlooked and I am refused. Come to think of it, I am like this whenever I check in for a flight. I am worried that I have missed something or the airport security gives me a hard time for nothing. I am always very jittery on these occasions. When at the gates of heaven, all of my quivering and trembling is justified. This is me.

I have designed my whole life around the person who for a second I thought I was going to lose and I did not react. I couldn’t react although I had admittedly thought about this kind of morbid situation many times as a way of strengthening my own resolve and determination. When it happens for real, there is no knowing how you will react and my reaction has certainly shocked me. God certainly didn’t give me a teary disposition; I must have been at the back of the queue when he handed out his quota of tears per person. I have dissolved into a trance-like do-this-do-that android that goes about his daily life and takes each day as it comes.

I have questioned everything important in my life. The fact is that nothing is as important to me as my family. The human product I am today is inextricably linked to my upbringing, environment and the haves and haves-nots that have shaped my character and my persona. The person whose life was put in question has had the most profound impact on me that I am in awe of the strength, compassion and resilience that this person has displayed all of their life. I am angry with God for allowing this person to endure such a position… I further question whether religion really is the ‘opiate’ that nulls the pain of human kind. After all, where does worship get us? I would like some answers please…

I conclude that there is no correlation between worship and length of service (a life time). If this was the case, then why do the good die young? And why do some evil bastards drag on and kick their heels for years and years? Where’s the balance and more importantly where is the justice? I was told once that God takes people at any time when he has a need for them… I have a need for this person and so I politely ask God to leave this person alone… for me.

Rays of sunshine may oust a shadow once CASTE - Single Equality Bill update

2009-07-18T23:14:00.005+01:00

CasteWatch UK, a supporter of Paki-Tin have informed us of the progress made in the passing of the Single Equality Bill. Paki-Tin reported on the pitfalls faced by British Asian society in light of the caste debate - it seems that British Asians embrace the west but cling onto caste prejudice. Can you truthfully explain what caste you belong and what significance it holds for you today?

For those victims of caste discrimination - take heart and take note - this will continue.

For those who practice caste discrimination - your ignorance will not be tolerated in a free society.

Please also see Paki-Tin's previous articles on CASTE discrimination:

A societal weather report: Expect this dark cloud to reign perpetually. A shadow is CASTE over our societies… - 7th April 2009

Societal Weather Report Part 2: High Caste, Low Caste – We are Over Caste… The high winds of change are upon us. - 10th April 2009

A Letter of Thanks - CasteWatch UK - 19th April 2009

DNA of an Indian: a rich cultural heritage, centuries of exceptional academic achievement and CASTE discrimination - 22nd April 2009

**Update July 2009**

You will be aware that CasteWatchUK has been leading the campaign to have Caste Based Discrimination (CBD) addressed in the Single Equality Bill (SEB).

CasteWatchUK recently submitted a memorandum as evidence to the Scrutiny Committee overseeing the Single Equality Bill. Caste Based Discrimination has now been addressed as per the amendment as proposed.

Although several MP’s who have been supportive of our cause were working hard behind the scenes, the amendment was proposed by Lynne Featherstone MP and Dr Evan Harris MP - members of the Bill Committee. Please see the Single Equality Bill amendment by following the URL below.

The Committee stage now comes to a close. The SEB will now proceed to the Report Stage then 3rd reading after that onto the House of Lords. We will continue to eagerly monitor the passage of the Single Equality Bill.

You will not be surprised to learn that we faced immense opposition from Hindu Council UK and Hindu Forum of Britain. No doubt when they learn of this amendment there will be retaliation. We will have to keep an eye on how the SEB progresses in the next stages.

Here is the URL for the memorandum that CasteWatchUK submitted:-

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmpublic/cmpbequality.htm#memo

Here is the URL for the proposed amendment to the SEB:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmbills/085/amend/pbc0850707a.1113-1119.html

A link to Bill Committee: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmpublic/equality/equality.htm

This is a historic day for our people in the UK & rest of the world and marks the beginning of an end of our suffering in silence for centuries in the name of caste.

Regards and thanks for your continued support to our common cause.

Davinder Prasad
General Secretary
CasteWatchUK

Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour, way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey and way before Barack Obama

2009-07-07T22:54:00.025+01:00

Saturday 27th Feb 1993 was the happiest day of my life. I had forced my dad to buy me a copy of the greatest music video the world had ever seen. I was 9 years old and I was in awe. Michael Jackson was my idol as he was to millions of fans across the world and my childhood was defined by two things – football and Michael Jackson.

I remember that Saturday like it was yesterday. I had pestered my dad for weeks to buy me the Thriller video. I was too young to see it during its peak – having being recorded a year before I was born and the video doing the rounds when I was merely vomiting over my mum’s shoulder as a baby. But I grew up with the Jackson phenomenon firmly entrenched in my mind. I am looking at my Thriller video now, still one of my most prized possessions. A rather battered case and darkened image but it holds a lot of memories. It cost £9.49 (a lot of paise my gran would have said) and the price tag my mum left on the inside cover knowing I would look back in years to come and remember the time. Today I reminded her.

Other MJ films had the same effect as I teetered on the edge of pre-pubescent existence. When it comes to embarrassing moments in life, I have had my fair share of them but one that I don’t deem embarrassing is my love and adoration for the man known as the King of Pop. My appearance on the local Asian radio station during one school summer holiday serves as a reminder to me of how big an influence Michael Jackson really was to me – and for many others.

“So what have you been doing in the holidays? Playing football? Building a tree house? Having lots of fun?” the radio host asked in a light Indian twang.
“I’ve been wochin Moonwalker evriday” I exclaim excitedly in the way only we know in the Black Country.
“Oh really, how many times have you seen it?”
“I’ve seen it baat 80 times now, it’s brilliant, ah love it. I gorrit at ‘ome on video”.

I plucked the number 80 from thin-air and truthfully it was probably a lot more times than that...My Moonwalker viewing rituals included recording the montage of early Jackson songs onto cassette whilst simultaneously hosting my ‘Michael Jackson’s Disco’ show as ‘Music and Me’, ‘The Love You Save’, ‘Whose Lovin You’, ‘Dancing Machine’, ‘Blame It On the Boogie’ and countless others ran in sequence. If the music that defined me was Michael Jackson, my devotion to the king of pop manifested itself in the form of Moonwalker in the visual arts. I didn’t watch anything but Moonwalker and follow Manchester United religiously on Match of the Day as a child. I absolutely adored that film (and maybe even more than Thriller). Sci-fi effects, sports cars, robots, space ships, gangsters, guns splattered with music videos and of course Smooth Criminal (I still cannot get over that lean!). It was ground breakingly original even though I accept now that it did ‘not make for a structured or professional movie’ as Variety pointed out in 1988. I was 8 years old at the time of watching it… come on.

Some of my ‘radio shows’ also consisted of bitter rants as I recorded speeches of the injustices of life – the one and only injustice being that my cousin had seen Michael Jackson in person having fun in Disney Land whilst on holiday there. It was enough to make me hate the world for a week or so… “Why can they meet im and not may [me]? That’s all I wont. I wanna meet im but I car [can’t]”, cringeworthy indeed but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Those that know me well will know how passionate I was.

My recordings of life’s injustices were balanced with optimistic, heart felt personal mission statements about what I wanted to achieve in life most of which were to meet Michael Jackson. And a second opinion was always welcome with a little coaxing (forcing) of my brother to say his piece too – I recall whispering words to my brother to say aloud on my “tribute” tape of his “ambulition” (translated "ambition" – a regrettable miscommunication on my part) to see Michael Jackson in person one day as well utilising his services as a back up singer on my ‘disco’ shows. Good times.

The three albums that influenced me most throughout my childhood was MJ’s Thriller, Bad and Dangerous. In the late 80’s / early 90's when I began to develop a sense of self whilst barely growing out of my nappies and still peeing the bed, I developed a keen interest in music and Michael Jackson was the indisputable driving influence on me. My first childhood memories irrevocably centre around MJ, my mum dressing me in the same clothes as my brother who was five years my junior and my cassette player which was the holy grail from which I spread the love (mainly out of my front window while I peered from a corner to see who would notice the heavenly melodies of Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Liberian Girl or PYT as they walked past). I am proud to be a child of 90’s – East 17 and Take That were good but MJ was great.

Michael Jackson was a genius. A man whose mystery and controversy nearly became as famous as the music. He was an enigma who transcended boundaries. For a 9 year old Sikh lad from a conservative second generation Indian family living in the heart of Britain’s Black Country, with a top-knot and Sikh lifestyle, MJ was not out of place in my household.

It wasn’t like idolising the other greats. If you liked Bob Marley you were seen as a ganja smoking, gun toting rasta. If you liked the Beatles you were probably a pill-popping hippy who believed in free love and peace. If you liked Elvis you were probably – well, a big girl. Anyway, Elvis, the Beatles and Marley were before my time. But everyone loved Jackson – young white kids, black kids, brown kids – it just didn’t matter. Michael Jackson was uniting people before anyone. The Reverend Al Sharpton put it so eloquently the day Jackson died – “Michael made culture accept a person of colour, way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama. Michael did with music what they let it do in sports, and in politics and in television. He used his strength to help people around the world”.

Songs of identity made me question who I was: ‘I’m not gona spend my life being a colour’ (Black or White). What did it mean to be a colour? Why were people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and religions? Why was Jackson becoming whiter and whiter and was he proud of his own race? As Michael changed colour, did he appeal to more people? Did he really break the trans-culture trans-racial barrier and allow everyone to embrace him? I think so… even if he didn’t like himself or how he looked, his metamorphosis from black to white and then back to black (he was proclaimed to be a ‘black’ artist after his death) meant that he touched everyone. More importantly, his music did the talking. Colour shouldn’t be an issue anymore and much credit to Jackson for helping to mould this view.

Words from various Jackson tracks from hits across the board resonated with me and looking back those messages were real and true – 'Life aint so bad at all if you live it off the wall' (Off the Wall). Of remaining focused on your goals and dreams: 'Aint no mountain that I can’t climb baby, all is going my way' (Leave Me Alone); ‘I’m taking no shit though you really wanna fix me’ (This Time Around which featured another great – The Notorious B.I.G); ‘Don’t let no-one get you down, keep moving on higher ground' (HIStory). Of appreciating your fortune and what you have and to help the needy (an important facet of Sikhism): 'You got world hunger, not enough to eat, so there's really no time to be trippin' on me' (Why You Wanna Trip On Me). I could go on…

Michael Jackson was a flawed individual. I switched off somewhat to the media circus that surrounded him during the abuse trials. He was raped by the media – the same media tosspots that now revere him as the greatest musical legend the world has ever seen. The critics now understand his impact or at least now embrace the positivity he brought to the world through his music. He now tops the charts, breaks records posthumously and develops a new fan base – those that open their ears in the wake of his death. But the real fans mourn, knowing that no more MJ magic will be upon us and he leaves us amazed just as he did during his peak. Two weeks before his comeback tour, the world is stunned by his sudden departure. I for one am saddened that I didn’t get to see my childhood hero in person in London; an event that I looked forward to with tremendous excitement. We all know where we were and what we were doing the day the King of Pop was no more. The closest I got to MJ was a Jackson waxwork (a rather bad one) me and my brother posed with in the 90’s in Blackpool… a small (minuscule) consolation.

On this day, I write this post as Michael Jackson is laid to rest on 7th July 2009. Having just watched his memorial on TV like the millions if not the anticipated one billion viewers around the world I am reminded of why he was and will remain a legend, a great philanthropist and peaceful humanitarian. I’m sure my memories are like many other people’s and that is why we all connected with him and his music. These are just some of my memories at a time when he influenced me the most and I smile (and cringe) in equal measures.

