HVK Archives: Taste of subcontinent in British polls
Taste of subcontinent in British polls - The Observer
K N Malik
()
5 March 1997
Title : Taste of subcontinent in British polls
Author : K N Malik
Publication : The Observer
Date : March 5, 1997
The One Nation Forum, set up by the Tory Party to garner Asian and
Afro-Caribbean support, celebrated its tenth anniversary recently
in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister John Major addressed the gathering of Indians
and Pakistanis combined. The Forum replaced two other ethnic
organisations - the Anglo Asian Conservative Society and the
Afro-Caribbean Conservative Society.
The two organisations set up in the late 1970s were wound up mainly
because of infighting within the Anglo Asian Society.
The demise of this society was linked directly to the rise of
insurgency in Punjab in early 1980s, the Operation Blue Star, the
assassination of Prime Minister Ms Indira Gandhi, the anti Sikh
riots that followed her death and the spill over of the problem in
the United Kingdom where a large number of Punjabis are settled.
The British failure to firmly tackle the anti-Indian activities by
a small but-vocal group of Sikh separatists, led to a
misunderstanding between the British and the Indian governments.
This resulted in cancellation of ministerial meetings, postponement
of trade and art exhibitions and some important civil and defence
matters were put on hold. Bilateral relations thawed after the
British took some concrete measures to curb separatist activities.
The measures included better co-operation on intelligence,
exclusion or deportation of a number of separatist Sikhs, the
closure of some clandestine radio stations used for propaganda by
some self-styled Khalistani leaders and prosecution of persons
involved in violence against moderate Sikhs in Britain.
Normal relations, however, were achieved only after the end of the
cold war in late 1980s, economic liberalisation in India beginning
1991 and the signing of an Extradition Treaty and the agreement on
the confiscation of terrorists' funds in 1992.
During the mid 1980s, the protagonists of Khalistan tried to
increase clout with the government by infiltrating some mainstream
political organisations. Anglo Asian Conservative Society was one
such organisation.
The decision to wind up the Society was taken after the arrest of
Kuldip Kaur, wife of the chairman of the Anglo Asian Society in
India and the intelligence reports linking the chairman Mohinderpal
Singh Bedi to some illegal dealings. Kuldip Kaur was released by
the Indian government after considerable pressure from Tory
bigwigs.
The Tory Party, later decided to replace the society with One
Nation Forum which included other Asian and Afro-Caribbean
minorities.
If one goes by the recent MORI opinion poll conducted for the Zee
TV, the One nation Forum has not helped boost Tory Party popularity
among the minorities. Voting intention among all Asians indicated
that 70 per cent of Asians would vote Labour in the next general
election due in a few week's time.
During 1992 election, a survey suggested that 64 per cent of Asians
voted in the favour of Labour (An earlier MORI poll had indicated
66 per cent of the Asian electorate voted Labour).
Given the margin of error as 10 per cent, the current survey does
not indicate any change in voting intentions. If there is any, it
is expected to be a further tilt towards the Labour Party.
Same trend was observed in the last general election also. Besides
other reasons for favouring Labour, Asian Muslims, especially those
from Pakistan, perceive the Labour Party to be more sympathetic to
their cause.
Hard-hitting anti-India utterances of some Labour Party leaders in
the midlands on Kashmir and the Labour leadership's ambiguous
position on the issue, has to some extent reinforced pro-Labour
vote.
Report on Islamophobea in Britain recently submitted by some
left-leaning 'intellectuals' and more sympathetic noises by some
Labour activists on Bosnia, Chechnya and occupation of Kabul by
Talibans have also helped boost Labour popularity.
Estimates of marginal seats where Asians can affect the outcome of
the election varies from 36 to 45 seats. The Tory party,
therefore, is going out of its way to befriend Muslim voters. After
opposing public funding for religious schools for years, John Major
announced at the reception celebrating the 10th anniversary of the
One National Forum, that his government would allow such fundings.
The government has been soft on some extremist Muslim
organisations. Some of these organisations have been publicly
demanding killings of Christians, Jews and Hindus. They have also
been urging Muslims to boycott general elections.
These election-eve concessions by a party trailing far behind the
Labour in opinion polls, is not going to get more Muslim votes for
the Tory Party. It would only help prevent any pro-Tory swing
among a vast majority of Hindus and Sikh voters.
The defeat of the chairman of the Forum Sir Neil Thorn from
Ill-ford south at the last general election would reinforce the
argument. Sir Neil made some anti-India noises on the issue of
Kashmir, obviously to garner Pakistani voters' support.
Since labour was perceived to be more pro-Muslim, Pakistanis
remained unimpressed by Sir Neil's utterances. He, however,
succeeded in annoying the Indian voters who voted against him with
a vengeance. His last minute effort to woo Indian voters, even a
visit to India to win Vishwa Hindu Parishad members, which has a
large following in the area, proved futile.
This should be a lesson to John Major and his beleaguered Tory
party.
A vast majority of British Asian communities are no longer
sympathetic to subcontinental or some sectarian causes. What
interest them most is representation in the political structure.
There are only a 'handful of Tory councillors and one Tory Asian MP
in the, current parliament. He too, is from Sri Lanka and not from
India, Pakistani or Bangladesh from where a vast majority of
immigrant settlers have come.
The party has not allocated a single seat to any Asian candidate
belonging to the Tory party for the next election.
Even Nirj Deva is finding difficult to defend his seat.
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