UK Elections- Its implications in the US and what it means for the Indian Diaspora

UK Elections- Its implications in the US and what it means for the Indian Diaspora 

When the polls closed in England at 10pm GMT on December 12 and the media revealed the findings of the exit polls, it reaffirmed what most were expecting. The exit polls predicted a landslide win for the Tories and a crushing defeat, one of the worst in about a century, for the Labour. The Conservative Party, was led by the incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson whereas the Labour Party was led by the septuagenarian socialist, (turned 70 earlier this year) Jeremy Corbyn. 

The Britons were voting to elect its members of the lower house of the Parliament which then in turn will elect the Prime Minister. Elections were necessitated as the UK politics was bogged down in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. Thirty months and 2 prime ministers later, Britain still could not negotiate a Brexit deal. 

As the results poured in, the main story wasn’t the handsome victory of the flamboyant Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson which reinforced his ‘Let’s get Brexit Done!’ platform. The main story, however, was and many would argue rightfully so, the demoralizing defeat of an extremely polarizing Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn, a radical socialist according to many political analyst, was also mired in alleged anti-Semitism. Additionally, his comments on Kashmir after the Modi government’s revocation of Article 370, fueled a huge outcry in the minority Indian diaspora of the United Kingdom. Many Indians accused Corbyn of Hinduphobia and siding with the Pakistan’s Jihadi elements.

There are several reasons for the defeat of Corbyn and his radical ideology. All of those factors will be analyzed at length in due course. What is of particular concern, however, to Indian diaspora around the world is that in the defeat of Corbyn it saw a ray of hope. A hope of seeing the result of effective political organization and making themselves count when it mattered.  

It is a fact that historically the Indian diaspora had been a loyal votary of the Labor Party. It will be interesting to find out how the Indians voted when the detailed analysis of the data comes out. But many expect, based on the reactions of the various Indian groups, that it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that Indian voters abandoned the Labour in droves.

While on one hand it will also be an exaggeration to say that Corbyn's anti-Hindu Kashmir policy is responsible for such disengagement by Indian groups, it will also be foolish to not consider it as one of the factors in his defeat. By his stand on Kashmir, he turned his one of the most loyal voting blocks away. And when the dust settles, we will learn how important losing those 100, 500, 1,000 votes in some of the tightly contested constituencies was. 

As Britain and its liberals come to terms with the election results, the focus has already shifted to the US. What are the implications of the British election results on the US electoral scene? How does it affect the liberal politics of the Democrats? Most importantly, for our purposes, how does it affect the political organization among Indian-American voters?

In the US, the Indian diaspora is quite insignificant in terms of its political clout. At around 1% of the US population Indians are one of its tiniest minorities. Hindus, as a religious group, comprise about 0.7% of the US population. Where they come into picture, when it comes to politics, is with their wallets. Indian-Americans contributed close to a whopping $3 million in the political contribution during the last reporting cycle (July 15). That amount alone accounts for more than the “coveted donors of Hollywood”. Not surprisingly, 2/3rd of that $3 million went to Democratic presidential candidates. Top two netters were Senator Kamala Harris, a frontrunner earlier who has since dropped out of the race and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

The remarkable similarities between the Labour Party and Democratic Party is not lost on anyone. Both are running left of Center and the new Democratic leaders take pride in calling themselves Democratic Socialists. Many would argue that the already left of center Democratic Party has been taken further left by its new crop of leaders. Democratic slogans like Medicare for all, free college education, waving all college debt, etc., sound very similar to Labour’s own policies on the domestic front.

Many have argued that the Labour under Jeremy Corbyn has normalized identity politics and anti-Semitism in public and political discourse. This is compounded by the Labour’s pandering to the Islamist & Jihadi elements of Britain’s society. Similarly, some of the Democrats have taken anti-Semitism in the US to a level not seen before and sitting law-makers have been accused of having financial, political, and personal ties with the ‘terrorist’ organizations such as Muslim Brotherhood.

And who will forget Corbyn’s stand on Kashmir post Article 370 abrogation? This was followed by multiple attacks by the Pakistani Jihadis on the Indian High Commission building, one of them on Diwali, one of the holiest festivals of the Hindus. This was all done under the nose of a Labour mayor of London. Many accuse Mayor Sadiq Khan of being soft on these Jihadi troublemakers. 

Many Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates too have taken an open anti-Article 370 and pro-Jihadi stand. Prominent among them include Ro Khanna (CA17), Pramila Jayapal (WA7), senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders. In their narrative relating to the Kashmir issue, they have failed to even recognize the genocide of Hindus in Kashmir valley in the hands of Jihadi elements. If this wasn’t enough, Rep. Ro Khanna joined the Congressional Caucus on Pakistan and Pakistani Americans. Senator Kamala Harris, despite having Indian lineage, chose to cling to her politically expedient South Asian identity and failed to raise the issue of Kashmiri Hindus in any political forum. 

Indian-American politics is largely guided by the politics of India on one hand and South Asian politics at home in the US on the other. Combined together, both fail to address the issues faced by the Indian-Americans as an ethnic and religious minority. Diaspora groups have been fighting to remove biases against Indians and Hindus in history textbooks for over a decade. Add to that the rising number of activist Hinduphobic faculty members on US campuses and rise in the number of hate crimes against Hindus. It will be foolish to predict that the combined force of Indian American voters is capable of affecting the outcome of the US presidential, gubernatorial, or senatorial races. However, in pockets, they can certainly make their presence felt. To wield any significant political power in the US, Indians first need to organize as an ethnic and religious minority.