Inayat Bunglawala was born in northwest England, speaks English as his native language and only once visited his ancestral homeland, India.
That makes him bridle at a proposal being floated in the government to start calling him Indian-British to strengthen his bond to Britain.
The idea "simply makes no sense," the 36-year-old said. "I am 100 percent British."
The British government is discussing a variety of ways to improve community cohesion after last month's bombing attacks, and it wasn't clear in what ways such a label might be used. But minority groups slammed the very idea that they need a new identity label to tie them closer to the only country many of them know as home.
American style
Hazel Blears, a senior minister in the Home Office, said that one idea on the table was adopting American-style hyphenated identities such as Pakistani-British or Indian-British, rather than simply Muslim or Asian as many -- even second-generation Britons -- are known as now.
"In America, they do seem to have the idea that you're an Italian-American, or you're Irish-American, and that's quite interes-ting," Blears was quoted as telling the Times of London. "I think it's really important, if you want a society that is really welded together, there are certain things that unite us because you are British, but you can be a bit different too."
Many in the government believe a feeling of isolation among some immigrant communities in Britain has made them a fertile breeding ground for radicalism.
Three of the four suicide bombers in the July 7 attack were British of Pakistani descent, and the fourth moved to Britain from Jamaica. Three of the four suspected attackers in the failed July 21 attacks were originally from East Africa but were living legally in Britain.
Britain has long struggled with the idea of what it means to be British, a problem that grew more acute after waves of immigrants began arriving a generation ago from former British colonies in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.
`cricket test'
Former Conservative Party lawmaker Norman Tebbitt sparked wide criticism when he declared in 1990 that the "cricket test" -- observing what teams Britons support in a game widely popular at home and in former British colonies -- was a good way to determine where true loyalties lie.
More than a decade later, Britain is still skirting around an issue that many consider taboo.
But on Monday, minority groups criticized the idea.
"What is being proposed is divisive ... it would create a lower strata of British," said Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum. "It gives people labels and dilutes their citizenship compared to original, white British people. It is not helpful in creating the togetherness that they have been talking about."
He said he was afraid it could become "official and permanent," and could even find its way onto proposed identity cards that Prime Minister Tony Blair has pushed for as a way to combat terrorism and crime.
Doug Jewell, spokesman for the civil rights group, Liberty, said the group was reserving judgment while it examined Blears' comments.
"It could be a way of recognizing the shared values that we have as a society or it could be a way of branding people," he said.
Bunglawala, a member of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he wouldn't object to a faith-based identifier as opposed to an ethnic one, noting that much of Britain's 1.8 million strong Muslim community was born in the UK.
Edward Garnier, the Conservative Party lawmaker who focuses on Home Office issues, said he has a growing number of South-Asian British people in his constituency and "they think of themselves as British. They don't need a government minister to tell them how to describe themselves."
"Why should British born Asians have to be only half British?" he said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia