As we approach the end of the year and the beginning of the Golden Jubilee celebration of ABPL, publishers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, it is a timely opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent work that Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar do in serving the British Indian community in the UK.
Like many others, as a Ugandan Asian I remain indebted to Gujarat Samachar for the role it played in connecting and keeping the newly arrived East African Asians up to date and helping us to adjust to the new way of life in the UK. At a time, when many families were finding their feet, Gujarat Samachar and New Life (predecessor of Asian Voice) helped us to keep our identity and culture alive.
Central to all of this is of course APBL’s Editor, Chandrakantbhai Patel, or more commonly and more lovingly known as CB. I remember when Neil Kinnock the former leader of the Labour Party once told a meeting of the Indian Journalists Association that CB stood for “Community Bound” – which I agree completely sums up CB all over.
CB is a truly remarkable man who has worked tirelessly for the entire Asian community – not just in Britain but across the world. Pursuing a wide range of careers in law, finance and business – CB realised his true passion in 1976 when he took over the Gujarati newsweekly called Gujarat Samachar.
Under CB’s stewardship, Gujarat Samachar and its sister titles have not only become the largest selling publication of its kind in the UK, but has earned the respect and creditability of the highest kind within our community. Over the years Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice have campaigned on a range of issues including race equality and diversity, nationality, immigration as well as issues in our ancestral land.
CB himself has heavily been involved in a number of campaigns including, one of the most famous campaigns was indeed fighting against the closure of the Hare Krishna Temple in Watford in the early 90s. He galvanised the British Indian community to bring them together for a united cause. It was the first time in the UK that British Indians had mobilised in this way. I still remember British Indians marching outside Parliament for the first time and the sense of pride it brought to the community when our voice was finally heard.
In recent years, CB was central to campaigning for a much-needed direct flight to Gujarat. For something that is second nature to the community now, it is hard to imagine that British Indians spent years taking lengthy journeys across India to get to their ancestral towns in Gujarat. CB again was central to the campaign, whose role has been acknowledged by countless Chief Minister’s of Gujarat especially the Prime Minister himself in his famous speech at Wembley Stadium in 2015 signalled out CB Patel for his tireless efforts in establishing the “Living Bridge” as we know it today.
Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have also been pivotal in engaging with the British Indian community to integrate into mainstream society – particularly in the political process. To date, CB and his newsweeklies have proudly remained impartial and fiercely held politicians from all sides (including myself!) to account. We have been challenged at every point to explain our actions.
CB is also a pioneer of civic engagement, championing the NGCO – an umbrella group representing a hundred Gujarati Associations and also the Hindu Forum of Britain of which he is a Patron. And CB is renowned for his philanthropic work both here and in India, particularly in his efforts of rehabilitation after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and other natural disasters.
More recently as CB is getting older – his paper is getting younger. The Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar newsweeklies represents a huge medium engaging with young British Indians – who are tomorrow’s future. 15 – 20 years it was feared that for practical reasons because many of our children cannot read or write Gujarati – that our Gujarati traditions and history would die and be lost amongst our children in this country. But Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice has stopped this from happening and have instead created a way for our culture not only to be restored and but strengthened amongst our youth.
Today’s Asian Voice has an array of talented journalists including Rupanjana Dutta, Shefali Saxena and Alpesh Patel but to name a few. Gujarat Samachar has a team of experienced journalists including Jyotsnaben Shah, Kokilaben Patel, Nilesh Parmar and others. The work they do is invaluable in keeping our community relevant and informed in the UK.
