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 […]
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‘Sikh Soldier Storm’ and The 25th Punjabis
Addition of new material: the historian, Rozina Visram suggested I add copies of the original documents I’d looked at, as they may be of interest to scholars and history geeks. Accordingly, please scroll to the bottom to view 3 galleries. ‘Dear Reader,’ I’ll start with a warning: this is the longest blog I’ve posted. The road to […]
Selling Off The Family Silver
We’re at the end of a year, at the end of a decade; many of us feeling bruised and apprehensive. The UK’s been through four tumultuous years since the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, otherwise known as Brexit; it has now elected a right wing government, with a leader whose political advisers, such […]
GE 2019: The Fight of Our Lives
For the first time in my life, I fear for my children and any future grandchildren I may have. For the first time in my life I wonder if it would be best to leave the UK, this ‘sceptered isle,’ that I love. As the daughter of a family who had to flee for their […]
The Justice, the Spider and the Activist
‘Omnia Femminea Aequissimae’ ‘Women Are Equal to Everything’ Britain. Tuesday, 24thSeptember, 2019. 10.30 a.m. Lady Hale, President of the Supreme Court, delivers the court’s verdict on the prime minister’s five-week prorogation (suspension) of Parliament. A dynamite judgement demonstrating that the government is subject to the law. Lady Hale and the ten other Law […]
Dignity: A Radical Tool in Politics
The Amazon on fire. Trump in office. UK heading towards Brexit catastrophe. Modi marching into Kashmir. Glaciers melting. Plastic pollution. Hong-Kong protests…. And in Britain, Parliament, the Mother of Parliaments itself, is being prorogued. In essence, being arbitrarily shut down for a significant number of days, just as the deadline for Brexit looms ever nearer. […]
War at the School Gates
In memory of Udham Singh. Hanged 31st July 1940 at Pentonville Prison. These three truths are drummed into Asian kids: knowledge is valuable for its own sake, education is of paramount importance and teachers must always be respected. Thousands of us in the British-Asian community (and mainstream society) have been shocked at the angry protests […]
The Secret Killings
July 14th. Day of Memory for Victims of Honour Based Violence ‘Her father pushed her into the well. Who can blame him? Immodest girl, she was seen talking to a boy.’ The gathered women sighed and shook their heads as they sat in the shade of the varendah, embroidery or sewing in their hands. This […]