Dear Friends,
The past week has been rather stressful for the British government, especially Prime Minister Theresa May. She lost yet another one of her ministers, all amid growing discontentment over her governance. Former International Development Secretary Priti Patel's resignation is a result of a very general lack of judgement and does not require much traction. Details of the entire episode have been given in our paper this week. Fingers are being pointed, sides are being taken. Scene at the administrative level does not look pretty. Of all things that are happening, one thing seems very clear to me- Priti Patel is solely entitled to the pride of becoming the first person of Indian-origin to serve in the British Cabinet.
Friends, having lived 51 years in the UK I have seen my share of leaders of Indian and Pakistani-origin who have climbed up the ladder. It is a fact that as they join the British government, they eventually choose to refer to themselves as “Asians”, to appeal to a wider community, of course. Priti, however, is the first such leader, or minister, who openly and almost stubbornly identified herself as an Indian. Along with calling herself the first Indian Cabinet Minister, she used to claim that Prime Minister Theresa May has given her the responsibility of maintaining Britain's relations with India. As I retrospect, I can't help but comment, don't the men and women of our community, who receive a title of peerage or a knighthood, receive the honour, at least partly because of their Indian background and their close ties to us? It is a completely different thing that once they gain power they dutifully neglect our interests.
Croydon-based Gujarati Nitin Mehta has constantly written that such leaders reach success only with the support of people like us, and once on the peak, they somehow come under the delusion that their success is entirely their own. They adopt a religion of convenience, putting India, Indian culture, and Indian interests in the back to rot. It is quite possible that Priti Patel is the only leader who believes that even though I am a Cabinet Minister, married to an Englishman, the blood running through my veins is Indian.
With her resignation, the question of who will defend us and our concerns, arises. How did this happen? It is well known that Cabinet Minister of Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Priti Patel are good friends. There are several reports the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Sir Alan Duncan being responsible for the resignation, doing the rounds. There have been several cases in the past where ministers have found officers of their own department or the foreign office creating problems for them. Majority of the senior civil servants are known to be men, who hold a patriarchal view of the society, which is why, it becomes difficult for them to report to a woman on senior post.
Also, I have apprehensions about PM May's claims of being kept in the dark about Patel's visit. British-Israel relations hold a strong history- especially in the defence sector. There is a long-established British Embassy in capital Tel Aviv, where several top diplomats work. When you give May's statements enough thoughts, it seems impossible that the Foreign Office and the PM were clueless about a Cabinet Minister's visit and various meetings there.
As the controversy began to froth last week, Patel was mature enough to admit that she did in fact, hold meetings with ministers and other leaders in Israel. She also placed her resignation voluntarily. May claimed to have called her back immediately from Kenya when she heard the news. Priti's meeting with the PM last Tuesday lasted mere six minutes. It appears to me that the higher authorities were already clear of what they wanted to do. In which case, it seems rather unnecessary for May to have directed the MP to return from East Africa on an urgent basis.
A media report suggested that Patel had her eye on No 10. and with this episode, the dream has been killed. She was clear about her stand on Brexit, and found strong support from other members of the Parliament. Now you tell me, for someone who had strong roots in the most turbulent of times, would this small event even matter?
