Britain’s first Prime Minister of Indian origin, Rishi Sunak, has been given a warm welcome by many including his political rivals in London.
But how is the Prime Minister, who has Punjabi roots, viewed by women of Punjabi descent in the UK?
Rising East spoke to residents of the Stepney Green area in the borough of Tower Hamlets and there seems to be a generational difference among South Asians.
Suhkjinder Johal, 48, owner of SAAF Education, stated her indifference about Rishi being the first brown PM. However, what Ms Johal did take pride in is the ancestry behind him.
She told Rising East: “For me, it’s always been about who is best suited for the job – his work through Covid with the furlough scheme showed his ability to take control,” said Ms Johal.
The Generation X small business owner, although not fazed by the Sunak’s race, did show pride for the symbol the new PM represented.
“His ancestry does represent our Punjabi ancestors and how they have always fought for something greater; many immigrants have travelled to the UK with hopes of greatness and he has achieved that – elected [by] the public or not, it’s a win for the Punjabi demographic – he’s made history.”
Ms Johal’s positive outlook is the opposite of Gen Z, Hameet Mankoo, a 25-year-old project manager at an accounting firm.
Miss Mankoo expressed her disappointment with the South Asians that are excited by his new position. She said: “There are South Asians that will be excited and think his appointment means Britain is anti-racist, when in fact he wasn’t voted in by democratic mandate… if it was the public’s choice, he just would not be PM as we live in a racist country.”
Miss Mankoo’s opinion echoes many of Gen Z’s thoughts on social media and disagrees with the idea that his furlough scheme back in 2020 is the bare minimum with his former position in parliament. “We don’t praise every bricklayer for every single brick they lay, that was his job and it shouldn’t award him brownie points towards the argument he is an altruist,” she said.
Both women seem to agree that lived experience and age matter.
Ms Johal said, “Most young people are liberal but in my experience, as you get older, you do tend to shift to a more moderate political mindset.”
She explained how she was leaning towards the middle ground without shedding her egalitarianism.
“I have watched people over the years take advantage of political practices such as the benefits system – when you’re young, naivety comes into play and until you experience what people are truly like it can’t all be sunshine and rainbows.”
But Ms Mankoo believed the young generation can change things: “There’s no hope in just giving up, we’re the future, we can change things. Ten years ago, although I still don’t like him and stand strongly by my prior statement, there would be no Indian PM.”
Ms Mankoo pointed to the Black Lives Matter movement and the Me Too movements as examples of the new generation pushing for changes.
These two Punjabi women although having different views politically, both agreed they wanted the same thing for Sunak’s new England – equity.