World
UK defends decision to spend £1 million on memorial for Muslim soldiers who fought for British Empire
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LONDON: UK’s government has defended its decision to use £1 million of taxpayer cash to erect a memorial to honour the hundreds of thousands of Muslim soldiers from the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere, who served in Britain’s armed forces in the two world wars, and subsequently.
The news in TOI sparked a strong reaction in India, with some saying it is divisive, others questioning why there is not a memorial for Hindus, Gurkhas and Sikhs, and BJP politician Swapan Dasgupta describing it as “stupid, woke politics”.
A spokesperson for UK’s department for communities told TOI: “We are supportive of efforts to commemorate and honour the military sacrifices made for our country by soldiers from a range of faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. These include memorials to Sikh soldiers in Leicester, Wolverhampton and at the National Memorial Arboretum; the Chattri memorial near Brighton, which commemorates Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in the First World War; and a memorial for African and Caribbean soldiers in Windrush Square, Brixton.”
Swapan Dasgupta wrote on X: “Many thousands fought & died for King & Country. However, the British-Indian army that made up the bulk of the forces wasn’t organised on religious lines. Men of all faiths fought & died…” Replying to Dasgupta’s tweet, Congressman Kamru Choudhury wrote: “We are still searching for that one RSS guy who fought for India’s Independence.”
Others wrote on X: “Why not just Indian soldiers? Why keeping on dividing an already divided world?” and “The erstwhile empire still continuing its divisive politics”. Another said: “Conservatives feel that they lost the majority Muslim vote due to Gaza, and are now trying to get something out.”
“Brits left India 75 yrs ago, but their divide and rule doctrine lives on!” said another. “Wasn’t it enough to create Pakistan?” added another. “The memorial is the proof of why British allowed Partition” said another.
Trupti Patel, president of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said: “A memorial should represent all faiths. If there is a Muslim one, there should be a Hindu one, a Jain one, a Parsee one – where does it end? We don’t believe in dividing people on faith lines, rather in bringing people together.”
The design of the memorial has been inspired by the Mughal architecture of Pakistan and Northwest India from where many of the soldiers came who are celebrated by the memorial. There is to be a quote from the Quran at the bottom of the column.
It will be in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where a Sikh memorial was unveiled in Nov 2015 to honour over 124,000 Sikhs who fought for the British Indian Army in the First World War
But in response to the announcement, the Sikh Federation UK branded it as “discrimination”, claiming that a national memorial earmarked for London to honour Sikhs who fought in both world wars has still not received government funding.
The news in TOI sparked a strong reaction in India, with some saying it is divisive, others questioning why there is not a memorial for Hindus, Gurkhas and Sikhs, and BJP politician Swapan Dasgupta describing it as “stupid, woke politics”.
A spokesperson for UK’s department for communities told TOI: “We are supportive of efforts to commemorate and honour the military sacrifices made for our country by soldiers from a range of faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. These include memorials to Sikh soldiers in Leicester, Wolverhampton and at the National Memorial Arboretum; the Chattri memorial near Brighton, which commemorates Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in the First World War; and a memorial for African and Caribbean soldiers in Windrush Square, Brixton.”
Swapan Dasgupta wrote on X: “Many thousands fought & died for King & Country. However, the British-Indian army that made up the bulk of the forces wasn’t organised on religious lines. Men of all faiths fought & died…” Replying to Dasgupta’s tweet, Congressman Kamru Choudhury wrote: “We are still searching for that one RSS guy who fought for India’s Independence.”
Others wrote on X: “Why not just Indian soldiers? Why keeping on dividing an already divided world?” and “The erstwhile empire still continuing its divisive politics”. Another said: “Conservatives feel that they lost the majority Muslim vote due to Gaza, and are now trying to get something out.”
“Brits left India 75 yrs ago, but their divide and rule doctrine lives on!” said another. “Wasn’t it enough to create Pakistan?” added another. “The memorial is the proof of why British allowed Partition” said another.
Trupti Patel, president of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said: “A memorial should represent all faiths. If there is a Muslim one, there should be a Hindu one, a Jain one, a Parsee one – where does it end? We don’t believe in dividing people on faith lines, rather in bringing people together.”
The design of the memorial has been inspired by the Mughal architecture of Pakistan and Northwest India from where many of the soldiers came who are celebrated by the memorial. There is to be a quote from the Quran at the bottom of the column.
It will be in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where a Sikh memorial was unveiled in Nov 2015 to honour over 124,000 Sikhs who fought for the British Indian Army in the First World War
But in response to the announcement, the Sikh Federation UK branded it as “discrimination”, claiming that a national memorial earmarked for London to honour Sikhs who fought in both world wars has still not received government funding.
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