Al Sharpton fittingly proclaimed at the memorial today that Michael out-sang his cynics, he out-danced the dancers and he out-performed the pessimists. The greatest entertainer of all time is no more and my fond memories keep him alive for me. What are yours?

R.I.P Michael Jackson

No single culture or race has a divine right to occupy a certain area - 'White Flight'

2009-05-14T22:25:00.008+01:00

When speaking to a good friend of mine (a white 20-something male) I was shocked to hear his words regarding the state of the UK in the next 30 years…

‘You do realise that the UK will become a white minority nation within the next 30 years don’t you?’

In other words, the ethnic minorities in the UK will take over the white population leading the UK to become over populated by non-whites. Tie that in with Trevor Phillips talking about how the UK will become increasingly mixed race within the next 15 years (and the mixed races will become Britain’s largest ethnic minority population) and we have a backlash from white nationals who fear this outcome.

‘White flight’ where white Britons uproot and move to other areas of the UK to avoid and move away from largely populated ethnic minority areas. Maybe this is partly the reason why integration can be so difficult. Just go to some parts of London, Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds and you can see exactly where white flight has taken place.

All of this at a time where Britain is to be known as a multi-cultural nation – multi-cultural it is but integrated it isn’t. When a young British Asian can cause infinite pain within the country he was born and raised in, we can be certain that integration doesn’t take place in certain areas of the UK. People become segregated, and subject to religious extremism.

Research by Migrationwatch suggests residential movements in Britain are mainly from areas of high ethnic minority population to those with predominantly white populations. I remember many of my Asian town folk expressing their wish to move to a less ‘ethnically populated’ area. It meant that you were climbing the social class ladder to be occupying a space amongst white folk. It was a sign that you were integrated. So when my aunt moved to a white area of Bradford in the 1980’s she was very proud to have integrated – shame the area didn’t stay that way. There is also now an element of ‘ethnic flight’ where those people of ethnic origin who are of a higher social class also move away from deeply and often deprived working class areas. It’s not just a white problem anymore.

Just last month, The Guardian reported that a report published by charity Barrow Cadbury Trust “dismisses tabloid images of a segregated nation at war with itself, concluding that more than two thirds of respondents in Birmingham consider relations between different communities to be good” with rising social mobility among ethnic communities. Almost half of the respondents thought there was “more integration between communities than a generation ago”.

Extremists express a deep concern that the UK is becoming less white – the way it should not be they say. With the ‘go back to where you come from’ debate seemingly coming back into the fore especially in light of the immigration policies currently observed in the UK, it seems the UK is going back to a time when racism was alive and kicking. Only now, racism exists because we have come full circle. The ‘not understanding others’ excuse is now replaced by the influx of immigrants causing economic instability and the Britishness debate – are mixed race people British when they share white genetics with an ethnic race? What does it mean to be British? etc etc.

What’s the moral? It can be argued that the UK is a confused hot bed of racial tension. No-one knows what it means to feel British and Islamism seems to be giving all ethnic communities a bad name. Where do we go from here? As one respondent in the Birmingham study reported in the Guradian pointed out: 'No single culture or race has a divine right to occupy a certain area’ – and this should be extended to the whole of Britain.

The video below portrays a shocking image of the UK as a place where ethnic minorities have had a deep negative effect on the country and all it stands for…

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Mum! Look! An Indian on the TV!

2009-05-07T00:37:00.010+01:00

When I was growing up it was not uncommon to cry with excitement when an ethnic person appeared on the box from heaven i.e. the TV. The television has been a primary artery in the body of education I call ‘life’. I don’t think for a second that TV has corrupted me. In fact, TV has helped me to learn more about the cultures, societies and environments that surround me. So when I saw a black person appearing on TV for the first time, I was pretty happy about it. When an Indian person appeared on TV I was very excited. But when a Sikh appeared on TV exemplified by his turban I was ecstatic!
‘Singh, Singh!’ I would scream and jump up and down with joy – I was like a raver on acid. It was so uncommon to see a Singh on the box that if I did see one I would question whether Uncle Malkit had secretly climbed into the TV.

Come to think of it, how many Sikhs who display outward religious symbols do we see today on TV? I can only think of three and I am pushing the boundary in terms of talent. It is late but I am really scraping the ethnic barrel here.

1. Hardeep Singh Kohli (pictured) – clearly a talented individual who appears on the BBC’s One Show. With his extrovert turban often of varying colours (I think the last colour I saw him wearing was purple or maybe it was mauve, lilac or lavender?). He is actually a role model to me. An outward Sikh with an equally outward turban that even my uncle ‘Shipwreck’ would wince at (and they don’t call him shipwreck for nothing I can tell you). A great individual and a brilliant sense of humour.

2. The Sikh with no fashion sense whatsoever who challenged Peggy Mitchell as Walford councillor in Eastenders not too long ago. She subsequently gave an ‘emotional and inspiring’ speech at the councillors session and then collapsed afterwards in the Vic. That awful speech must have really taken it out of her eh? The Singh in question wear a turban that looked like it had been tied by David Blunkett. Religion and politics never mix – lesson learnt.

3. The third Singh I make reference to is also part of the Eastenders faithful. The extra in Eastenders! I never fail to miss him and always point him out to my fellow Eastenders audience whenever he appears. Quite embarrassing really when your grandma who is a devout Sikh watches with you deciphering the cockney dialect when she cannot utter a word of English but still somehow manages to work out that Heather is pregnant, Billy is a twat and Jeneen is an evil schemer and the offspring of Frank Butcher! So when I scream ‘Singh, Singh!’ my grannie shoots me a disapproving glance and continues to listen to Shirley talking crap about how she loves alcoholic Phil Mitchell.

Is Eastenders a representation of multicultural Britain or purely just a realistic and disappointing interpretation of a London suburb or even the UK? I think the latter. How come there isn’t a Singh family anyway when Punjabi Sikhs make up a massive percentage of the ethnic British population? Maybe I should make a case and send them my credentials as a new Sikh character. I can imagine my story line: Sikh lad enters the Queen Vic and sits within shot of Phil’s barmaid not saying a word while Ben wets himself because Phil just downed his 56th vodka and orange. All this while I chat away to the mute that is ‘Singh in Eastenders’. He is so popular that he even has a facebook fan page (and guess what I’m in it).

Another one of my pet hates in Eastenders is the race proofing… filling the ethnic quota by replacing one defunct Asian family (the pesky Ferreiras) with another, the Masoods. And the recent addition of Syeed, the forgotten son who happens to look nothing like either his parents or his younger brother. Why on earth does Zainab still have the most infuriating Pakistani accent that changes constantly? Once she sounded Punjabi and my gran pointed out that ‘her English good’. No it’s not gran.

Lenny Henry recently pointed out that TV when he was growing up was white with only a smattering of black. “America was light years ahead of us when it came to on screen diversity. Unfortunately I wasn’t living in America – I lived in Dudley”. I share his pain, being a fellow West Midlands and Black Country contemporary. Just like Lenny loved to see a black person on TV, I like to see an Asian and more importantly one that is a Sikh – an identifiable Sikh.

I have had my own conflicts with having a turban in the past. I wanted to be like the other cool boys when I was growing up. I told my mum that I was going to cut my hair. The finger prints of my mum’s slap around my face remained for 3 days. Sathnam Sanghera didn’t ask, he just went and cut his hair and then wrote a story about it! ‘The Boy with the Topknot’ was like reading about my own life only my hair stayed where it was.

My serious point is this; on-screen diversity in the UK has come a long way (in my last post I made reference to the many Asian newsreaders I see nowadays!). But as a Sikh, I fear that some stereotypes remain – Sikhs are under-represented by a mile. Does the West still fear the turban? Is the turban threatening and do people liken a turban to Arabian attire? When I have a conversation with somebody and their eyes wander north of my eyes, I sometimes wander what kind of society I live in when I can be judged not by skin colour (the classic) but by an outward religious symbol that now seems to get in the way for some people. It’s fucking annoying. What do you think?

Lenny Henry got it right when he asked TV decision makers how far we had come in the UK TV industry in relation to ethnicity and stereotypes… “And while we’re about it - lets cut the stereotyping right now: when you can cast a Somalian girl in your piece simply because she is the best actor for the job, when you can cast an Asian actress and she’s not the victim of an arranged marriage, when you can cast a Jamaican man with dreadlocks and he’s not a drug dealer… then we will have achieved something”.

Just because there are more and more ethnic faces on TV, it doesn't mean that society is represented appropriately... Just ask a Sikh.

I am a "Racial Foreigner" says the BNP...

2009-05-01T23:41:00.011+01:00

According to leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin, black and Asian Britons are ‘racial foreigners’. In recent news of the leaked BNP "Language and Concepts Discipline Manual", all people from ethnic minority groups are “no more British than an Englishman living in Hong Kong is Chinese". The classic line we hear from hardline BNP members is the age old adage that 'a dog born in a stable is not a horse”. In a rather shameful but common sense way it actually makes sense. When I ask the racial foreigners around me – sorry I mean when I ask my fellow British Asian counterparts whether they are British I always get the response “yes but I don’t feel it sometimes”.

I find it extremely amusing that Bradford was named one of the three most "English" places in England. Bradford has a high proportion of Pakistani Muslims as well as one of the country's highest ratios of fish and chip shops to people! Down the road to this very English part of Britain, lies Leeds – home to the 7/7 bombers. It goes to show that being a legal Briton does not mean you are British… and Griffin points out by likening the term British to an ethnic description.

This probably goes some way to explain why young British Asians become guilty of plotting and executing terror attacks in the land that has raised them. Young people who have the right to be as British as anyone else become disenfranchised with their environments to the point where they hail mutiny and cause chaos. I guess Nick Griffin’s point that these people remain “of the stock” where they come from is correct. "We don't subscribe to the politically correct fiction that just because they happen to be born in Britain, a Pakistani is a Briton… they're not; they remain of Pakistani stock." Point taken.

Griffin goes on to suggest that calling all people of colour British resulted in a ‘bloodless genocide’ because indigenous people were denied their identity. What’s wrong with being called a Black Briton or Asian Briton? I am an Asian Briton. I don’t tell other British people what their identities are. I guess I should drop the ‘Asian’ tag because I also feel this segregates me to a certain degree. But essentially I am Asian because my family originates from India. I am also British without question – I was born in the UK which legally grants me the right to call myself British but more importantly I adopt the British culture if that culture can actually be defined.

I am British and I come from Indian “stock” – and a very tasty stock may I add in the culinary sense. Talking of food, Chicken Tikka Masala is one Britain’s national dishes. There is a huge “stockpile” of “racial foreigners” in the UK:

Amir Khan - the UK’s most prolific boxing talent and of Pakistani stock.
Monty Panesar – a British Sikh and an England cricket sensation. Indian stock.
Lenny Henry – a Dudley born black comedian. “I am yam, what I yam” he would say in his deep Black Country accent.

Or funny-man Omid 'Iranian in UK' Djalili?
What about all the pretty “racial foreigners” now presenting on our news channels? Mishal Hussain, Nina Hossain, Susanne Virdi, Samira Ahmed? And not forgetting George Alagiah or Krishnan Guru-Murthy?
What about the activitists and humanitarians such as Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti and Parvin Ali who has fought endlessly for the rights of Muslim women?
What about exceptional UK entrepreneurs like Karan Bilamoria, James Caan, Perween Warsi and Tom Singh? The list goes on and on…..

