There are no other words to describe British foreign policy; other than appeasement and hypocritic.

And you wonder; whose side they are really on and what their intentions are?

British India, Creator of Indian Caste System?

• Initial fears of Islam led to the British banning all Indians from holding positions of authority in India, such as magistrates, and also creating a barrier between the languages of Hindi and Urdu which originally shared a common vocabulary and would be recorded in either Persian (Muslim, Urdu) or a version of the Sanskrit script (Hindi).

• However, a British ruling that documentation was to be in either English or the Sanskrit script alienated the Muslim intelligentsia and certainly also created divisions within what had been virtually an integrated linguistic system, and, indeed, society itself under the Mughal Emperors.

Caste System in India - A British Construct?

• The issue of the caste system in India is hotly debated amongst academics, as some feel it to be primarily a construct of British colonialism whilst others see it as a reflection of traditional Hindu society.

– Hinduism:

• The Caste System, Reincarnation, and Karma

• The following quotation is from the Superintendant of the Government of India regarding the 1921 Census of India and is an indication of the violent debate that still surrounds the caste system of India today.

• “We pigeon holed everyone by caste and if we could not find a true caste for them, labelled them with the name of hereditary occupation. We deplore the caste system and its effect on social and economic problems, but we are largely responsible for the system we deplore."

Former British colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Former British colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa have many citizens of South Asian descent.

• They were brought there by the British Empire from British India to do clerical work in Imperial service, or unskilled/semi-skilled manual labour such as construction or farm work.

• In the late 1800s, over 30,000 Indians, mostly Sikhs from British India were brought to East Africa, on 3 year contracts, with the aid of Imperial British contractor Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee to build the Uganda Railway from Mombasa to Kisumu by 1901, and to Kampala by 1931.

• Some died, while others returned to India after the end of their contracts, but around 7,000 chose to stay.

Former British colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 decided to remain in East Africa after the line's completion.

• It was a vicious circle.

• The Asians in Uganda kept themselves to themselves.

• The less they felt part of the country the more they sought to move their wealth to Europe.

• The more of them caught doing this the worse their image became, the greater the Ugandans' anger against them and the less they felt part of Uganda.

All the money they make is kept in the British Banks

• In the speech by Idi Amin in which he announced the expulsion, he made a statement in which he said that, ”The Asians have businesses here in Uganda and are making a lot of money.

• But the problem is that all the money they make is kept in the British Banks.

• Don’t you know that the money you keep in the national Bank is the money which develops the country?”

• At that moment, Idi Amin said that the act of making money in Uganda and banking it in Britain is like milking a cow that you do not feed.

The presence of an alien added fuel to the fire

• In October the previous year he had harangued leaders of the Asian community, telling them that in the 70 years they had been in Uganda only six Asian women had married Ugandan men.

• He demanded that they integrate and criticised them for splitting the citizenship of their families and not trusting their future in Uganda. He accused them of corruption, currency racketeering and bribery.

• Even in bars and clubs frequented by professionals of all races, fights between Africans and Asians were by far the most common. They frequently resorted to racist abuse of their employees and customers.

Killing of the Asians • He went on to say that many of these Asians have also denounced their

Ugandan citizenship in preference for the British.

• Harish Panchal told me that they were so afraid to remain in Uganda while many of their friends and family members were leaving.

• He said that they had seen how innocent people were being murdered by the state secret service and felt that the same would happen to them.

• He mentioned the name of the former Chairman of the Workers’ Union, Mr. Rwamashongye who was murdered and thrown under the Mobuku Bridge on the Kasese – Fort Portal Road.

• What some people mention about the killing of the Asians by the soldiers under Juma Ali’s command, was one of the many acts of violence that led to many other Asians to leave the country.

Ugandan Asians• When the Asian families received their orders to leave, they were given

a date by which they had to depart and a form which they had to present to the airline in order to get their tickets.

• Britain offered aeroplanes to take the Asians, but many were not permitted to settle in the UK, despite their UK passports.

• Many of the Indians were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and subsequently emigrated to the United Kingdom. Others became stateless after being stripped of Ugandan citizenship.

• Because of the situation only accepting cash payments were accepted.

• In many cases, the customers would hand us whatever cash they had left, as they had no further way to spend it - and did not want the Ugandan government to have it.

Ugandan Asians

•This expulsion of an ethnic minority was not the first in Uganda's history, the country's Kenyan minority having been expelled in 1969.

•6,000 refugees went to Canada, 4,500 refugees ended up in India and 2,500 refugees went to nearby Kenya.

•Malawi, Pakistan, West Germany and the United States took 1,000 refugees each with smaller numbers emigrating to Australia, Austria, Sweden, Mauritius and New Zealand.

•About 20,000 refugees were unaccounted for.

“devalued” British passports• When Kenya received independence in 1963, the Indians were

offered the choice of obtaining either British or Kenyan citizenship.

• Because the painful, post-independence experience of the Congo was still fresh then, and because many Indians felt that the growing demand for position and power from the newly educated African middle class would lead inevitably to their exclusion from the job market, only about 10 percent of the Indian population applied for Kenyan citizenship.

• The rest chose what later turned out to be “devalued” British passports.

Even elements in the Church of England joined the anti-Asian lobby

• The right wing of British politics, led by Enoch Powell, opposed any move to accept the Asians who were encouraged to go to India or any other country so long as it was not Britain.

• The local authority in Leicester took out advertisements in Uganda urging the refugees not to come to Leicester where there were no jobs or housing for them.

• Even elements in the Church of England joined the anti-Asian lobby.

• Most of the Ugandan Indians refugees who were accounted for went to Britain, which took around 27,200 refugees.

“migronauts”• About 20,000 refugees were unaccounted for.

