Gina Miller is a name one is unlikely to hear outside of the UK, but she is the woman who brought UK Prime-Minister Boris Johnson to his knees when he decided to prorogue (suspend) parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline. Miller challenged this decision in court and won when the Supreme Court ruled it illegal on September 24, 2019. Miller is a businesswoman and independent campaigner not affiliated to any particular party. The interesting thing about Miller is that she is of Indian descent. Born Gina Nadira Singh in Guyana, she is the daughter of Savitri and Doodnauth Singh, who was at one time the attorney-General of Guyana. It is perhaps ironic that a person of Indian descent should be the one, who in a very profound manner repeatedly stands up for the principles of British democracy and holds to account the white-British dominated Tory party currently in power.
But Gina is not the only person of Indian origin who is a stoic public defender of the liberal values of Western democracies. There are many number of British citizens of Indian origin actively shaping the social and political narrative. There is, for instance, Shami Chakrabarti, a member of the Labour party, journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News, and artist Anish Kapoor, all staunchly defending left-wing, ideologically. This harnessing of liberal values from Indian-origin immigrants is not confined to the UK. In America too, there are a number of vocal voices which support the democratic cause: Kamala Harris, the US Senator currently running for president as a Democrat candidate, is of part-Indian origin. The Los Angeles Times, reported her as saying, ‘My grandfather, having been a freedom fighter in India and a very progressive person, put my mother on a plane, a transcontinental flight, which was unheard of in those days, 1959, to go and study at Berkeley.’
Going back in history, Indians have a rich legacy of supporting freedom movements particularly in Africa. In Kenya, the Kenya Indian Congress (KIC) has played a pivotal role in nationalist politics. But even before the KIC, as a representative party began lobbying for universal suffrage, Indians formed part of the resistance against colonialism, through the trade unions. In 1935, Makhan Singh formed the Labour Trade Union of Kenya, which then formed the nucleus of the independence movement.
All this would lead one to believe that the NRI (the term is used loosely here to mean all immigrants of Indian origin), is the model liberal, progressive, humanitarian soul singing songs in solidarity with the oppressed masses across the world. Except we know that not to be true. The Howdy Modi show in Houston, Texas, to welcome prime-minister Modi, showed us that at least 50,000 NRIs simply did not care about the suppression of civil liberties, the muzzling of the press, the dismantling of the constitution, the weakening of the judiciary, the saffronisation of the police force and learning institutions back in India. They chanted their praises like giddy-headed teenagers at a rock concert.
No doubt a substantial number of those same NRIs will be voting for Democrats in the next US elections. Statistics back up this assertion. According to the National Asian American Survey, 77% of Indian-Americans voted for the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Only 16% voted for the Republican candidate Donald Trump, despite Trump’s friendly overtures toward Indian-Americans. Who can forget the famous line, ‘I am a big fan of Hindu.’ These NRIs enjoy the best of what liberal, progressive democracies in the West offer them. They consistently support parties that are soft on immigration, promise affordable healthcare, and are active in confronting racial discrimination. And yet the UK and US immigrant of Indian origin, as a group, is known to support the most virulent form of conservatism back in India. One which is responsible for a highly toxic nationalism propped up by the idea of Hindu purity, creating hostile environments for minorities, and blurring the lines between state and temple. NRIs funnel funds to the RSS through so-called charities and cultural organisations set up in the west. This rank hypocrisy tells us the NRI is a self-centred and opportunistic creature pedaling the worst bigotries of low expectations, and perpetuating the myth that a developing country like India needs a strongman like Modi.
Perhaps no one else epitomises this opportunism more than our very own British MP Keith Vaz of Goan origin. Vaz is a long-standing member of the Labour Party, a party whose very ethos is enshrined in the values of liberalism. Yet Vaz sees no dichotomy in being a staunch supporter of the Modi government, which is the antithesis of secular and liberal values. Vaz once again showed his allegiance to Modi, when earlier this month, he demanded the rescinding of a Labour party resolution which supported international observers in Kashmir and declared Kashmir a humanitarian crisis. Vaz, felt the resolution to be divisive, misguided and unhelpful. Not surprisingly, he remains tone-deaf to the plight of the Kashmiris embattling curfew and blackouts, even as he ironically spends his time in the UK lobbying for racial equality and the rights of minorities.
The immigrant of Indian origin has a fundamental question to ask themselves? What sort of country do they want India to be? The prosperity they enjoy in the Western world is a result of a progressive society and they must not harbour allusions, that anything other than liberal values can ever bring social justice, equality and prosperity to India.
(The writer is the author of Goan Pioneers of East Africa)
