PROFILE OF THE WEEK
He is often recognised as a poet, an activist and a passionate campaigner rendering his services for the well-being of the community and known for organising cultural events for the diaspora. But beyond all Nitin Mehta is applauded as a torchbearer of the Indian diaspora raising their concerns in his letters to mainstream publications including The Economist, Independent, Sunday Guardian and Evening Standard to name a few.
A renowned speaker on India’s spiritual heritage and an ardent follower of vegetarianism and veganism, Nitin has been instrumental in setting up the first vegetarian society in Kenya, Mauritius, New Delhi, Paris, Lisbon and in the Indian states of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Born in Kisumu, Kenya, he has lived in the UK for many years and achieved a degree in Sociology from Goldsmiths thus, representing the interests of the 1.5 million Indian diaspora in British mainstream newspapers
when sometimes media organisations fail to practice balance and non-bias in their reporting.
In his most recent letter to the Sunday Guardian he blasted out at the anti-India lobby in the UK writing, “The anti-India lobby in the UK is made up of some film producers, left-wing academics, politicians and media groups and groups belonging to rival faiths. They have all united on one issue and that is to eliminate the idea of a Hindu majority country with its own identity based on a heritage of thousands of years.”
There are several members of the Indian diaspora who resonate with Nitin’s principles and align with his arguments. Yet, have failed to make themselves heard at mainstream “western media organisations”. Awarded with the ‘Sanskar Garima’ award for his services to Gujarati language and Vegetarianism from Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice in 2006, Nitin is one in 2 million fighting for the Indian diaspora.