• Because of the great distances these homeless groups travel, they have come to be called “migronauts,” and it is not unusual to meet these migronauts in the transit lounges of various world airports.

• I met one such group in Entebbe, Uganda, late last year—five teen-age boys who had only just begun their odyssey, having flown to Bombay, Entebbe, London, and back to Entebbe: “Only 15,000 miles so far,” said Virendra Desai, at nineteen the oldest of them.

• “We are human shuttlecocks in a long game. I wish someone would make a mistake.”

A shameful liar?

Treason• Britain dropped a secret plan to charge the Aga Khan's

grandfather with treason despite evidence that he offered to help Hitler in the war, documents just released reveal.

• Evidence emerged at the end of the war when the Allies captured German archives and interrogated their intelligence agents.

• As he was a British subject, officials concluded he could face treason charges and the death penalty. But it was eventually decided disloyalty by the then Aga Khan, who died in 1957, "could not be proved".

Ismaili worship

• Alex said were often transfixed by Satanic spirits as they participated in the mindless incantations that he says are a regular part of Ismaili worship.

• The Aga Khan, Alex said, had "stolen the eternity" of his mother, father and sister.

• He said he had personally bowed the knee to the Aga Khan and to pictures of him.

• His family made the same mistake.

Ismaili worship• He said he had personally bowed the knee to the Aga Khan and to

pictures of him.

• His family made the same mistake.

• But they never received the truth, and they died in their sins, without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

• Now, Alex wants to expose the Aga Khan, not for revenge, but so that the leader and his followers might shake off their ignorance and come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Treason

• As he was a British subject, officials concluded he could face treason charges and the death penalty.

• But it was eventually decided disloyalty by the then Aga Khan, who died in 1957, "could not be proved".

The Satanic Verses controversy• The Satanic Verses controversy, also known as the Rushdie

Affair, was the heated and frequently violent reaction of some Muslims to the publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses, which was first published in the United Kingdom in 1988.

• Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie.

• Numerous killings, attempted killings, and bombings resulted from Muslim anger over the novel.

British Muslims angered by knighthood for Salman Rushdie gather in London

• Muslims angered by honoring Salman Rushdie with a knighthood gathered in London Friday, warning that there could be fierce response to publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark in 2006.

• "This knighthood is just another example of Tony Blair and his government's attempts to secularize Muslims and reward apostates," said Anjem Choudray, protest organizer and an ex-head of the British wing of the banned radical group al-Muhajiroun.

• "It's no excuse for Blair," said Choudray. "The awards pass across his desk and he could easily have blocked it, knowing it would offend Muslims everywhere."

British Muslims angered by knighthood for Salman Rushdie gather in London• Iran's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,

issued a 1989 fatwa, or religious edict, ordering Muslims to kill the writer because his book, "The Satanic Verses," was deemed to insult Islam. The writer, who was raised Muslim, denied the charge, but was forced to live in hiding for almost a decade.

• Some analysts have expressed surprise his award was approved, wondering whether members of the committee considered likely repercussions.

British Muslims angered by knighthood for Salman Rushdie gather in London• "There is an impression they really didn't consider the

potential reaction," said Rosemary Hollis, director of research at London's Chatham House think tank.

• "The Foreign Office has some input and surely pointed out that this would be received badly in some quarters."

• Iran and Pakistan have made formal protests to Britain over the honor, the Foreign Office said, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari acknowledged the award could be used by militants to justify violence.

Sir Joseph Arnold

• In 1866, the fate of this "Khojah" Muslim community was sealed when a British judge, Sir Joseph Arnold, passed judgment in favour of the Aga Khan on all points, declaring him the undisputed religious leader of the "Khojah" community giving him the absolute control over all communal property, including prayer houses and burial grounds.

• This was a turning point in the history of the Khojah community.

Sir Richard Burton• Ismaili historians have recorded that until aslate as 1874 (34

years after his arrival in India), the Aga Khan's authority as a religious leader was sharply opposed by some influential wealthy members of the community.

• His followers in Bombay objected to "his too great predilection for drinking and intriguing with females," according to Sir Richard Burton.

Britain 'backstabbed' Sikhs

• Britain 'backstabbed' Sikhs by advising India on 1984 Golden Temple raid.

• Britain betrayed us by advising Indira Gandhi on her fatal raid against militants barricaded in Amritsar's Golden Temple, say Sikh leaders.

Qur’an• Given the British involvement in India; and

concealment of any alleged manipulation of Quran as well as liaison with Islamic leaders e.g. Aga Khan;

• We may never know the true meaning of the Quran if it is recited in English.

Qur’an• But, in reality, the Quran and Hadith can be interpreted in multiple

ways, and ‘Islamic fundamentals’ can be defined in many contradictory ways.

• These differences fuel violent political forces, each convinced that

they alone understand god’s will.

• Murderous wars between Sunni and Shia militias started during the late 1980s.

• Today, even those favouring the utopian vision of an ideal Islamic

state are frightened by the Pakistani Taliban, which seeks to impose its version of Sharia through the Kalashnikov and suicide bombings.

Qur’an• All this was easily predictable, as sectarian divides

are almost as old as religion itself.

• Basic questions are fundamentally unanswerable:

• Which interpretation of Islam, for instance, is the ‘right’ Islam?

Qur’an

• Of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence (Hanafi, Shafii, Maaliki, Hanbali), which version of the Sharia should be adopted?

• Will all, or most, Pakistanis accept any non-elected amir-ul-momineen (leader of the pious), or a caliph?

• And what about the Shia?

Qur’anWhoever is an expert in reciting the Holy Quran is with the Kiraman Katebeen and whoever reads the Quran with pauses and it is difficult for him, that is, his tounge does not move easily and he recites with difficutly for him there are two rewards. (Bahar-e-Shariat)