The Hindu : International : British Asians face prejudice: Blair

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

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International

British Asians face prejudice: Blair

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MARCH 5. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has admitted that Britain's Asian community faces "prejudice'' but said his Government would not "tolerate'' any threat to ethnic groups because of their race or faith.

He promised greater representation to the Asian community in Parliament saying that though Labour had many more MPs from ethnic groups than either the Tories or the Liberal Democrats, it was "not good enough.''

Contribution hailed

Speaking at a meeting of Labour Friends of India here, Mr. Blair praised the contribution of Britain's one-million-strong Indian community and regretted that yet it faced many "obstacles.''

He said: "As we celebrate the successes of the Indian community in Britain, we can't ignore, however, the obstacles that many British Asians still face everyday. Prejudice still exists. We also know that in recent years minority communities have faced prejudice based on their faith as much as their race or ethnicity. And we know that it is not only Muslim communities that face this prejudice, but that it is a problem also suffered by Hindus, Sikhs and other minority faith communities. Let me make one thing clear. This Government will not tolerate any prejudice or threat to your communities based on either race or faith.''

Mr. Blair defended the controversial immigration "controls'' proposed by his Government saying that it was important to make sure that "only people who abide by the rules come here and that they contribute to our society and economy.'' The current debate on the issue, he added, should not detract from the "immense contribution that people who've migrated into our country make to the daily life of our society, our culture and our economy.''

Mr. Blair said India and Britain shared a "global vision and democratic values'' and both played a "pro-active role'' in international affairs. "We're natural partners, and I believe that our relations can and will over the coming years intensify even further,'' he said. The new strategic partnership between the two countries covered a wide range of areas such as defence, tackling terrorism and environmental protection, he added.

Mr. Blair praised India's commitment to democracy saying that despite its size and poverty, it had set an "extraordinary example for the rest of the world'' by continuing to be a democracy. "What's more (it) has done so with people — Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims — not always, but for the main part, wanting to live together in harmony with one another,'' he said.

India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Kamalesh Sharma, also spoke.

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