Sunak’s appointment ‘historic’
WHILE Rishi Sunak’s rise as UK leader has been hailed as an incredible feat by someone of Indian descent, locals believe race, religion and ethnicity ultimately have no relevance in terms of the impact it will have on the job.
Sunak, 42, became the UK’S first prime minister of colour this week and the first person of Hindu faith to lead Britain.
He entered No 10 Downing Street as the country’s third prime minister this year, and its fifth in six years.
His grandparents were from Punjab and emigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s.
Dr Lubna Nadvi, a political scientist from the University of Kwazulu-natal (UKZN), said the race, religion and ethnicity of Sunak were ultimately of no relevance in terms of the impact it would have on the job he was expected to do, to address the economic challenges faced by the citizens of the UK.
“He is tasked with (together with the chancellor) to advance the growth of the UK economy and reduce the cost of living which has been plaguing the country for some time now.
“Where it might have some utility is in how he uses his background as a person of Indian and East African extraction to reach out to the various minority communities in the UK and make a genuine effort to bring them together to strengthen community ties and build bridges together. It is, however, entirely possible that he may want to do the exact opposite of this,” said Nadvi.
Sanusha Naidu, a political analyst, said the dynamic that he was a person of Indian descent at 10 Downing Street should not be overplayed.
“It doesn’t mean anything to us. We have to still deal with our issues in South Africa. I think diasporas become far more removed from each other than they are uniting and connected.
“We need to be much more realistic and pragmatic about the dynamics unfolding in the UK and what it means for South Africa,” said Naidu.
She said he was not given a mandate through an election.
“He should be given a chance, at least 100 days in office. It doesn’t mean that he’s a brown person at 10 Downing Street and he represents the minorities, he also represents particular class interests.
“It doesn’t mean he correlates automatically to improving the lives of all people, all minorities. It could be people in the Indian minority, Jamaican, African communities, in all different minorities in the UK who may not necessarily see him representing their interests.”
Brij Maharaj, professor of political geography at UKZN, said there was a sense of pride and elation across the Indian diaspora, including South Africa (similar to when Kamala Harris became US vice president).
He said Sunak’s appointment was historic because of race, and that says a lot about British society.
“After all, Britain was supposed to be a non-racial democracy, at least in theory.
“At 42 years, Sunak’s rise to the upper echelons of the Conservative Party was rapid and meteoric.
“He has the intellectual and class/ wealth (partly by marriage) pedigree for the job, but will come under ruthless scrutiny in terms of performance because of his ethnic roots.
“According to Indian novelist Manu Joseph, ‘statements and allusions’ will suggest that ‘there is something about Indians, which makes them beat others; something mysterious inside us that is potent outside India and evidently does not work in India’,” said Maharaj.
He said Sunak inherited a political and economic mess largely the consequences of Brexit, which has been aggravated by Covid-19.