Diaspora in the UK Makes India Proud
Ethnic communities of Indian descent in the UK have the highest levels of education and one of the highest percentages of working professionals, the latest release of data from the 2021 census of the country has revealed.
The 2021 UK census data showed that people of Indian ethnicity are the most likely to own a home in England and Wales, reported the Times of India.
Together with the Chinese community, Indians have the greatest levels of education and the highest proportion of professionals, according to the census. Indians had 52 per cent of the population with the greatest levels of education, compared to Chinese who made up 56 percent of the population in the UK.
According to the survey on home ownership, the Indian ethnic group owns the most homes (71 per cent), followed by white British at 68 per cent.
The report also said that there were huge differences between ethnic groups in education, employment, health and housing across England and Wales.
Indian and Chinese ethnic groups put together accounted for 34 per cent of professional jobs, including doctors, teachers and lawyers. It was followed by 33 percent of White Irish, 30 percent of Arabs, 20 percent Pakistanis, 17 percent of Bangladeshi and 19 percent of White British.
In addition, 11 percent of white British and 10 percent of Indians were independent contractors.
All respondents were asked to rank their health on a scale of “very good” to “very bad” during the census. Around 48 per cent of the general population reported having “very good” health, while 1.2 per cent reported having “very bad” health. Those who identified as white Irish and white gypsies were the ethnic groups who reported having the poorest health.
Importantly, the Indian Diaspora in the UK love their mother country very much, notwithstanding the nefarious activities of some groups who promote and nurture the separatists and heir movements in India.
It was evident on March 21 when several Indian Diaspora groups assembled for a festive demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London to show solidarity with the Indian mission after vandalism at its premises by Khalistan extremists over the last weekend.
Nick, a UK police officer, also joined in the show of support. As per media reports, he was seen dancing to a Bollywood song. “Everyone was having a good time and I thought why not. Community engagement. Thank you India,” he said, as per media reports.
Indian flags could be seen waving as around 200 people of Indian origin chanted slogans such as “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and danced to popular Indian tunes ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’ at the “We Stand By High Commission of India” demonstration.
The colours of the Tiranga and “I love my India” tunes formed the backdrop as men, women and children joined in a spirit of festivity, as bemused Metropolitan Police officers looked on and tried to curtail some of the over-enthusiastic crowd from spilling over into the busy traffic.
“This is a crowd gathered in support of India, chanting patriotic slogans and songs and the public is in a festive mood because they have come out in support of the High Commission of India,” said Kuldeep Shekhawat, president of the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), among the diaspora groups represented.
“It’s very unfortunate that a few days ago Khalistanis under the guise of a peaceful protest came here and tried to desecrate the flag,” said Rashmi Samant, an Indian student activist at the demonstration.
“We have since come out with a bigger flag showing the bharatiya spirit, that we won’t take insults lying down and we will fight back. One person has been arrested but we need more arrests and more concrete actions, such as permanent security presence at our High Commission to prevent such incidents from happening,” she said.
Earlier, Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami hosted a diaspora briefing at India House on Monday evening and addressed the concerns of the community leaders following the attack that resulted in broken windows.
“Appreciated their solidarity following the attack on the High Commission on Sunday,” the Indian High Commission in London tweeted following the diaspora briefing. An attempted pull down by the extremists of the Indian tricolour that flies at the Indian High Commission was intercepted by an official and has been followed up by an additional larger Tiranga on the main facade.
The Metropolitan Police said its “enquiries continue” and one person arrested on suspicion of violent disorder has since been bailed to appear in court in mid-June.
Friends of India Society International (FISI) UK, one of the organisations behind Tuesday’s solidarity meet, said the Indian diaspora is deeply shocked by the “disgraceful and abominable act” of desecration of the Indian flag by extremist forces.
“We are equally shocked to see the failure of the UK government to take preventive measures to prohibit such shameful incidents that endanger the Indian diplomatic officials,” said FISI UK.
“In this particular incident, an Indian High Commission official braved the hooligans and restored the pride of India by taking the flag away from them. The Indian official had to act due to lack of appropriate security present at the premises,” it said.
The National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK was among several groups to voice their condemnation of the vandalism.
“We call for swift and firm action being taken to bring the perpetrators of this hooliganism to justice. Measures should be urgently put in place to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” it said.
It may be noted that the Indian government has lodged a strong protest and called on the British authorities to ensure adequate security at the Indian High Commission, which has seen a very visible Metropolitan Police presence in the wake of the attack.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has declined to comment on the matter except pointing to the tweet of Foreign Office Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad, who had said the “UK government will always take the security of the Indian High Commission seriously”.
