We’re in the hands of primitive men. Two decades into the 21st century, the UK, the USA, and India, are ruled by men whose grasp of governance is so tribal, so corrupt, and so self-interested as to render them obsolete to the modern order. And yet there they are. The only silver lining, the only beacon […]
Blog
#DilliChalo #MarchtoDelhi
The Year 2020 just keeps on giving: Covid, Brexit, corruption, and a myriad other shocks to our system. So – let’s turn the dial, change the channel, and talk about the Punjabi farmers and their hazardous, determined odyssey to the capital of India. I write as the daughter of Punjabi farmers and will […]
Penny-Pinching and the Union Learning Fund
The Union Learning Fund may not sound exciting or dramatic but it’s in danger and we need to protect it. The highly successful ULF scheme has improved the lives of millions and given weight to the idea of self-determination, life-long learning, and reinforced the link between knowledge and opportunity. You’d be forgiven for thinking a […]
Virginity Tests and Self-Defence
‘…Taj’s case, the Virk Brothers, ‘Southall riots’, virginity tests…’ ‘Virginity tests!’ She exclaimed in horror at the other end of the line. ‘Oh yes,’ I asserted, ‘not just in Islamabad, Dhaka, Delhi, but Heathrow too.’ ‘That’s outrageous. How come we’ve never heard about them?’ This conversation began when a younger member of the family rang […]
Is England’s Covid Death Toll a Crime Against Humanity?
(This article is solely about England. Excluding Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All figures are for 6thAugust 2020) A government’s first duty is to protect its people. As fireworks lit up the sky on New Year’s Eve and welcomed in 2020, as gathered crowds across England, cheered and applauded, as people linked arms and […]
Black Lives Matter: A Letter to British-Asians
“I can’t breathe,” has echoed around the world. Millions of people have watched the video, their horror growing with each interminable, never-ending, horrific minute, as Derek Chauvin sits at ease, a knee digging into George Floyd’s neck, a hand causally resting in a trouser pocket, looking for all the world, as if he’s just passing […]
No, I Won’t Be Clapping For Our Carers – And You Shouldn’t Either
First published: Huffington Post. OPINION 30/04/2020 09:42 BST | Updated 01/05/2020 10:23 BST No, I Won’t Be Clapping For Our Carers – And You Shouldn’t Either On Thursday nights, our streets should stay silent, our lights off and our windows dark, author Ravinder Randhawa writes. By Ravinder Randhawa GETTY EDITORIAL I’ve been clapping for the NHS all […]
Privilege is Killing Us
Thousands of people are dying in Britain. In this year of 2020, a pandemic is sweeping across the globe. In some countries the death toll is over thousands, in some it’s hundreds, in a few only in the tens, and in some, such as Vietnam, none reported. A crisis can be revelatory. Cutting through the […]