More importantly, what about the millions of hard working, tax paying, law abiding African-Caribbeans, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Jewish and countless other community groups who contribute to the wellbeing of Britian today? All of these groups contribute to the United Kingdom but how united must one feel when still regarded as an inferior second class citizen?

There are so many “racial foreigners” in the UK that to take them away (Nick Griffin thinks we don’t exist) is to take away a lot of what Britain has achieved and will achieve in years to come as the UK becomes a further enriched melting pot of varying stocks.

And what of those who are mixed race? Are they ‘semi racial foreigners’ perhaps?
Leona Lewis is one Britain’s brightest singing talents and of mixed race background – Black Caribbean stock.
Craig David – the son of a Jewish mother and a West Indian father.
Lewis Hamilton is mixed race – the youngest ever Formula 1 champion.

So the next time I fill out a form that asks of my credentials in terms of identity, I will do what I usually do… I will draw a box at the end of the list, title it Human Being and tick the box with pride. Or maybe I should not bother, after all I don’t exist…

DNA of an Indian: a rich cultural heritage, centuries of exceptional academic achievement and CASTE discrimination

2009-04-22T15:36:00.009+01:00

The UK government is trying its utmost to remain politically correct and not to “hurt” the feelings of the many minority groups that now reside here. As part of this, the government is trying its best to outlaw all forms of discrimination through the Single Equality Bill.

Racism is seen as anti-social behaviour but there is no reference to caste discrimination – a potentially more damaging and acute form of prejudice for Asian communities. Should caste discrimination be added to the Single Equality Bill? Of course.

In theory there is to be a single Equality Act for Great Britain. It will encompass disability, sex, race and other grounds of discrimination within one piece of legislation. With the Equality Bill expected to be published this month, I explore some of the issues still facing minority ethnic communities of the South Asian Diaspora – the main issue it seems remains to be Caste discrimination (no surprise there then).

There are three main guilty parties in the caste discrimination arena. Some openly practise caste discrimination whilst others inadvertently maintain it:

1. The Oppressor: those with perceived power.
2. The Victims: who fail to stand up and challenge the oppressor.
3. The Law Makers: those reluctant to address the problem.

Most of us will not believe that Caste discrimination was outlawed in India in 1947 when caste divides are openly seen and practised there today. I have seen it myself. The system has been in existence in India for centuries. Members of lower castes have lived lives in squalor and it continues today. It is safe to say that making caste discrimination unlawful in the UK will go a long way to ensuring that ill-informed social divides in the context of a UK British Asian society will diminish significantly. We are not in India. The UK government needs to address a problem that has hindered the progress of South Asian communities since they first arrived here over 50 years ago.

In my last post, I maintained that class would kill caste. It’s obvious and necessary in a free world. All are given equal opportunity and we become the shapers of our destinies. This is what makes the UK a fantastic place to live. It could have been very different for me. My grandfather could have decided to go elsewhere when he left the Punjab in 1954 to make a better life for himself. I consider myself lucky to have been brought up in the UK with moderately liberal Indian parents who didn’t push the caste agenda onto me. I was always told that my education was important and I could be anything I wanted to be if I worked hard to get it. I think my parents got it right.

Just yesterday, I tried to explain the notion of being ‘working class’ to a friend of mine who instantly proclaimed that I was middle class based on my education and career. It was a revelation. Here I was proud to be from a working class migrant family and in the eyes of those around me I was already a middle class high achiever. To be honest, I am proud to be working class and in my eyes I will always belong to this group. It makes me who I am. The caste system however upsets me – and it’s my fellow (often uneducated) Indian counterparts who push this outdated system onto me.

In the UK, it doesn’t matter which caste you belong to. We are all treated equally (some will challenge me on that). Everybody is free. My friend Ashwin, the ‘chamar’ I talked about in a previous post is a high achiever. In India, he would never have excelled as he has done in the UK and he openly admits it. In CasteWatch UK’s report on "Caste and the Asian Christian Diaspora" released in March 2009, a key note speaker describes how he overcame caste prejudices through higher education. It empowered him and his family and allowed him to excel. His caste had no bearing on who he aspired to be. According to Kapil Dudakia of the Hindu Forum of Britain, “caste is well and truly non-existent” in the UK. Which world does he live in?

Including caste in the Single Equality Bill would be a step in the right direction for UK British Asians. There is no need for a caste system in the UK. The Jatt farmer doesn’t cultivate his land here. He works in IT, lives in Birmingham and has three children who attend a state school. The Hindu Brahmin runs a florist, owns a Ford Mondeo and shops at Tesco. The chamar runs his own business, takes expensive holidays and sits on his local council. Caste? It does not matter anymore does it?

When South Asians introduce themselves, they are advertising their origins.

“Hi I’m Bal Sidhu” - Note to self: He is Jatt (indicated by the surname, a Punjabi, a Sikh, and most likely to be from Jalandhar district India).
“I am Gopalanand Das” – mental note taken: A Hindu, possibly Brahmin, most likely to be from Northern India, possibly Uttar Pradesh or similar.

The above examples show that we as Asians use caste as a defining feature – it often forms part of our identity and we enforce and maintain it often without thinking. Until we all see that it adds no value to who we are, it will remain alive. It is unfortunate that the caste system has been exported from India. It is up to us to first understand the problem and diagnose a suitable solution for its remedy – The Single Equality Bill. When we are punished for doing something unlawful, chances are we don’t do it again.

“I am Gary Robinson” – My mind works overtime - meaning "son of Robin” with English heritage, possibly of Northern Irish descent? Could he be related to Sugar Ray Robinson the famous boxer? A real stab in the dark here… A member of the Royal family perhaps? There’s just no telling. No signs of status, caste and social standing here – he is free to be whoever he wants to be.

Caste discrimination becoming unlawful will help to remove some of the ingrained perceptions of power of the oppressors – they cannot enforce an age-old belief in a forward thinking society. It will give the victims a better chance to live in peace. Legislation is the vehicle in which to make this happen. The law makers are responsible for ensuring that all are free from discrimination of any kind and given equal opportunity.

Incorporating caste into the Single Equality Bill will also send a message to the world and those who practice caste discrimination elsewhere. It’s not feasible anymore and my children will certainly be better off for it in years to come…

The South Asian migrants have come a long way since the 1950’s. The following generations will move even further once caste has been removed and all are able to compete equally… The Caste system has been described as the ‘cancer of Indian society’. The only way to cure it within the UK context is to remove it.

A Letter of Thanks - CasteWatch UK

2009-04-19T23:42:00.008+01:00

In my recent posts concerning the caste system and its impact on British Asians, CasteWatch UK who actively promote to remove caste discrimination from British Asian society thanked Paki Tin for airing an issue that is often shrouded in secrecy. From a British Asian perspective, the effects of the caste system are very much still ingrained within our communities. To totally remove it would be difficult. To understand what caste is in the context of modern society however is far more realistic and we should all take note of who we are and what we stand for - when the 18 year old lad in the club sips his drink and proclaims his superior caste we can be sure that the caste system is abused and misunderstood. Let us all seek answers...

Dear Paki-Tin,

I am extremely thankful to you for taking interest in our cause. I have gone through your blog and it is fantastic, thought provoking and is full of information that must be presented to every young Asian mind in the UK. I have to thank you for supporting us. We need people who oppose Caste discrimination in the UK and are willing to take part in a massive social reform and education of young Brit Asians to develop their identities in line with British Values and not based on obsolete and discriminatory bigotry.

It is fascinating to see the view points of people when they speak about racism. The same people make a complete and very fast u-turn the moment you present them with caste issues and go into denial mode. As someone, who has personal experience of both, caste discrimination is considerably more painful, particularly in British situation. Hindus and others who are still trying to maintain the caste divides have to be re-educated in human rights and British Values. I am going to forward the link to your blog to the rest of our members.

Regards,

Davinder Prasad
General Secretary
CasteWatchUK

Societal Weather Report Part 2: High Caste, Low Caste – We are Over Caste… The high winds of change are upon us.

2009-04-10T22:03:00.016+01:00

Not only is the caste debate big enough for us to ponder over all day long, it is a debate that is very much needed today. I am a modern Sikh, who lives a British lifestyle. I battle to maintain a Sikh identity and lifestyle whilst conforming to a Western way of being – the two do not have to be mutually exclusive and I combine the two as much as possible. After all, they are two facets of my identity that I am equally proud of. My identity is however further complicated by my caste. For me, just like power begets resistance, caste begets social division…

In my last post, I explored marriage and the caste system. Two complex arenas that are almost matrimonially intertwined as they can be in modern British-Asian society. But where does all of this leave us? What really is happening with the caste system in our societies today? And the biggest question of all for me - Are UK British Asians reviving their cultures in ways they don’t understand? Is the South Asian Diaspora inherently caste racist?

The caste system is deeply ingrained in the minds of some Asians (for Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims). In India, I have seen the Hindu ‘untouchable’ caste excluded from Indian society, begging and getting by in the most demeaning ways imaginable. It was heartbreaking to see since these people were trying to get by but were ignored and marginalised because of an apparent system that dictated their sub-human status. In history, Hindus brahmins would take a shower if they touched a chamar by mistake or purify their homes with water and prayers should a chamar enter their premises. Every sixth human being in the world today is an Indian, and every sixth Indian is an untouchable. It makes you think doesn’t it?

I remember being at school and first discovering that I was of a particular caste. It didn’t mean anything to me; I was a British lad living in Britain with no other comparison. For a fellow student to claim he was superior to me by his caste was farcical to me! After all, we were at school to learn and his caste didn’t mean that he was given better treatment than me… it was all a bit silly at school but there were many underlying tensions that segregated the Asian communities in this way. Looking back now, casteism was alive more than I realised and often governed relationships between people even in the younger age brackets. In the 60’s and 70’s, these prejudices were more ingrained with first generation British-Asians learning the ways of the world from migrant parents who may not have known a life without caste. I have been told that many people in the 1960’s and 70’s suffered at the hands of racist bigots. But adding to the complexity of race discrimination, many ethnic minorities suffered racism from within their own communities due to caste divides.

So when a fellow student at school was beaten up for his caste, I became sure that I didn’t want to know about the caste system again. The police called it a ‘racially aggravated assault’. And that is exactly what it was, an assault made on the grounds of race. Casteism is equivalent to racism. It has no place in a modern society where the class structure prevails.

In modern Britain, the South Asian Diaspora revive their Asian roots and cultures through various means which display an inherent racist attitude. Not only have we learned that inter-caste marriages are seen as wrong by many (I am a direct witness to this), we can also acknowledge that they are now becoming more frequent. A good sign I think. But it goes deeper than that. In Sikhism, gurdwaras are often divided according to caste. It is not uncommon to see the Ramgharia gurdwara, the predominantly Jatt gurdwara, the Satsang gurdwara (accommodating a sub-set of Sikh followers) and so on. The establishments themselves are often managed by members of particular castes and therefore maintain the caste divides. It is ironic since Sikhism promotes equality, the Sikh Gurus forbid caste and the gurdwara is open to people from all corners of the world (the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the spiritual capital of the Sikhs has four entrances on all four sides representing an open door to all faiths, races and creeds). In reality, only those from the ‘caste’ community attend their gurdwara in Britain. I don’t think it is as frank or as obvious as I describe it but it is definitely there quietly governing modern day worship.

