Open letter to the President of Oshwal Association of the UK regarding Black Lives Matter (BLM)
Dear Nileshbhai Shah,
I hope you and your family are safe and well.
I am writing to you to discuss the current Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, because, as Oshwals and Jains, we should be taking an active stand against racism and use our platform for change.
For many of us, our ancestors immigrated to the UK from other countries searching for a better life including order, stability and safety. But the UK and the US have been plagued by systemic racism for decades, dating all the way back to slavery in the 17th century. There is a mass of evidence for this, from “young people of colour, in the UK, more likely to be sentenced to custody than their white peers” (Financial Times, 2020), to not progressing in the workplace as quickly as white colleagues, to actually being killed because of the colour of their skin.
In fact, many of our ancestors have themselves faced oppression. My mother came to the UK after the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin. And there are many other Oshwals with a similar story. We ourselves have faced oppression at the hands of others, and should, therefore, take a stance when we see others facing the same.
As Oshwals and Gujaratis, we are sometimes ourselves guilty of such oppression. From the negative connotations around being ‘dark-skinned’ and the stigma around marrying someone who is black, to the internal discrimination of the caste system in India. Even our Bollywood actors and actresses have been criticised for promoting the BLM movement whilst simultaneously promoting skin lightening products (International Business Times, 2020).
Yet, at the same time, “Jains believe that Ahimsa doesn’t just mean not doing harm — it also means working positively to promote tolerance, forgiveness and compassion, and to help those who are less fortunate” (BBC, 2009). For years, the black community has suffered, however, the Oshwal organisation has not spoken out against it. Today, the people are protesting against this institutional violence and it is about time our organisation demonstrates our human values and takes a stand — especially if these values are aligned to the Jain philosophy of ‘Ahimsa’.
In the South Asian community, I have personally seen many cases of racism against black people. The rhetoric right now is that it is not enough to be ‘not racist’, but we have to actively be ‘anti-racist’. So silence really is violence.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and hope we can work together to make a positive difference and help the BLM movement.
Kind regards,
Ajay
