New Jews of Britain

[Sushil Jain]

Re: The 'New Jews' of Britain
 
The following post may perhaps seem a bit frivolous (I mean, out
of date) to the British members of this newsgroup, but it may be
of some value to those outside the Isles who have some interest
in the Indian or South Asian 'diaspora'.
------------------
 
The Office of National Statistics (U.K.) has recently (June 11)
its report on *Ethnicity in the 1991* (HMSO, GBP 24.00).
Researched by Prof. Ceri Peach and his staff at the Dept. of
Social Geography, the report states there are about one and half
million British nationals of South Asian origin (a figure, which
in my estimation is low), i.e., about 2.4% of the total
population. The Indians are the largest group (840,255) followed
by the Pakistanis (476,555), and there are 162,835 Bangladeshis
(definitely a low number). 
 
The impact of South Asian population (presence) on British
(particularly English, not so much on the Scottish, less so on
the Welsh) civil, political, social, and economic life has been
tremendous. It is the latter that has attracted the news
reporters and columnists.
 
Writing in the _Daily Express_ ('The New Britons with talents to
refresh a Nation', June 13) Mehar Bose says, "The immigrants,
particularly the Asians [as the British are fond of calling the
people and their descendants from the Indian sub-continent],
quite unexpectedly and defying almost every forecast of their
likely impact on this country, proved to be that energizing
force" (that is) "without them the corner shop and the High
Street as we know them might have disappeared".
 
Jason Bennetto ('Asians emerge as the new moneymakers', The
Independent, June 12) says, " The Asians, particularly Indians,
are set to become one of the most wealthy, dominant middle-class
groups of the future". In fact, there are more millionaire per
capita amongst the Indian populace than there are in any other
national group (including Jews who used to have that status
before). Hence, the headline in the Times (June 12), "Indians and
Pakistanis the 'new Jews' of Britain.
 
A success story, among others, that is cited by the columnist
Bennetto, is that of Swaraj Paul, head of the Caparo Steel empire
who is reputed to be worth about GBP 500 million. 
 
Though there have been previous attempts at compiling the census
data by various organizations, and there were objections to
collecting this kind of data, the question about ethnicity was
included for the first time in the 1991 census (in Canada such a
question was included in the 1996 census). Though, no doubt,
there will be further analyses of this census data, Prof. Peach's
pioneering study of this census data will confirm what many
people have been saying and observing for some time.
Prof. Peach's study already being criticised for its
'stereotypical' image (cf. the 'model' minority issue in the
United States) but the author "admits that in using a Jewish-
Irish comparison he is stereotyping both communities" (Richard
Ford, The Times).
 
According to Peach, "The new Jewish future seems to be coming
about for the Indian population..." A spokesman of the Runnymede
Trust has called this kind of stereotyping "unhelpful" which is
very interesting since the new head of the Trust is Sukhvinder
Stubbs who until the age of nine did not speak much English in
her Punjabi house but is now at the helm of a very influential
race relations organization.
 
The Indians in Britain may not have much political clout, and not
that often in the news stories as are perhaps the Pakistanis (or
Muslims) who have their own political party and parliament (the
Jews have a similar organization), but the Indians (and
Pakistanis too) seem to be creating wealth in Britain (hence
economic power in the years to come).
 
But, I think, the most noticeable impact on the British society
has been the impact of South Asian cuisine which is now widely
available, not only in the ethnic restaurants but also in some
'main street' supermarkets. Hurray for samosas, pappadums, nans,
biryani, and tandoori.
 
-------------------
This is perhaps my last posting to Indology since I will soon be
unsubscribing because I am going overseas for the summer months.
To all those who have written to me about "Portrayal of India and
Indians on the British and American screens", and "Images of
India and Indians in school texts" I shall try to forward the
required information in due time. I may however be reached for
the next six weeks (with a short break in early August when I
will be in South Africa) at the following address:
 
e-mail: SJ20 at le.ac.uk
with a copy to (cc:skjain at uwindsor.ca) 
and/or to the current address
 
bye, now.
 
Sushil Jain