Who Speaks For British Hindus?

Author: Editorial
Publication: Sangh Sandesh
Date: January-February 2002
URL: www.hss-uk.org

We have had another infantile outburst from Lord Ahmed, a Muslim nominated to the House of Lords by the Labour party. In a programme called 'Hard Talk' screened by BBC TV across Europe on 28 January, this so called 'British' politician made wild accusations against the Indian Government and the Indian Army. He unashamedly promoted the Pakistani propaganda. At times he appeared as if he represented Pakistan not Britain. British Hindus were furious to hear such rubbish from a British Lord. We present in this issue a reply to Lord Ahmed's wild accusations (page 3) and also some of the reactions on page 18. Also included is a response from the producer of the programme from BBC on page 20. The BBC informed us that the Indian High Commissioner was not prepared to face Lord Ahmed. Another prominent academic from Delhi also backed out at the last minute. We are dismayed. There are several Hindus in the House of Lords: Lord Dholakia (Lib Dem party), Lord Bagri (Conservative), Lord Bhikhu Parekh (Labour) and Lord Desai (Labour) etc. None of them uttered a word in public to counter Lord Ahmed. If Hindus in the British Parliament keep quiet, if the Indian High Commission in London continues to shun the media, then we must ask ourselves, who will speak for British Hindus? The only people who come to mind our the volunteers from the Sangh parivar. Whenever, Hindu issues have hit the headlines, the entire Hindu community including the public relations of the Indian High Commission seem to go into deep slumber. The lone voice which defends the Hindu interests always comes from the Sangh parivar. After the Ayodhya incident in December 1992, there were just handful of Hindus, all from Sangh parivar, who faced the press to explain the Hindu sentiments. And now, when the BBC was looking for someone to face the dreaded Lord Ahmed, the only person willing to defend Hindus and India was no one else but the National President of the VHP(UK), Dr G L Bhan. He deserves our applause.
 

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