The youth of today promote caste. The UK Bhangra Industry promotes caste and it is possibly a medium through which caste is glamourised the most. Its very common to hear caste bias lyrics re-enforcing caste stereotypes. The Asian youth latch on to half formed realities concocted by Bhangra songs and take these realities as real life. I accept that bhangra music in the UK initially helped migrants to remember their home countries and cultures whilst living in foreign lands and often in poor conditions. I also accept that bhangra music allowed Asians to reaffirm their ethnic identities in the face of a new western culture and an often racist environment. Nowadays however, caste no longer bears the same significance it used to. There is no difference between me and another young British Asian – we both receive an education, we both strive to achieve our goals, we pay our taxes and we climb the class structure in parallel to our economic and social accomplishment. Why then should the caste I seemingly belong to influence my standing in society?

Rajinder K Dudrah eloquently purports that Bhangra music allows for internal reflection – a means through which individuals can make sense of their identities. These reflections however are “unique according to individual life experiences” and “collective in that other British South Asians are able to internalise similar life experiences but not necessarily in identical ways*”. The process of making sense of oneself however, is hardly enhanced by bhangra songs that promote caste divisions and usually irresponsibly.

I was asked once in a bar by an intoxicated Indian lad – ‘Are you Jatt mate?’. No formal introduction. ‘No I’m a Sikh’ I replied and proceeded to the bar (I’ve always been a smart arse). Later we met again and he asked again. ‘So what does it mean to be Jatt?’ I asked. ‘Well we’re the highest caste in Sikhism, we don’t like chamars and we drink a lot, haha’. Somehow I knew that he was mis-informed and his knowledge probably went no deeper. In reality, I have had this conversation many times with individuals including the girl who once asked me what my caste was on our first date. I never did return her call. It made me laugh when I witnessed young Asians singing the lyrics to a popular bhangra song promoting casteism but the only words they knew were ‘Putt Jattan De’ followed by painful lip synching and mumbles. Even Britney Spears would cringe at those attempts.

Warped truths inform the realities of those who don’t seek the truth. Until I fully understand what it means to belong to a caste, I don’t belong to it.

‘I’m a privileged member of the community because my caste is higher than yours’, I was once told.
‘I’m a [caste] and that makes me a highly regarded member of the community’ said another.
‘I’m proud to be a [caste]’.

‘In the context of your current life circumstance, you own no land in the UK apart from the semi-detached house your father brought in 1985. And that he paid for with his savings accumulated by years of toil in the local steel mill. And now your father is a manual labourer (I use this example since my own grandfather laboured for over 30 years in the local manufacturing works – he was very proud of it too). You father looks forward to the end his shift, he looks forward to the weekend when he can put his feet up and relax. He pays his taxes and has the right to vote like the rest of us. He attends the same religious establishment as everyone else and associates with the same community as everyone else. Now tell me again why you claim to be a privileged member of the community when your caste has no bearing on the life you lead here in the UK?’

Wouldn’t it be great to respond like this? We all think it but don’t quite express it. Are we therefore all guilty of maintaining the system that categorises us according to age-old beliefs that no longer apply to us as Asians in the West? Are we even Asian (Asia is so huge)? I sometimes question that too. Why enforce an obsolete belief in an environment far removed from pre 20th Century India or even modern day India? I’m about as Indian as Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi.

However we choose to live our lives, we should be doing it with humility. At the most basic and fundamental level, we are all human beings. The caste system is a man made concept steeped in tradition and history that only seeks to divide individuals – it has no place here anymore. Abolishing deeply held beliefs can be difficult and I appreciate that many cannot do this or struggle to understand life without the caste structures that shape their opinions and beliefs. We must however, seek to understand one another, learn about the differences between us and embrace the diversity among us - not just between community groups and religious groups but between various castes too.

Loyalty to a caste is much more detrimental to society than merely belonging to one – it re-enforces the system and helps to shape identities. As a Sikh, I have first hand experience of the caste system forging hatred between people and do I want that for my children? It will be a sad day if my children are forced to make sense of their lives in a society still overshadowed by a caste structure.

The caste system cannot survive in Britain where education will send you up the social class system far quicker than any caste would – there is no room for a caste system here. The rays of an honest sunshine can never be overcome by a temporary rain cloud (and this stubborn cloud has been around for a long time). In the UK, or any other economically developed country, class will kill caste. This will happen more effectively if we also shift our mindsets accordingly and understand the significance of what we are faced with. Looking ahead, mild temperatures and cold winds continue, maybe the sun will come out tomorrow.

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself”.
Andy Warhol

* An excellent article exploring Bhangra music and ethnic identity and experiences of South Asians in the UK.

"Drum N Dhol 1: British Bhangra Music and Diasporic South Asian Identity Formation" by Rajinder K Dudrah - European Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3, 363-383 (2002).

I also recommend CasteWatch UK – a brilliant organisation promoting the removal of caste discrimination in the UK. [www.castewatchuk.org]

A societal weather report: Expect this dark cloud to reign perpetually. A shadow is CASTE over our societies…

2009-04-07T22:03:00.035+01:00

Meet Adam, a 27 year old City worker. Enjoys fine wine, rugby and yachting. Loves travelling, the arts and classical music. Seeks independent lady who is spiritual, assertive and confident. Age is no barrier. Ps – He’s a Jatt and you must be too.

I just don’t get it. It’s the year 2009 and still people ask me when I am going to be married – to a girl within my caste. Who gives a shit about caste? Surely I should be marrying the person that I want to share the rest of my life with, who I will love and protect, till death us do part? Using caste as positive criteria when searching for a wife hardly fits in with my list of required attributes…

A Human Being and female (in that order).
Minimum education: a UK degree. Preferably educated to Doctor level or equivalent.
Sincere, sensitive, passionate, inspirational, articulate, non-argumentative, confident and as sexy as Angelina Jolie.
Secondary criteria: Can make the curries, is thrifty but creative or creatively thrifty, makes nice Punjabi tea, will be a maid to my parents and will iron my cotton shirts!

You may think the above is slightly crass but marriage bureaus of the Asian variety openly advertise in this way all the time… take a finely selected sample from Shaadi.com below. A friend recently told me how she found her husband on shaadi.com. I was surprised but intrigued so I had a look for myself. It is safe to say that within Asian communities, the caste system is inextricably linked to marriage.

So in the search columns of shaadi.com, I excitedly look for a bride, aged 20-25. Religion? Mother tongue? Who cares, I leave the boxes open.

Desperado (identity disguised) but I’m sure ‘Cutey Pie’ wasn’t her real name either. She is 25, a Sikh Jatt, Liberal, occasional drinker and confident, ambitious and open minded. Sounds nice doesn’t she?

Or how about the Sunni Muslim accountant, earning 40-50k from Hounslow. Has a wheatish complexion and loves bollywood? Not bad either.

Or the Hindu Brahmin solicitor from Birmingham, 26 with a GSOH, (very pretty may I add – I might even express my interest), passionate, intelligent music lover looking for Mr Right.

For me the most sinister characteristics of these adverts are the references to caste. Marriage adverts like those above seek to re-enforce the caste system which maintains the divide between Asian communities and only strengthens tension and separatist attitudes within communities and we openly allow it.

Within the Asian communities, ‘casteism’ is a big issue that potentially falls under the toxic umbrella of racism or ‘religiously sanctified racism*’. In Sikhism for example, Punjabis are known for their views on castes with much hatred and tension caused because of a hierarchical system that was banned by the Sikh Gurus. Historically, Sikhism abolishes the caste system – all are equal. In a Gurdwara, men and women all sit on one level regardless of caste – Only the Guru Granth Sahib sits on a raised platform. But when we step out of the doors of our religious establishments, a dark black cloud called caste discrimination hangs over our society.

I can only talk about my own experience as a Sikh in reference to caste. I could also bore you with the history of caste and how India maintains a heavy caste laden society. But I won’t. What’s the point? I’m a British Sikh and I hardly ever visit India now, I’m a stranger there and I miss my British luxuries whenever I’m there like the pub, the smell of the countryside, motorway service stations and the M25! In brief, social classes are defined by hereditary groups often termed as jātis or castes originating in India. Generally identified with Hinduism, other religions including Christianity, Islam and Sikhism have been associated with a caste system. Although caste barriers have diminished in recent times in India, it still plays a huge role in general society and politics.

So what do I know of caste? Well, Jatt Sikhs apparently belong among the upper echelons of Sikh society. They are landowners who cultivate their farms growing crops and living off their sales. Tharkan Sikhs are known as carpenters and Jalhai Sikhs were tailors. Chamar Sikhs, and this is where it gets ugly were known to be catchers of animals that were skinned and their furs sold (I am sure that my explanations will be questioned by those who claim to be in the know about these things but I give you my view only). It was seen as a dirty trade and for this reason, Chamars seemingly fall lower down the caste system. Chamars were considered ‘untouchable’ in the Hindu caste system. I wonder what Mr High-Caste would make of my friend Ashwin, an acclaimed Dr of Medicine, an esteemed entrepreneur and writer – and a Chamar.

There was massive uproar in my family when my cousin decided she wanted to marry not only out of caste but to a non-Indian. It was like an alien was threatening the family circle and we were being infiltrated without any control. More recently, my family members have had inter-caste marriages but not without the frowns seen on the faces of the older generation. They can’t help it, that’s all they know. The older generations uprooted to the UK from all parts of India and with them came deep rooted cultures, norms and values inherently and openly abiding by the caste system. Maybe more fittingly, the picture to the right should read: "Subject to caste, will you be my wife?"

To what extent is the caste system still governing the Asian community in the UK? Times are changing, people are changing. As the migrant generations in the UK unfortunately die out (those that first transitioned to the UK in the 1950’s and 60’s), I am certain that the caste system will diminish too. As the third, fourth and even fifth generation British Asians continually live comfortably in modern day Britain, we see an increase in mixed-race marriages, inter-caste marriages and more recently civil partnerships (but within the Asian communities who knows to what extent this happens: I open a whole new topic on the Asian gay community here so I will not digress). My point is, I hope the caste system becomes less important. No longer does it matter that person A married person B of the same caste. What does matter is that A and B lived a happy and fruitful life. I have seen no evidence (whether it be qualitative, first hand accounts or statistical and extensively search I did) to suggest that same-caste marriages have a lower divorce rate than cross-caste marriages. In fact, divorce rates within the Asian communities have risen across the board and I think mainly for the fact that the increasingly Westernised Asian community no longer have to be tied into a marital transaction for life. Gone are the days when a wife died with her husband on the pyre. Recent studies suggest that only two out of five adults in the UK will be married in 20 years’ time and by 2031, married couples will make up only 41% of the population. The Office for National Statistics also predicts the fastest growing group are the singles - more for me to choose from then (when I'm 50!).

Nowadays, Ms Independent doesn’t need a man for support and Mr Muscle (I use these names in jest) continues to search for the virgin bride who has absconded and since found her inner strength and decided to ‘date’, join Shaadi.com and attend Asian Speed Dating events in order to examine and evaluate a reliable sample of the Asian male community in hope of finding Mr Right. A sign of the times I think.

In my day to day life, I often sigh with sheer frustration when Aunty mentions that her brother’s son’s wife’s second cousin’s brother in law’s daughter may be suitable for me since she shares the same caste as me. She then mentions that she is a doctor and very homely which seemingly re-enforces her case. I often ask whether she would prefer to marry me off to the PG Tips chimp as long as she is the same caste. Surely she would be homely, and could at least make me nice Punjabi tea (and it ticks off a line on my checklist). Clearly the need for marriage bureaus like Shaadi.com advertising potential spouses on the basis of caste indicates that people still adhere to the caste system more than we care to realise or acknowledge. Shouldn’t caste be seen as another form of racial discrimination? After all, my caste has no bearing on me and the qualities I bring to my marriage, or even to wider society…

In today’s current climate, I am over caste. I want a GSOH (not referring to someone who ‘Got Syphillis on Holiday’). [Promiscuous Asians, another topic for debate methinks]. I want a romance not a Ramgharia. I want a bold and beautiful lady not a Brahmin.

