She was the first Asian woman to receive a peerage and is fearlessly outspoken, both in the House and outside. She often says things that others secretly agree with, as demonstrated in the Letters page of The Asian Voice. Baroness Flather is coming up to her 25th year in the House of Lords.
Among her many achievements she is known for the Memorial Gates in London, a tribute to the five million from Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent who served with the Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars.
She talked to The Asian Voice about her new charity, Sharia Law and how it affects British women, assisted dying and the ongoing commemorations of ethnic soldiers who fought with Britain in the World Wars.
“The Memorial Gates took up seven years of my life but once they were done, I wanted to do something else I cared about. I wrote a book called “Women- acceptable exploitation for profit. It’s about women in Africa and India; their disempowered lives, but also presents one important solution to their problems,” she said. “My solution to the problem of women in poverty is to find ways for women to earn money. When a woman earns even a little bit of money, she changes. She gets confident, her status in the family improves, people treat her with more respect, and she becomes more self aware.”
Shreela says that the pace of reform for poor women is slow and cannot be fully entrusted to governments alone. “I want to get through to business. I have decided to work through corporates as people need some kind of institution, which is why I’m setting up a charity. The papers have gone to the Charity Commission. It’s called “Women Matter” and the strapline is “One billion women in India and Africa need our support.” She said that even getting a few women out of poverty means that their children will be educated since women care more about children’s education than men.
“I don’t know whether rich Indians here in the UK would want to support it. They don’t normally support things that don’t give them any exposure or awards,” she laughed.
In the House of Lords, the Baroness supports assisted dying. “A lot of people are kept alive beyond the need for them to live. If they are in pain, the pain is controlled by them being kept in a twilight zone. That’s not much of a life. I don’t believe in euthanasia. If you know you are going to die from some kind of disease and that at some stage you’ll be in a state that’s unbearable you can make provision in advance by making a living will, or appoint a health attorney.”
She’s also very worried about the status of Muslim women in the UK after a century when British women have fought for the right to work, the equal division of assets after divorce, and equal status. “All of a sudden Sharia is here and is not like that. It totally favours the man. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, made a study and found that Sharia law is discriminatory. My colleague Baroness Cox has put forward a private members bill on mediation and arbitration. Mediation helps women, but with arbitration, men benefit.
Sharia in this country does not enable women to access British law. A Sharia marriage in Pakistan is recognised under Pakistani law. But it is not recognised here under British law.” This disempowers women, said Baroness Flather.
“Women are left high and dry. Men say, ‘If women are thrown out of a marriage they will be given a place to live and benefits’ but that’s not right either. It comes out of people’s taxes. Some British Muslims have up to four wives.”
She rails against those who have more than two children and are on benefits. “Generally people have one or two children because they want to educate them. But a lot of British people have more children so that get more state money. I’m glad the government is doing something about it.”
The peer commented that the Pakistani women here are British women and that if laws need to be changed for their protection, then that should happen.
“The government should make sure that every bride or groom that comes to this country has to register their marriage regardless of whether it’s recognised in their region or not.” She said that men avoid it so as to not be responsible for their wives.
Baroness Flather also feels that since 30% halal meat does not use the prestunning way of killing animals, all halal meat should be labelled to differentiate the stunned from the non prestunned.
Finally, she continues to pursue ways of recognising the role of Indians in WW1.
Her plans include those Indians who fought at Gallipoli –the battle has its centenary celebrations this year- and Indians who won the Victoria Cross.-------
One billion women in India and Africa need our support.
