Today I want to talk about the Labour MP for Slough, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Because he deserves all the praise he has got, and more. It’s not often a Sikh man stands up on behalf of Muslim women. Hell, it’s not often anyone stands up for Muslim women.
“I was so blown away by Tanmanjeet because he spoke with conviction and sincerity.”
But what a breath of fresh air he was. His question in the only PMQ’s of this new Parliamentary session went viral with over 1.7 million views on Twitter alone.
I want to thank Mr Dhesi because he’s done something that not many MP’s have done. He’s done something that Muslim MP’s have not done, and that is to hold Boris Johnson accountable. And whether you might think this wasn’t the time or the place, I think it was perfect because it’s sending a message to not only Boris but to the whole country. There is no room for racism or anti-muslim rhetoric in Britain in 2019 and it will not be tolerated. It will not be tolerated by MPs and it will not be tolerated by minorities.
The reason why I was so blown away by Tanmanjeet is because he spoke with conviction and sincerity. He genuinely cares about religious minorities and Muslim women especially. The ridiculing of certain Islamic attire that a very small number of women within the Muslim community wear, is so damaging because these are the women that are already portrayed as being ‘oppressed’.
The ‘oppressed Muslim woman’ narrative is so prevalent that instead of trying to understand these women Boris Johnson thought it’s acceptable to liken them to bank robbers and letterboxes, and perpetuate this stereotype further. (I’m not going to link to THAT Telegraph article but that’s basically what he called women in niqab.) And yes I know he was writing about defending our choice to wear what we want but if you ridicule and belittle the same people whose choices you’re defending then your point becomes insignificant.
The fact that this MP is a Sikh, warms my heart. I have the utmost respect for anybody that stands up for an already marginalised section of society. Mr Dhesi’s call felt like a call for solidarity, a call for unity which is just what we need in this time of division.
With recent tension between Indians and Pakistanis because of Indian Prime Minister Mr Modi’s brutal action in Kashmir, it seems like a slight division has been born amongst these communities in the UK. Occasionally in the past there has been a bit of tension from time to time but generally the South Asian communities live harmoniously in the UK and have done so since the 60’s.
Growing up, for us Asians, any other brown person was seen as a friend and someone to cling on to. Somebody who would understand your culture, pressures and restrictions the way your white peers wouldn’t. Religion didn’t play a part, we were all in the same bracket as ‘the other’.
Religion is playing a bigger part in South Asian communities in recent years where religious symbols are more common place like a Sikh turban or a Muslim women’s hijab or a Hindu’s forehead marking. This has made our communities more distinguishable from each other but we sometimes forget that all brown people are immigrants or children/grandchildren of immigrants. If we can’t stand up for each other’s values than who will? The combined communities of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the UK have far more in common with each other than what drives them apart. There’s always safety in numbers and the South-Asian community should be able to look to each other for support despite what might be going on in our homelands thousands of miles away.
And when it comes to Britain, the combined voting power of Asian communities is phenomenal. It would serve the Conservative party well to attempt to eradicate racism from their party and launch an investigation into Islamophobia like Sajid Javaid promised on national television not so long ago. In a bid to appease right wing voters and the far right, Boris seems to have forgotten about all the ethnic minority voters he’s angered in the process. A price he might have to pay sooner than he thinks.
By Sharmeen Ziauddin
She is passionate about politics and faith and you can find her tweeting about these things @sharm33n.
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the website.