It can be argued that the caste system has become diluted today. Some people don’t even know what their castes stand for but they pledge dying allegiances to them… Isn’t it a shame to identify yourself with something you have no knowledge of? Maybe GSOH should mean God Save Our Humility which seems more fitting on this occasion… The sanctity of marriage becomes tarnished by a caste system that holds no water today but continues to wreak its havoc like a silent tornado… I predict a sunny future if we banish caste back to where it came from and move on…

Do not be proud of your social class and status, you ignorant fool! So much sin and corruption comes from this pride.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib

*According to CasteWatch UK [www.castewatchuk.org]

WHO ARE YOU?

2009-03-30T00:35:00.013+01:00

JOIN THE DEBATE

Myself and my power team at Pack It In are exploring identity, culture, ethnicity, integration, segregation and everything else that makes up our complex world.

The biggest question of all is WHO ARE YOU?

How would you describe your identity?

If you have any interesting stories, anecdotes, personal references, films, photography, music, poetry or writing that may help us to explore IDENTITY get in touch and JOIN THE DEBATE.

The Pack It In team are currently looking for interesting individuals who will strengthen our debate and assist us with the development of a documentary exploring race and identity.

Leave your comments or email paki-tin@live.co.uk for more information.

See the UK Asian perspective below...

Postmodern Racism and ‘The Voice’: Join the Club

2009-03-27T00:50:00.007Z

Every commuters nightmare, the London rush hour that I frequently have the benefit of entertaining decided that I would yet again leave the tube station and like so many times before watch in slow motion as my bus departs before me without me on it. Should I walk to my destination and burn off the Nandos from lunchtime? I think not. So like a prisoner awaiting his sentence I stand and wait for the next bus. I usually enjoy people watching - mums, dads, children, students, business men and women, people from all backgrounds and cultures mingle seamlessly going about their daily business. I spot the local Asian-manned stall selling newspapers and chocolate bars and the Johnny 5 within me demands ‘input, input’ and a sugar fix.

Scanning over the newspapers, The Times, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, I pick The Voice with the headline ‘Under Siege’. Intrigued and in desperate need of ‘input’, I read further: ‘This respectable family has faced constant police harassment, but have never been charged. Is their story commonplace in Britain today?’.

‘That is a Caribbean paper, you sure you want it?’ asks the stall keeper in a thick South Asian accent (Sri Lankan methinks but then how would I know? The only Lankan I know is M.I.A and Apu from The Simpsons).
‘Yes I can read, just because I’m a turban wearing brown man, doesn’t mean I have no interest in the affairs of my fellow ethnic brothers’ I said (in my mind) while I retorted in a rather inquisitive manner – ‘Yes that is fine’.

So with eyes fixated on me and my paper, I scan through the pages of The Voice while the Caribbean lady next to me watches on quizzically. Is it really that weird to see me reading The Voice? Come on. If my mate Winston, a 6ft black man picked up a copy of the Des Pardes (a landmark Punjabi newspaper) I would congratulate him on his choice of broadsheet and his ability to read Punjabi. What a guy.

A mixture of hard hitting stories affecting the black community as well positive messages from the community folk who make up the paper’s readership. The race stories struck a chord with me. For example the following headline: 'Nine year old girl left in tears over park’s ‘n**gger’ gravestone'. What the hell?

A mum in Coventry is angry with her council for allowing a pet cemetery to hold a gravestone with the word ‘nigger’ inscribed on it. The nine year old girl was in tears after the gravestone was seen by her who thought that the stone marked the burial ground of a murdered black person. Who on earth would name their pet nigger? In the early 1900’s they would. The stone was first erected in 1902. Rather shameful that a racist word of the most extreme variety can be left in public view today.

In ‘Student in school protest over ‘racially offensive’ classic novel’, a young lad studying for his GCSE’s walked out of his school protesting that he abhorred the use of the novel ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ because it used the word nigger. Claiming he suffered as a result of the racial negativity the book generated, Tinashe Makunike asked to study an alternative novel that wasn’t racially offensive. Good on the lad for doing what he believed was right. There is no way on earth he should be forced to read or partake in activities that openly cause offence for him or anyone else on the grounds of race. It’s just wrong.

‘You’d have to blind not to see the police are racist’ says Darcus Howe (He’s not mad, just angry… is his one liner). In recent race related stories, senior officers have apparently allowed a "culture of apartheid" where white officers have threatened black colleagues and refused to travel with them in the same vehicles. Asad Saeed was ordered into 'the black van' by a fellow white officer.

Darcus Howe makes reference to Chief Constable of Kent Mike Fuller’s quote: ‘If you are not a member of the club… then you can find yourself excluded’. Fuller, who once contested the title of being the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police as well as being a black man, was overlooked for the vacancy. Howe argues how the police force remains racist with black people continuing to bare the brunt of racial victimisation.

For me, a new type of racism prevails today - Postmodern Racism as I have seen it called. The 21st-century version of old-school racism. Those guilty of practicing this new type of race discrimination are often higher ranking individuals and members of the higher echelons of the policing establishments and according to the BBC ‘know the right sound bites in order to impress the critics’. Sounds like many well educated people I know personally who can fight their way out of any situation. The racist nowadays is a more intelligent, often educated individual. Not the brute-force, violent racist we commonly associate with the latter half of the 20th century. "Race proofing" where postmodern racists do enough to appear as though they are doing something about the problem – hiring a likely black or Asian right hand man and appearing to be all-inclusive yet simultaneously re-enforcing racial victimisation. It’s more deadly and more difficult to see.

I must admit I was shocked and scared into thinking Britain was a racial hotbed after reading The Voice. But the stories within it's pages are real, true and affect many of us. Postmodern racism is also here and it's a clever guise that shrouds blatant racism as it used to be. And it doesn't stop there, whose to say it doesn't exist in institutions other than the police force? Frightening.

The Voice is a great newspaper and I for one thoroughly enjoyed reading it once my blood pressure returned to normal (it was the anger you see). A concentration of race related stories cover the pages and in this way may indicate that the UK has a massive problem with race issues. Most of the cases and stories however are those that do upset but happen nevertheless and often infrequently. Mix this in with the images of Dancehall hotties shaking their booties and positive stories about black achievements and we have a newspaper worthy of applause. Even, Jasmine Dotiwala (from MTV Base) has her own column discussing her latest interviews with music stars and her new pet hate which in this issue was public transport! How ironic – my bus still hadn’t arrived and when it did the driver had the audacity to park up the double decker and read his newspaper for a short while (it wasn't The Voice sadly) before deciding to collect his multic-cultural passengers and take them further on their journies.

Just written by and for Caribbean people eh Mr Tube station shopwala? You were wrong! To join the club, you have to have the right skills, attributes, characteristics and above all a passion to do the right thing. Correct? I'm sure Mike Fuller would agree.

So the join the club that allows entry by merit only, put forward your Voice and all is else becomes secondary.

Source: The Voice [www.voice-online.co.uk]. March 9 – 15 2009.

Remove your headscarf at the door…All in the name of progress. We’re in a right mucking fuddle we are!

2009-03-02T21:52:00.001Z

Just like my mental satellite picks up anything race related in the media nowadays, I have the pleasure of announcing that my next venture beyond distant shores outside of my homeland (and that’s the UK if you are still unsure) is the East meets West land of mighty Turkey. Since my excursion was confirmed, it has been inevitable that I have been hearing about Turkey a lot more nowadays in all areas of life. It reminds me of when you buy a car which is unique and stylish and you suddenly realise that 95% of your neighbourhood owns one too in all shapes, models and versions. But that’s what you get when you invest in a Ford Fiesta isn’t it?

Recently, I tuned in to a BBC production looking at ‘Turkey on the Edge’ hosted by the enigmatic Adil Ray. With the country on the brink of joining Europe, the programme looked at how the country battled with its own identity with conflicting pressures to remain a strict Islamic state alongside government plans to become an increasingly secular and liberal nation. A most interesting viewing experience.

I was surprised to learn that Turkey’s secular constitution banned Islamic headscarves in all official buildings! That’s like telling a devout Sikh that he/she must remove their turban before they go into work! What would Mr Singh make of that one should such a preposterous rule exist in Britain? In Istanbul devout Muslim women are forced to part with their headscarves at the doors of their universities; the only way they can continue with their education. It was most disturbing to learn this fact for the following reasons:

1. Muslim ladies are forced to compromise their identities and beliefs at the doors of educational establishments. This often stops many from proceeding with their education. Result: A mutinous young population forced to seek alternative methods of education.
2. The headscarf becomes a political symbol. No longer does it symbolise devotion to Islam but a symbol for old views and backward thinking in a forward thinking nation Turkey’s leaders aspire to become. Result: increasing suspicions and possible fanaticism against the political system amongst the devout. Even more shocking result: increasing suspicion that fanaticism leads to terrorism by the secularised population.
3. Hatred – re-enforcing point number 2. With a sub-section of the population rebelling against the political system, Muslim ladies are forced to wear wigs over their headscarves as they mock the political rules. Result: An openly rebellious devout community destabilising community relations and creating unease. Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attempt to lift a ban on wearing headscarves in universities was viewed as anti-secular according to the country's highest court. Shocking.

Mr Singh would not be impressed if rules like the above were enforced on a British Sikh population. Can you imagine the outrage should there be a ban on turbans for example?
For me, the turban is an outward religious symbol that identifies me by my religion. It is more important to me than being labelled as an Asian since being ‘Asian’ spans a multitude of people and races (ask Miley Cyrus: hint previous post – slant your eyes and you’re Asian-Pacific).

I have often been told that the east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved backwards. For example, the Indians in Mumbai are apparently more westernised than the Indians in London. Why? The Indians in Mumbai moved with the times, evolving at their regular speed and embracing western influences. In London, the early migrants settled into communities and were alienated by language barriers, lacking community relations and racism. As a result, they congregated, upheld their eastern values and cultures and began moving at a far slower rate. Result: The east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved on even slower.

So when I meet with ‘real Indians’ I am surprised by their liberal attitudes, approaches to dating, alcohol culture and general free-for-all temperaments. Then I compare with some of those in my community: devout individuals abstaining from hedonistic lifestyles and speaking English with ethnic twangs init. Shocking. Sometimes I prefer the Indian attempt at the English language than the English-by-birth effort even if the harsh pronunciation sends shivers down me. A right mucking fuddle indeed.

