‘We are very proud here! A British Indian in charge of the country.’ While making masala tea, Vikas Nattram looks up with a smile when Rishi Sunak’s name is mentioned. On his mobile phone, the 27-year-old bar owner in the West London migrant district of Southall had viewed images of the new prime minister on Tuesday afternoon after he had visited King Charles. “Rishi has a good brain. He can use it. He has a lot of work ahead of him.’
For the second time in two months, the United Kingdom was the setting for a change of power. New Prime Minister, New Opportunities. Seven weeks ago, the day before her death, Queen Elizabeth had first received the abdicated Boris Johnson and then his successor Liz Truss. On a sunny October day, this time Truss came to resign, shortly after speaking her last words to the nation, as well as those of Seneca, in Downing Street.
‘Many things we dare not do because they are difficult’, she quoted the Roman philosopher, ‘but they are difficult precisely because we do not dare to do them.’ A few hours later, after his visit to Buckingham Palace, Sunak was standing in the same spot, his face sombre but decisive. He praised Truss’ ambition to make the country better, adding that she has made mistakes. “I have been elected leader of the party and prime minister to restore them,” he said.
Hindus and Sikhs
It is a special day for the Hindu community in the UK and beyond. There is now a prime minister who has sworn his parliamentary oath on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy book, and who, as finance minister, lit candles on the sidewalk of 11 Downing Street, his official residence, during Diwali. The Empire Strikes Back’, so read a headline over an article on Indian Link News, and publication for the Indian diaspora on the island.
There are over a million Britons of Indian descent. In the ‘Indian quarter’ of Southall it is mainly about people from the Punjab, both Hindus and Sikhs. That is also the state where Sunak’s grandparents came from, from the city of Gujranwala which is now the Pakistani part. Sunak was born and grew up in Southampton, where his grandfather co-founded the Vedic Society Temple. One priest even called Sunak’s appointment as prime minister Britain’s ‘Obama moment’.
“It’s good to have a prime minister of Asian origin,” says 24-year-old Soni Marvah, a perfumery manager, “consciously or unconsciously, he will think of minority groups in his policy. We now also feel represented.’ In Vikas’ cafeteria, Simran Kaur (25) hopes for an advantage. ‘I study nursing and hope that after my studies I can get a work permit. It’s nice living here. Maybe under Rishi more visas will become available for Indians.’
trade agreement
A trade deal with India is also on the mind of Mr Gill, a tailor at the Palace Shopping Centre. ‘The British economy is not doing well,’ says the sixty-year-old who has lived in Southall for four decades, ‘and Brexit has not made it any better. A trade deal with India would be a boon to Britain, a growth market of more than a billion people. As far as Sunak is concerned, what matters to me is whether he is wise, not what religion he has, or what color of skin he has.’
Near the Vishwa Hindu Mandir temple along Lady Margaret Road, not everyone is equally enthusiastic about Sunak. “I don’t see him as one of us,” said Resham Samra, a retired factory worker who Daily Mirror in his pocket, “but as a millionaire representing the interests of his class, not those of the working class.” He points to a building behind the temple. ‘There was the Conservative Social Club in the 1960s. We Indians were not welcome there. I’ll never forget that.’
Traditionally, Labor has been the party of the migrant communities, including Indian ones. The latter is changing. The increasing prosperity of this minority group, symbolized by a huge temple at Neasden, ten kilometers away, and the presence of Hindus in government, has made the Conservative Party popular in these circles. In the recent municipal elections, the Tories lost everywhere in London, except in the ‘Indian quarter’ of Harrow.
The fact that the Indian community has a relatively large number of small entrepreneurs contributes to Sunak’s popularity. In his cafeteria, where the smell of Pani Puri’s and Golgappe’s seduces many a passerby, Vikas points out Sunak’s role during the pandemic. As finance minister, he was generous with corona support, not only for citizens but also for companies. We have not forgotten that here and we hope that as Prime Minister he also thinks about entrepreneurs. They are having a hard time because of all the cost increases.’