British Hindu calls to drop the label "Asian" are misguided
There is something a bit unnerving about the request coming from the British Hindu community that they reject the label "Asian" and would prefer to be called "Hindu" because of the misassociation with Muslims.
The detail beneath this claim seems reasonable - the unique heritage, religious requirements and contributions of the Indian and East African Hindus needs distinction and sensitivity. They cite areas such as dietary requirements and funeral rites as examples. It is right that these should be addressed, and I sympathise with any minority that feels neglected or homogenised into another distinct group.
But the sentiment of the headline is very worrying. This, along with some of the statements being made says "Hey, look at us, we're integrated, we're not those terrible Muslim people". It seems very cowardly, trying to distance themselves from people who are often their ethnic brothers and sisters. Many East African Asians in this country are also Muslim, as is a large proportion of the Indian population, who no doubt share some of the wonderful statistics of wealth creation, education and prosperity that the Hindu community is now pushing forward.
I don't believe it's in the interests of the Hindu community to isolate themselves in this way - in the long run they are Asians, just like other Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and even those in East Africa and the Middle East of subcontinental origin. Due to the heritage of the British empire, Asia has come to mean the subcontinent, whereas in North America, the term tends to refer to those we term as Oriental, such as the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and so on. Semantics are important, but in this case it seems to be riding on a wave of anti-Muslim-ism.
If Hindus are being attacked because of anti Muslim feeling, then that should stop. As should violence and hate against Muslims who are equally not responsible for terrorist activities. The answer for the Hindu community is not to close ranks and shout about the fact they are not Muslims. The insidious message of this is that all Muslims are to blame. The answer is to address the source of the violence, which is perpetrated against all innocent people, not to say, "don't attack us, attack those people over there."
Their stance reminds me of the poem about the Second World War. Trying to create a separation and pointing fingers is in no-one's long term interest.
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for meand there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemolle
Check out more at:
http://www.hinduforum.org/Default.aspx?sID=45&cID=149&ctID=43&lID=0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5167332.stm
The detail beneath this claim seems reasonable - the unique heritage, religious requirements and contributions of the Indian and East African Hindus needs distinction and sensitivity. They cite areas such as dietary requirements and funeral rites as examples. It is right that these should be addressed, and I sympathise with any minority that feels neglected or homogenised into another distinct group.
But the sentiment of the headline is very worrying. This, along with some of the statements being made says "Hey, look at us, we're integrated, we're not those terrible Muslim people". It seems very cowardly, trying to distance themselves from people who are often their ethnic brothers and sisters. Many East African Asians in this country are also Muslim, as is a large proportion of the Indian population, who no doubt share some of the wonderful statistics of wealth creation, education and prosperity that the Hindu community is now pushing forward.
I don't believe it's in the interests of the Hindu community to isolate themselves in this way - in the long run they are Asians, just like other Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and even those in East Africa and the Middle East of subcontinental origin. Due to the heritage of the British empire, Asia has come to mean the subcontinent, whereas in North America, the term tends to refer to those we term as Oriental, such as the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and so on. Semantics are important, but in this case it seems to be riding on a wave of anti-Muslim-ism.
If Hindus are being attacked because of anti Muslim feeling, then that should stop. As should violence and hate against Muslims who are equally not responsible for terrorist activities. The answer for the Hindu community is not to close ranks and shout about the fact they are not Muslims. The insidious message of this is that all Muslims are to blame. The answer is to address the source of the violence, which is perpetrated against all innocent people, not to say, "don't attack us, attack those people over there."
Their stance reminds me of the poem about the Second World War. Trying to create a separation and pointing fingers is in no-one's long term interest.
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak outbecause I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for meand there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemolle
Check out more at:
http://www.hinduforum.org/Default.aspx?sID=45&cID=149&ctID=43&lID=0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5167332.stm
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 10:06
5 Comments:
Hello Spirit,
agreed completely. But the solidarity needs to happen both ways too. Muslim organisations are not that good at expressing solidarity for Hindus or Sikhs either when it comes to events, so these guys are taking a cue from them.
Kashmir being a good example. Rather than pushing for a solution, or admitting that Hindus in Bangladesh are being opressed, Muslim orgs in the UK keep silent.
But more than that, this is about money. When they see that the money is going from race organisations to faith based organisations, religious organisations are going to want to make themselves prominent so they get a piece of that piece. See?
I've written more about this here:
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/637
"the money is going from race organisations to faith based organisations"
About time !
interesting blog
I think the modern version of the poem
is "They came for the Danes but I did not speak out"
No, not really, the Danish cartoons were the perpetrators of the problem. It wasn't the religious context that was the problem, it was the fact they wanted to be deliberately offensive. However, check out elsewhere in the blog where one of the paper's editors has promised to publish cartoons of a different view point. We're still waiting.
Why are we applauding the fact that going out of your way to deeply offend people is one of the signatures of our society. Surely that's just bad manners? Stating your opinion is fine, telling people that you can be as rude as you like but they shouldn't be upset is not.
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