What’s more surprising about Turkey is that it seeks to become a liberal state despite being a Muslim country. It must be extremely difficult for the young people there to conform to Muslim ways and remain liberal when the two conflict so much. Go to Slough and you’ll see the same thing within many Asian communities. Go to Birmingham and you see the same thing in Handsworth, Smethwick. West Bromwich etc. Just like the headscarf is compromised in Turkey by being covered by a wig, in the UK religious symbols can also be diluted. Cutting of hair is the primary example of the desecration of a 5 K within Sikhism and I am also guilty of this. I remember being in the Punjab some years ago and witnessing the fashions centred around turbans. I didn’t know there were so many different styles and adopting one particular style of turban said a lot about you (my cousin adopted the ‘African’ turban and his love life remained far more interesting as a result. He eventually ventured out of India to marry but didn’t go to Africa which would have been fitting). Whilst in India, my aunt made me promise to her that I wouldn’t ever trim my beard. She was a devout Sikh and I had tremendous respect for her but I was uncomfortable in the fact that I couldn’t do what to me was quite normal here in the Midlands. She couldn’t understand how my environment in the UK was affecting how I wanted to portray myself. It was hard enough being brown and having a top-knot, let alone keeping facial hair so that I could be ridiculed for that too. As I got older, the patka regrettably became a fashion accessory for me, it didn’t signify much more than that. For my aunt, your religion was the most important thing in your life and your gateway to the next one – live a good life now and you will be with God upon your soul leaving this mortal life. It was deep stuff and I didn’t have time to fathom it back then. In Islam, the Hijab gets some stick. Words used to describe those wearing the hijab go deeper and I have heard first hand words such as ‘backward’, ‘suspicious’ and ‘up to something’. It makes sense in the current climate but it’s an ignorant view. We should seek to learn what the hijab means first.

So what does it all come down to then? How do we understand religious symbols and accept practices that may seem alien to us? First of all, if we educate ourselves further about what things mean to different people we would make a start. Just like Mr Singh who described the Sikh religion in my school assembly and its significance resulting in my new found popularity and acceptance, the UK can do more to understand ‘other people’. I think this is an area where Britain’s decision makers have failed in creating a more accepting environment for all citizens. Just walk down a street in South London and ask a passer by what he/she knows about immigration and asylum seekers for example. ‘They take our money don’t they and live in council (pronounced ‘caaansul’) houses that we could’ve had’. Usually that’s as far as the knowledge goes which is a shame.

Nobody has been educated about what the UK immigration policy is all about. There is nothing out there that helps us to identify what a headscarf signifies, or what a hijab represents or what the turban means to a Sikh. I remember in school reading about religion and arkwardly talking about Sikhism in my religious studies class whilst displaying a Sikh dagger carefully extracted from my mum’s wardrobe. She would have stabbed me with it if she had known I took it. Nevertheless I got two commendations (that’s a gold star to you) for my pretend-to-know-what-I’m-talking-about dialogue. You could get away with it when you were in Year 8. And how I got away with carrying a knife albeit religious I’ll never know…

This self-debate (I have them a lot) leads me to the following conclusion which again signifies the plurality of the views in question.
1. There is no way of possibly knowing everything – we must try to learn more about others and how they live their lives to truly appreciate their viewpoint and more importantly respect their wishes.
2. The conflict between religious conduct and liberalism must be difficult. Depending on who you speak to even I would be described as a sinner who doesn’t conform to my religion. The Muslim ladies in Istanbul must be disgusted to have to wear a comedic wig on top of their headscarves to merely prove a point. Their choice of dress shouldn’t deny them from a basic right: an education.
3. Its too difficult to box anything off into any significant order when you are talking about culture, religion, morality and viewpoints. What is right to one person can be wrong to another. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure right?
4. Geography makes a massive difference. We are all products of our environments to some degree. That’s why living in and being educated in Britain gives me the right to claim I am British (I was also born here but I feel that is less important). However, it can be argued that the Asian communities in the UK have evolved less than their counterparts in the east because of early segregation and subsequent ‘catching up’ since the early periods of migration.
5. (Purely personal and I think fitting for this post). I cannot stand the words init, bruv, ya get me?, intit, aint it, bled (referring to blood as in brother), blood in similar context, yaar, man dem, bredrin and waagwan. All of these have embedded themselves into the ethnic English vocabulary like a bad smell that even the best air freshener can’t get rid of (and we all know Indians are notorious for filling their homes with pot pourri). I can see Mr Muscle now, running down Southall Broadway with two of cans of Glade Jasmine omitting at full capacity – don’t bother mate, our innate ways need more work than that. How about another 20 years of British integration?

Result: there isn’t one. It’s all a matter of judgement, acceptance and understanding. And how many of us have the time to understand nowadays? We’re all too busy trying to justify what we do in the first place.

On a personal note, I will do what I can to appreciate all viewpoints, all religions and teachings init. I will not judge the cover of the book straightaway but attempt to at least read the blurb on the backside (that doesn’t sound healthy). I will attempt to delve deeper and ask wagwaan (why)? I will also educate others who may not know the answer to the ‘why’ question. I will above all attempt to live a balanced life where I abide by my religion as much as possible as well as live by the temptations of modern day life, carefully choosing my actions by their consequences ya get me? All man dem should therefore be more inclusive and accepting. Just like the headscarf wearers in Istanbul, I attempt to conform to my religion by wearing the turban. At the same time I live a British lifestyle 99% of the time.

Now I’m going for a pint, accompanied by my favourite steak. I will be joined by Harj Singh who struggles with his 40-a-day habit and predilection for strippers. See you in the pub later then? Result: a happy life, my rules, my way… Actual result: a one way ticket to hell?

‘You can not celebrate for it incites hate, forces us to segregate’ so let me exacerbate the debate with the intention to aggravate

2009-02-19T21:27:00.009Z

I know I said this before, but I really am hearing so much about race nowadays... In fact it’s annoying and the more we speak about it, the more it upsets us. On the flipside, the more we challenge existing beliefs and common negative perceptions, the better we become as we progress and openly debate the issues in question.

Let’s face it, the UK is a long way from being a completely integrated multi-cultural nation and I don’t think it ever will be. If there’s not one thing it’s another. If it’s not the old adage that we took all the jobs then it’s the new asylum seeker malarkey – that they strain resources and take what doesn’t belong to them like benefits and housing… but that’s another argument. For the majority, the UK provides a better life, an income and a sustainable future where lives are not at risk or threatened by war and disease. People pay their taxes and abide by the law. Just the other day, I stood in London waiting for a bus when an old man openly spat racial insults at the many black people in the bus queue. I was disgusted. His neck brace was probably funded by my contributions. Maybe I should refuse to contribute and like the Butterfly Effect his neck brace will tighten and retract. Or like the pleasure pain principle I smile as I watch my wallet enlarge and his neck brace tightens – we can only dream. Deep rooted hatred is harmful. It reminded me of a time back in the Midlands (Wolverhampton to be precise) in the early 90’s when a coloured person could be attacked by White louts who didn’t understand democracy and a free world. Their whole existences paid for by the ‘pakis’ who were willing to fulfil their tax obligations and consequently allowed these live-off-the-state bigots to continue with their narrow-minded I-don’t-have-a-clue-but-proud-to-be-white lifestyles in a haze of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, violence, Staffy’s, pub culture and lack of education. When you were in school, there was always a kid that didn’t actually go to school but always hung about in the playground like a vagabond Oliver Twist pick pocket right? You know that kid, who never wore a school uniform and darted about on his BMX – well in this scenario he would be the offspring of these people! It all makes perfect sense… just like knowing that there was a stray dog that at one point in your primary school life infiltrated the playground and caused mayhem. So it is in my experience that people of this disposition are likely to be more racist because they lack education. ‘Edu-what?’ they ask. They push their Englishness onto ethnics and claim that this country is theirs. They frighten the old Indian lady walking home from the shops carrying her vegetables, intimidating and threatening her with half-wit insults and slurs. They post dog doo-doo into Malik’s shop letterbox, stealing goods when he turns away and laugh at the ‘paki crap’ blaring from his radio behind the counter as he continues with his day serving locals. They scratch and smash Mr Singh’s Mercedes out of envy – ‘they take all of our jobs and rub it in our faces’. A Sikh Vaisakhi celebration in the Midlands is attacked by scores of Asian Muslims who cause riots and force the celebrations to be banned indefinitely.

Talking of celebrations, the West Midlands St George’s Parade was abolished this year over fears of extremist influence. It was claimed that racial tensions were the cause of the parade to be scrapped with no funding being given to the festivities which celebrate the English patron saint in West Bromwich, Birmingham. My neck of the woods… It is farcical that a celebration of the British patron saint can be scrapped because it can incite racism and exclusion of other community groups. Somehow I don’t think the Sandwell Somalis would care too much or the Smethwick Somalis for that matter! Or maybe even the BNP (and that’s the British National Paki Facebook group to you and me!).

Another national tabloid claimed that the parade was scrapped because non-British people found the celebrations racist and pro-Britain. Yes of course they are pro-Britain! The West Midlands has a proud Black Country heritage and I for one am tremendously proud to claim it as my home (my grandfather worked in the Black Country during the manufacturing boom and jobs were aplenty). The people there and everywhere have a right to celebrate their heritage just as Sikhs celebrate Vaisakhi with lavish street processions. If the Sikh community were forced to stop their celebrations it would not go down well and I am sure Mr Singh would be challenging his local MP for an apology, threatening a boycott of some kind and pleading for a re-instatement of all Sikh cultural events on the double. These events are an institution in British-Sikh culture just like St George’s Day is for England. In Birmingham city centre, Hare Krishna followers (I should be politically correct and refer to them as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as they are known) march the streets and sing praises – does this incite social exclusion and create further segregation between community groups? How about the fanatical (is that the right word?) Christian, who stands in Nottingham city centre opposite the Town Hall (I am well travelled) and chants repeatedly about Jesus; I couldn’t for the life of me ever work out what he was saying! Does he incite or encourage segregation of any kind or is he merely practising his beliefs and encouraging others to follow his lead?

Just like an onion, this debate has multiple layers and makes us cry with confusion… I just want to live my life my way without having to worry about treading on egg shells (very fragile ones at that), without upsetting others and on my own terms... is that too much to ask? I thought Britain was a free nation, allowing all to live mutually and cohesively alongside each other in a giant melting pot. Like a huge stir fry with onions (can you tell I like them?), mushrooms, chilli, broad beans and sweet potato – each vegetable representing a different person by race, ethnicity and creed and contributing to Britain’s one of 5-a-day – the more vegetables we add the healthier Britain becomes. Can you guess which vegetable is which or is that stereotyping and politically incorrect?

By not allowing people to embrace and celebrate their heritage, we can maintain this mute culture Britain’s decision-makers are adopting by continually tightening that neck brace: not healthy…

God show me the way coz the devil trying to break me down...

2009-02-16T21:10:00.000Z

Consuming a Zinger Burger and sipping on my tea, I hear faint sounds of a congregation led by a charismatic voice in the distance. It was the clinical looking building next door. A loud, masculine shout followed by cheers and chants. I sat, cold and weary looking out at the young lads standing outside KFC with nothing else to do. Their sports branded clothing, expensive trainers, baseball caps with the tags hanging off intimidating passers by and looking for something to do. Looking for something -something fulfilling to fill the void.

As I have grown up I have realised that my relationship with God has been turbulent. As a Sikh, it can be extremely tough to follow the ideals our parents expect us to abide by. In the constant conflict to do what my religion dictates and eating the last of my zinger burger I commit a sin. I look ahead thinking what life would be like if I followed the path many young people my age do. They take the Sikh baptism and follow a life more in tune with Sikh tradition – doing the prayers, following the code of conduct which involves never cutting or shaving hair, not eating meat or smoking and attending the Sikh temple to assist the congregational activities. I am guilty of not abiding – I like the odd drink on a jaunt or a tipple with friends. I am partial to a bit of barbeque on a weekend that Uncle Malkit serves up in the local desi pub.

Like the lads with no purpose who day in day out ‘hang around’, I realise that I too am missing something – Peace of Mind. An empty feeling often consumes me in times of contemplation knowing that religion can help to fill it. Language barriers enhance the confusion – How can I understand prayers and the significance of Holy Scriptures when the language is foreign to me? This is difficult. What will my children be like, when the possibility of marrying another British Asian who shares my view doesn’t pass down any religious teachings? I see a dilution of religion as time passes by. In the UK, there will be less of a ‘difference’ between white and Asian people. With the increase in mixed marriages and the new British Asian population becoming increasingly ‘western’ I see a secular society with religious groups very much a minority – no more busy Gurdwaras on a Sunday. Not like they used to be.

