November 1, 2022
We hope you enjoy our articles. Please note, we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. Thank you if you use our links, we really appreciate it!
It could perhaps be unimaginable that an Indian origin man of 42 could become the Prime Minister of the UK after 75 years of India’s independence from British rule. The rise of Sunak to power shows the acceptance of the UK of its multicultural and diverse society and increasing recognition of contribution from its minorities. One could draw a parallel here between Sunak’s rise to power in the UK to Barack Obama’s rise to power in the US despite both belonging to minority communities in their countries. A multicultural society, as the British political theorist Bhikhu Parekh rightly observed, accepts “the reality and desirability of cultural diversity and structures its political life accordingly…” Further, such a society is based on a foundation which “calls for such essential political virtues as mutual respect and concern, tolerance, self-restraint, willingness to enter into unfamiliar worlds of thought, love of diversity, a mind open to new ideas and a heart open to others’ needs, and the ability to persuade and live with unresolved differences.”
The rise of Sunak also reflects dynamism of multicultural and democratic societies. One could not imagine, even in wildest dreams, that one day a member from a minority community, becoming the head of Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, or any society which is based on exclusivist ideologies and practices. Ironically, in a radio program, one Conservative Party member in the UK referred to these two countries to justify his argument why Sunak was not be a preferred candidate for Prime Minister as he did not represent the majority white population of the country. This member represented exclusivist thinking, which was not accepted by the majority leaders of his own party, who decided to support Sunak.
Democratic societies are resilient and willing to accept change and accommodate demands of their diverse members. At one of point of time democracies like the US and the UK were discriminatory, pushing minorities to the fringes. A study of the US history provides ample examples in this context. A study of the struggles for voting rights and justice over the past two hundred years suggest that it has evolved well keeping in view the changing realities and demands. Democratic societies are more egalitarian as they continue to cherish their democratic ethos and practices. True, these societies are not perfect, in fact no society is perfect, but one must draw a solace that these societies evolved towards a more inclusive future because of democratic practices.
India was under British rule for about 200 years. Known as the jewel in the crown of the British empire, the Indian colony enriched the UK while getting impoverished. There are studies which amply demonstrate how British taxation and agrarian policies caused famine and killed hundreds of thousands of Indians. There are studies that show how trillions of dollars were swindled out from India due to colonialism. Colonialism in fact did much more damage culturally and psychologically, than economically. Policymakers like T. B. Macaulay and writers like William Archer promoted the binary of inferior and superior cultures, with the Indian culture being pronounced inferior. Macaulay observed, “I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature is indeed fully admitted by those members of the committee who support the oriental plan of education.” Novelists like Rudyard Kipling justified colonialism with the argument that it was the ‘white man’s burden’ to civilize the east. Edward Said in this book Orientalism made an insightful analysis of this cultural ego which provided rationale for colonial exploitation and violence. He wrote, “The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West).”
But as I argued earlier, societies evolve, and democratic societies evolve towards an inclusive future. Sunak could become Prime Minister of the UK because the British society evolved over the past decades. One could come across Indian origin leaders in small countries like Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, but for the first time there is a leader of the Indian origin in one of the major powers of the world. Sunak never shies away from admitting his origin, and even took oath as a member of British Parliament by placing his hand on Bhagavad Gita. On one occasion he said, “I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, and my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu.” This statement of Sunak represented a vision of belonging and reconciliation, in which his diverse background and Indian origin placed him in a position to appreciate the multicultural and pluralistic ethos of British society and put that into practice.
Sunak becomes Prime Minister perhaps not in the best of times in UK politics. The British economy is in shambles, the world is witnessing war in Ukraine, the world economy is not at its best – Sunak has in fact more challenges than opportunities. But it is rightly said challenges put into trial the true mettle of a leader. Sunak’s term as Chancellor of the Exchequer and his handling of the COVID crisis are instructive that he would likely sail the country smoothly through the current turbulence.
(Another version of the article was published on my Times of India blog, Periscope: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/periscope/sunak-soars/)
