The struggle for pluralism

Powell's infamous warning in 1968 that immigration and racial tension would turn Britain's streets into "rivers of blood" is probably the best-remembered anti-immigrant remark made anywhere. The Tories had to sack Mr Powell from their front benches for it.

It's irrelevant whether Ms Verma wins or loses. What matters is that the Tories have followed Labour in projecting a "modern" self-image. They describe Ms Verma as "a candidate of our times", who contrasts sharply with Powell's racism.

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This is a handsome tribute to multicultural-pluralist Britain, which takes pride in ethnic diversity, and its ability to assimilate different languages, modes of conduct, attire and food. It's a sign of the enormous distance Britain has travelled since the 1970s when white-racist Skinheads roamed its streets bullying immigrants, especially from South Asia.

Most immigrants then lived in fearor in ghettoes, unrecognised as White people's equals. Books like Dilip Hiro's White British, Black British document this.

Things have changed a lot, although, although racism is far from dead in Britain. There is "institutionalised racism", and prejudice in society, including the police, against "asylum-seekers". There are periodic clashes between neo-Nazi groups and immigrants in certain depressed areas. There is Home Secretary David Blunkett's proposal to give immigrants compulsory "lessons" in British history and citizens' rights/duties.

But what has changed is mainstream public discourse. It's no longer permissible to air one's ethnic or racial prejudices or demand the exclusion of minority groups from social life.

This has not happened overnight. It is, above all, the result of a long, bitter struggle by the immigrants for equal citizenship and against racism.

Take an example of the struggle. When the racists showed placards saying "Go home", the immigrants would turn around and shout: "We are HERE because you were THERE". Later, they took the bull by the horns. They declared: "Our home is London (or Birmingham or Bradford)". This was an attempt to turn the tables and redefine the meaning of Britishness.

This struggle had two other components. One was the South Asians' assertion of their identity as working-class peoplethrough struggles. Among the most heroic of these was a two-year-long strike at the Grunwick film-processing factory in northwest London, led by a diminutive saree-clad woman, Jayaben Desai. These struggles solidly grounded South Asians in Britain's reality.

A second component was solidarity with other immigrants, from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, in their fight for full citizenship. New bonds and identities emerged through such struggles.

That process hasn't occurred in the United States, where many more Indians live. The bulk of American NRIs are conservative upper middle-class professionals, not working class people. Being better off than the average White American, they don't have to fight for equality.

American NRIs are not particularly interested in participatory citizenshipas distinct from the Green Cardunlike second-generation British immigrants. A majority are content to pursue individualistic agendas, without collective commitment.

In Britain, the anti-racist struggle has reshaped political parties. Labour responded to it first by promoting multiculturalism within its membership. Labour has created many Asian Lords, including Meghnad Desai, Bhiku Parekh and Nazir Ahmed.

Last year, Ghanaian-origin Paul Boateng became Britain's first-ever Black Cabinet Minister. Pakistan-born Michael Nazir Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, narrowly missed being elected the Archbishop of Canterbury, the world leader of the Anglican Church.

The Tories now say they "celebrate immigration and cultural diversity". Last year, they dismissed MP Ann Winterton for narrating a racist joke at a rugby club.

The "Tebbit Test" of loyalty, about which side you cheered in an England-vs-India or England-vs-Pakistan cricket match, has become a complete joke. Today, everyone accepts that British South Asians will "naturally" cheer "their" side.

Britons of South Asian origin are now on average better off than Whites. Their cultural distinctiveness is respected. In Britain, Diwali parties are more important than in India. Tandoori chicken and tikka masala have been declared Britain's national dishes. (They aren't South Asian copies; they have their own identity). Stodgy Englishmen, who once complained of "curry odour" from Indian kitchens, now gorge on those curries.

There are other signs of integration. Britain has now a state-supported Sikh school. Gujarati cultural bodies receive significant local council support.

The good news is not ethnic-Indian success stories, or Selfridges' Bollywood-theme shopping festival. The good news is that multicultural Britain has successfully developed an inclusive, relaxed sense of nationhood.

By contrast, some Indians are still obsessed with false debates about how "Indian" Ms Sonia Gandhi is!

There's a larger lesson here. Britain's success lies in universalising citizens' rights and encouraging active citizenship, through participation in public liferegardless of ethnic origin. Implicit here is also a democratic concept of culture and equality of different traditions. It's only when the bulk of the White British, led by their most liberal elements, stopped believing in their cultural superiority that British society became openand less insecure.

Multiculturalism is the best way to tap people's human potential. In India, the greatest obstacle to multiculturalism is Hindu majoritarianism, which places Hindu culture above all others: Hindus must prevail because they are the majority.

This repulsively arrogant idea subverts the liberal and humane spirit of the Constitution. It rationalises the exclusion of other groups. And it suppresses the fact that there are as many divisions among Hindus as between them and others.

Majoritarianism is profoundly undemocratic and wantonly destructive of equality and social cohesion. It breeds a false sense of pride while negating all that's valuable in our plural traditions.

Majoritarianism will arrest society's evolution and turn it into a cultural backwater, an intellectual swamp, a spiritual cesspool. We must not allow that.

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.