As I left my car, I strolled towards the building entrance with the chants louder and clearer – ‘Jesus is our Saviour’. I am intrigued and I walk in. Greeted by a friendly African lady, dressed in traditional attire she invites me in. I stand like a condemned man, confused and alone sipping on my KFC tea and scanning the crowd. Scores of black devotees sing and dance. ‘Hallelujah’ shouts the Bishop while the crowd’s hysteria deepens. Small black children, not quite understanding why they are there flitter about passing through chairs aimlessly. I am reminded of my childhood in the Gurdwara, running around looking for fun and meeting with friends. I was always aware that it was a religious place but I had guns to fire and fires to light. A young child smiles at me, his big innocent brown eyes amongst the hysteria is poignant. Who am I and why I am here? I am a Sikh Briton standing in an evangelical church wandering how my peace of mind ever evaded me… I head for the door where the African lady gives me a flyer with church opening times and makes me repeat a prayer. I oblige, tell her I am Sikh and wander back to my car in deep thought… This is the kind of experience that repeatedly forces me to work out who I am. So what am I? Where do I belong and how will I decide to live my life and under which teachings?

I guess my point is this – I am trying to work out who I am. I have an issue with my identity and I want to explore it further. No matter what, my colour or identity have no bearing on the goals I set for myself in life so for now maybe I should be concentrating on them… Any ideas?

Today, the issue for Muslims is just as significant. Are they Muslim first and British second? Many believe they are Muslim first and this view tarnishes their reputation with many believing they become fanatical. What am I first? Sikh? Indian? Punjabi? British? I don't even know anymore... My episode at the church signified to me that I had no path, no clarity about my identity and consequently no peace of mind. I search for answers.

I am a man. I was once a boy.
I am a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew.
I am brown. I am coloured. I am non-white.
I am Asian. I am Indian. I am Sikh.
I am a minority. I am ethnic.
I am a paki, a golliwog, a raghead, a nigger.
I should go back to where I come from. Where do I come from?
My home is here. We breathe the same air. We cry the same tears.

I am human.

Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our difference, our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them.

Oh Come All Ye Faithful… but go to your own assembly!

2009-02-11T04:04:00.000Z

Children are one-third of our population and all of our future

I am a Sikh and I look like a Sikh. When I was at school I recited Christian hymns and learned about all religions. I was often fascinated by Christianity and I enjoyed singing ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ on a Thursday morning. I even made the choir for a short while when my pre-pubescent voice hit the high note on ‘ALL’ in All Things Bright and Beautiful’. It was only the children who were Jehovar’s Witnesses that did not attend assembly. I never questioned why I was being taught about a religion different to my own and never did I feel that I should be given individual treatment because my religion was not that of the majority. Scanning the assembly on a warm Spring morning in 1995 at my primary school, you would see children from all faiths. The token Sikh kids with their patkas and top-knots, the Muslim children with their topis and the kids with no definable features other than being brown! The next defining criteria would be looking out for a ‘kara’ which signified that he or she was Sikh. They were good days. And all this at a time when I was more likely to be called a ‘paki’ and often was.

It is sad to hear then that today a head teacher has resigned from her primary school because she abolished Muslim assemblies which were in isolation to other assemblies within her school. In her attempts to create a unified assembly, Julia Robinson quit her post at Meersbrook Bank Primary School in Sheffield after parents complained about her plans to hold one assembly for pupils of all faiths. What is the world coming to? In a day and age when we are struggling with racial scandals and the rebirth of the ‘golliwog’ how is an attempt to create an accepting and understanding multi-faith environment a negative thing? I am saddened by this.

I am sure that separate assemblies for Muslims would only help to re-enforce negative stereotypes and strengthen separatism. How can Muslims argue that they are misunderstood when they favour separatism in school? How will Islam be better understood if non-Muslim children in schools are not given the opportunity to learn about and explore Islam? Separate assemblies do nothing for community relations and in my opinion breed mistrust and tension between racial groups and communities. My fascination with “other people’s” religions enabled me to appreciate how others lived, worshipped and were guided by their morals and principles. I would not be the person I am today had I not been able to understand how others lived their lives.

Why do you have a pom-pom? I was asked once and not for the first time. The snotty kid whose name escapes me was a ruffian and if I didn’t answer correctly my pom-pom would be desecrated within minutes… (it wasn’t the female bully I alluded to in a previous post!).
‘I don’t really like it but my mom says I have to have it’ I replied embarrassingly. I used to cringe knowing that my friend John, a mixed race boy (his father was black and mum white) would often see my hair in its entirety when he would call for me on his way to school. Due to my lazy nature, he would often have to wait for me while mum tied my top-knot in haste because I had woken up late for school again.
‘Well it’s weird and you need to have a proper haircut like me and Mike. I will cut it for you, my moms a hairdresser’.

In those kinds of situations I never felt equipped to respond accordingly.

‘Hair is a gift from God and removal of hair signifies a detachment from the Almighty. Keeping your hair means that you accept God’s will….. And as a Sikh I will have a sword one day and I am gona chop you up you little shit’.. this is a mixture and what I should and shouldn't have said. Knife-crime is also very serious and I open a whole new can of super worms with these words so I stop right here…

When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world.

When Mr Singh later came in to our assembly to talk about Sikhism I was immensely proud. Not only did he look like 27 of my uncles he also smelled like them as well! With his smartly tied turban which matched the colour of his suit I was in awe. He told us that Sikhs were a warrior religion, that we lived to serve a humble life and to follow God and help others, that we had Gurdwaras that would be open to all, that we had community langar halls which fed anybody that wished to eat and that one of the 5 K’s was a dagger - I became a popular lad!

In his new found appreciation of my religion, snotty kid and his accomplice Mike found a new respect for me and my outward religious headwear. I became even cooler when I was hand-picked to be the projector boy carefully choosing which hymns to unearth unto an unexpecting congregation like a soldier with a new battle plan or a preacher with a new revelation to share. I wasn’t called a paki again or received threats to unravel my pom-pom… that was until I beat him in the sports day running race. The visual characteristics that made me who I was were accepted and that was thanks to my assembly on Sikhism.

Children learn to smile from their parents.
Shinichi Suzuki

I saw snotty kid recently and we became ‘friends’ again on Facebook. He even married a Caribbean girl… When children are children, they need to have their minds opened and filled with the right stuff; stuff that will challenge their perceptions and newly formed beliefs and will help them to live inclusively without fear and prejudice..

It is a sad day to see how an attempt to create a harmonious environment for children becomes a battleground for narrow minded parents who are threatened by religions not their own. And then Britain (well some commentators) wander why we still have a national identity crisis……

Upon our children,
how they are taught,
rests the fate, or fortune,
of tomorrow's world.
B C Forbes

The adventures of two celebrities and a golliwog

2009-02-05T22:12:00.000Z

Is it me or am I hearing a lot more about race in the media nowadays? Maybe my mental satellite is tuned into the race related stories but only this week I have seen or heard many stories about race relations, race rows and media race scandals in the UK.

Take Carol Thatcher, a media celebrity who used the term 'golliwog' while filming for the BBC's The One Show on which she appears regularly as a reporter. She had referred to a tennis player as a 'golliwog' when in discussion about the Australian Open. Three guesses as to who that tennis star may have been? Claiming it was said in 'jest' I must say that I am mildly appalled at the excuse. A racial slur in jest is a poor excuse and it just goes to show that racism exists in the upper echelons of society - maybe even more so than within other circles (she is Maggie Thatcher's daughter I'll have you know - the name is a dead give away). Oh and she appeared on 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' and won it. Good for her I hear you cry. Her racial remarks recieved 2,200 complaints at the BBC. She also used the terms 'golliwog-frog' and 'half-golliwog' allegedly referring to French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, - who? I thought that too. She has refused to apologise in full, leaving the excuses to her spokeswoman. For all of that, she has of course been banned from The One Show and quite rightly so. The show is aimed at a diverse audience and she has offended many with her remarks. I wander what fellow reporter Hardeep Singh Kohli made of his colleague? Kohli who wears a turban and maintains a Sikh identity has appeared regularly on the show.

So what is a golliwog? I referred to golliwogs in a previous post when talking of my own experience of racism. They are rag dolls resembling black-faced minstrels and were apparently popular children's toys in Britain during the early part of the 20th century - way before my time then! The term however became a racist remark and was widely accepted as offensive.

Talking of golliwogs - they sell them at Royal Sandringham for £9.99!

I am sensing a them here? Racism, golliwogs and the Royals? The 20,000 acre Royal estate at Sandringham have been selling golliwog dolls for over year at their Sandringham shops. The Thatcher saga has now meant that officials at the Royal estate have been forced to remove the golliwog dolls from their shelves. Now I find this quite amusing as the dolls themselves were a toy that many older people remember fondly. In Britain the jam manufacturer Robertson adopted the golliwog as its emblem and that is where I remember it from or at least where it looks familiar. From a soft toy, a jam emblem to a malicious racist slur.. Its all a bit weird and out of proportion. Nevertheless, lets treat these current sagas as evidence that Britain is cleaning up it's racial ideologies, analogies and symbols.

Then all look round, as well they may

To see a horrid sight!

The blackest gnome

Stands there alone,

They scatter in their fright.

How the golliwog was introduced in The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg (Florence Kate Upton).

Talking of golliwogs and the affection given to them by grannies throughout the UK, how are race relations within the younger generation? Recently, teen star Miley Cyrus was accused of racism in her apparent racist gesture when pulling her eyes slanted in a photograph. This is political correctness gone mad! Maybe she was being racist and if she was, then shame on her. The laughable thing in this saga is that there was a young Asian-Pacific American in the picture (an Oriental person to you and me). Pulling the eyes into a slanted position is said to be offensive to Asian-Pacific people and rightly so. It would be the same as somebody wrapping a towel around their head and assuming to be a 'raghead'. Harry - anyone you know? Maybe this scenario is going too far and if she has offended anyone she has apologised accordingly. Lets move on and let Hannah Montana do what she does best. See the picture for yourself and make of it what you wish...

Sometimes criticism is deserved. Sometimes we have to bite our lip and let things be. The trouble is that race is a very sensitive topic and those sensitivities exist in varying proportions for everyone.... Where do we draw the line?

UK to be mixed race in 21st century

2009-02-04T21:29:00.000Z

A major study has suggested that young people in London are more likely to be of mixed race as adults, raising hopes that they will not see race in the way it is seen in contemporary UK. ‘Young people are now six times as likely to be mixed race as adults and the rate is increasing by the year’ according to the Institute for Social and Economic Research. My mixed race nephew battles to understand his identity as his turban wearing grandfather and white father differ significantly. They speak different languages, eat different foods and socialise in massively contrasting circles. I hope when he’s older he can appreciate that he possesses a unique dual heritage and embraces it fully.

According to the research at Essex University, nine per cent of children in Britain are of ‘mixed or multiple heritage, meaning they are living with parents of different ethnic backgrounds or are of mixed race themselves’. Among the Indian population, this figure has risen dramatically from 3 percent to 11 percent. For Pakistanis from 1 percent to 4 percent and Chinese from 15 percent 35 percent. The number of children of Caribbean heritage with one white parent has risen from 39 percent to 49 percent over the past 14 years. Ethnicity will as a result become different to how we know it today.

Who will be ethnic in twenty years time? How will racism progress?

In an increasingly liberal UK, my concern as a second generation British-Asian Indian lies with the disowning of Indian values and culture as we become increasingly mixed race. I am all for an integrating society but I fear the decline in the influence of Indian values. With British Asians leading a western life and the older migrant generations unfortunately dying out, what is Asian Britain left with? Secular societies with less focus on religion? In my community, I see the Sikh traditions observed less than ever before. Even today, Gurdwaras are at their busiest on Diwali and Vaisakhi and for some a return visit to the Gurdwara is the following year. In this way, Asian societies will lose or at least experience a diminishing influence of eastern culture. Where will the UK Asian communities be in twenty years time? Will there even be such communities remaining?

Will we see a mixed Britain where the emphasis on colour and ethnicity declines at the cost of an increasingly westernised Asian society?

This for me is upsetting – although I do not favour separatism. A fine balance between east and west makes me the person I am. I would be disappointed if my children’s children were unaware of their roots; their Asian, Indian, Sikh, eastern heritage with only an Indian surname to prove their ethnicity.

The report commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), paints a picture of Britain where people of ethnic backgrounds are far more likely to marry and live with people of races different to their own… and their point is?

Happy (Arranged) Marriage!

2009-02-01T23:18:00.000Z

Today I have received news that my thirty-something cousin over in India has become engaged to a girl who he met 30 minutes beforehand. It made me wander why this would be a preposterous situation for myself to be in… the mere fact that I am geographically in another land has meant that my whole approach to the arranged marriage situation differs from that of my cousin. Had my grandfather not travelled to the UK in the 1950’s and had my father not travelled to the UK years later to marry my mother I would not be here. It could have been me getting engaged today had I been living in my paternal home in the Punjab.

Word out in the neighbourhood that a young lad who is "so and so's" son is eligible for marriage. A local father with daughters to discharge visits my family home, greets my father, meets me and assesses my character within fifteen minutes, decides that his daughter should spend the rest of her life with me and goes on his way to make ‘further arrangements’. 2 hours later, I am donning my best suit tailored by the local master in the bazaar, tying my best turban and stepping into my Maruti to travel to the local hotel where marriage engagements are initiated. Along with my father and five other family members we are greeted by the girl’s father, five of his closest relatives and the girl herself. We exchange glances, loosely exchange words and give the nod to proceed. Within minutes we are fixed up and engaged to be married….

I am British. My heritage is Indian, Asian or whatever else can describe me. My father has learned to temper his Indian attitude and he would never impose a marriage upon me in the way that his brother has to my cousin. I presume my cousin was happy to receive news of his impending marriage from his father since he was adamant to get married when we last spoke – ‘Find me a girl yaar’. Find your bloody own… even after a long relationship, I remain unsure about my willingness to marry. Its amazing how being 4550 miles from the Punjab makes me who I am. I really am a product of my environment…

Now nuff of them are sweet and some are ugly
And some of them a marga mean she patli
And some are mampee that a moti kuri
And some too english talk no punjabi
Say the gal me like have the right figure
In she eyes have the soorma
Wear the chuni kurtha pyjama
And talk the Indian with the Patwa!

Now me done get marry say me start to worry
Me have to tell you something mon would you help me
About me arrange marriage me have a problem
When is the right time to tell me gal friend!
Becaz the time has come mon fe apache
To find one gal and to get marry
But listen ragamuffin tell everybody
Me want me arrange marriage from me mum and daddy!
Arranged Marriage – Apache Indian

'Our little Paki friend' - Princely Insults

2009-01-28T21:49:00.000Z

Only recently, my attitude towards the word ‘paki’ was one of acceptance. For me it was a word that had become diluted over time and not carrying the same significance it used to. That has changed. I was tremendously hurt recently to discover that Harry the soldier prince called an Asian soldier “our little Paki friend”. It is ignorant, foolish and it sums up the extent to which racism is deeply impregnated in the UK. Feelings of bitterness, anger and pride for all that is Asian, Indian, ethnic, eastern and British about me bubble to the surface of my mind. It serves as a slap in mouth for me, I was naïve in assuming that the racist slur was diminishing in society today as the UK becomes an increasingly tolerant nation. As I walk through the streets of London on a daily basis, I am astounded by the variety and ethnicity of the people around me. Multiple foreign languages can be heard ranging from an obscure Russian dialect to the strongest patois you can imagine. It makes me proud.

I have been called a ‘raghead’ - an offensive name for an Arab or turban wearer of the Islamic world. As a third generation Sikh turban wearer, this insult repulses me. In the US, many Sikhs have been murdered – wrongly mistaken for an Arab with images of Osama Bin Laden influencing the rising trend of hate crimes towards people with turbans post 9/11. In the UK, confusion between an Arab and a Sikh is profoundly high amongst the White demographic.

“F*** me, you look like a raghead” - Prince Harry tells a fellow soldier wearing a camouflage veil.

While I am all for giving the Prince the benefit of the doubt – A 21 year old officer cadet at the time, I am saddened to think that racism and more importantly the term 'paki' has made its way to the Royal family. It must be a terrible blow for Islamic groups and Muslims still feeling the after effects of 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks. On a wider scale, it is a blow for all ethnicity groups - racism is alive and well and even the Royals are calling us names! All people of Asian ethnicity become tarnished with the same brush in the UK – we are not all terrorists in the same way that not all white people are racist. Nor can it be assumed that all westerners hate the Islamic world. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see what Prince Philip makes of it all? He himself has been accused of upsetting the 'slitty eye' Chinese people, the 'overbred' Romanians due to their many orphanages, Eastern females who 'sit around smoking pipes' and Austalian Aborigines who 'still throw spears at each other'. Perceptions, Assumptions, Ignorance.

Only 14 months before his ‘paki’ slur, the Prince was criticised for wearing a swastika on a German uniform to a fancy dress party. Prince Harry’s apology for his latest slip-up has been seen to be enough in the eyes of other servicemen. Ex Royal Marines officer and former Foreign Office minister, Rod Richards is one of many who believe Harry’s words are not racist. The poor lad at the centre of the case, Ahmed Raza Khan, a Pakistani who won the award for the best overseas cadet at Sandhurst Military College is a brave lad choosing to fight in the British service. He must be commended for undertaking a role many Asians would not ever contemplate today.

The whole scenario begs the question of whether racism is institutionalised within the Army just as racism remains current in UK society today. I am deeply saddened by the remarks made by Harry, A Royal who will be subject to scrutiny his whole life. As a highly regarded public figure, he should know better. Should Harry have been reprimanded in the same way that I would have been had I racially mocked my fellow white man? A racial attack made by a Royal in the 21st century, who would have thought it?

'I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism, that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality'

Martin Luther King

‘For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness’

2009-01-24T22:16:00.000Z

On the 20th January 2009, the world watched as a black man took the reign of the world’s foremost superpower. America sees the first ever black president sworn into office. A great day for race equality. A historic moment in America's journey towards equality and justice for all its citizens.

A man who’s father ‘was black as pitch’ and ‘mother white as milk’, Barack Obama has achieved the unachievable. Martin Luther King predicted that a black person would one day take office and despite this happening later than Dr King envisaged it has happened nevertheless. In his inauguration speech, Obama barely mentioned race. The fact that he was standing before the world was enough to signify just what had happened.

Scrutiny regarding the presidency remains - that the presidential election has been glamourised by the race card. On the 20th January 2009, we all watched a black man take office. We were proud to see Obama take his oath. Believing that people should be judged by the content of their character and not their skin colour, I am somewhat unconvinced of the extent to which Dr King’s declaration was satisfied on this occasion. At that point, euphoria surrounded the black man, not the black man's policies to change America. On a deeper note however, Obama as president is monumental beyond belief. He is the American dream personified. He gives hope not just to black people but to all people, all ethnic minorities and all who hope for a better future.

Going forwards, time will tell how Obama’s presidency takes effect as the real ‘content of character’ test starts now… A man ‘whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath’ – a powerful message that inspires hope and faith. A reminder that ‘all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness’ as Obama remarked in his Race Speech.

'Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them' Martin Luther King. America has moved forward.

For me, I am sceptical that what happened in America can happen in the UK, my home. But that I will explore another time… For now let us enjoy the happenings in America as we one day may enjoy here….

Go back to where you come from

2009-01-20T03:52:00.000Z

‘Go back to where you’ve come from gollywog’. Mom said that they used gollywog a lot in the 1970’s. If I was called a wog today I would probably respond with a fit of laughs, it’s just not controversial enough.

The last time I was called a paki I was probably about 14 years old. The local bully who happened to be a girl (yes a girl) was feared within my community. She had a history of violence and was the vulgar, ugly and most disillusioned person I had ever seen.
‘Next time you say something to Darren I'll rip your pom pom off’, she shouted with her halitosis and decaying teeth flashing themselves at me. ‘Paki’.

Now when you think about it, the term ‘paki’ is only offensive because of the emotion attached to it. It actually only refers to a person from Pakistan – a foreigner on British shores. But in the eyes of prejudice it becomes a malicious insult, filled with rage, a fear of the unknown and xenophobia at its core. My use of this word for the title of my blog merely reflects my acceptance of this word. In fact I haven’t heard it said for a long time and for me its not a racial term anymore. Not in the way it used to be anyway.

Those that use the word ‘paki’ are to me miscreants, ignorants who think that colour means more than the content of character as Martin Luther King so eloquently put it.

‘Go back to where you come from, you come here and take our jobs!!’.
‘I just want a bag of chips’ I exclaim peering over the steel counter staring at the vinegar.
‘They all come here in droves, this ay your country. You should all go back to where you come from. Bloody pakis’. The old lady sporting a tea cosy on her bob nods in agreement. The factory worker with his scruffy blue overalls compressing his gut looks on catatonically…

‘The jobs we do require some skill, skill that you could easily acquire with some effort and education. The taxes we pay allow you to receive your medication and treatment free of charge. The doctor that treats you was educated in India and travelled to the UK because of the demand for doctors. The shop that you buy your milk and bread from was set up by a minimum wage earning migrant who was destined to spend his life in a foreign land, working for foreign people, with no knowledge of the language of the land, no idea about western customs and values and with 3 mouths to feed. With some insight and hard work, he was able to do something better and provide groceries for his community and still you mock him, vandalise his property and call him a paki. Why don’t you accept those around you and see the good in a new diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan Britain’. That is what I should have said….

Top of the morning to you.... Sat Sri Akal, Namaste, Salaam etc etc

2009-01-18T01:29:00.000Z

Keep your Coins, I want change.

I had been thinking about capturing my thoughts in some sort of weblog or online diary for quite a while. Its easy to promise yourself that you will do something and never actually do it. First of all, I had to decide about what I would write about or what my theme would be. [Pause]. I have a lot to talk about. As a young British Asian proud of his heritage and culture and pleased to possess a dual heritage, I contemplate the years ahead with religion becoming more secular in my opinion and consumerism causing all to further their greed. Even with the credit crunch and news of doom and gloom, shifting our mindsets through endless media rants about falling markets, falling property prices and increasing unemployment I remain positive. This is the bargain basement and now is the time to buy, buy buy (apparently!).

My new years resolution involves many unattainable goals such as to make a million pounds this year and to get fit – all of these things become less attainable as I decide I have the whole year to concentrate on these goals and so for now I’ll just finish this cake and go back to sleep…. I will use this page to muse and to vent my anger, frustration, optimism, confusion, dejection, positivity and overall despondency… it’s not all bad I promise….