Serious Golmal

This week saw the launch of the New Generation Network project. Sunny Hundal and his team of likeminded individuals have used Comment is Free to springboard the project manifesto and a personal statement on the ideas behind the project. The sentiment and concept of this welcome movement is encapsulated in this passage by Sunny:

In calling for a dismantlement of the old order, we must build a new movement on the values of tolerance, freedom of expression and a clear commitment to anti-racism. Prejudice in the form of anti-semitism, homophobia and sexism must be rejected, as should any demonisation of Muslims. And it should be rejected from all corners.

The struggle for equality and better access to public services is a struggle for all Britons not just ethnic minorities. White working-class families also face problems with deprivation, injustice and demonisation. Their concerns should not be ignored or blamed on other groups.

We are not arguing that faith or race based groups should be restricted, but rather that their arguments be treated as one argument amongst many others and on their own merit. They have a right to argue for the enforcement of civil liberties and minority rights but they should be seen as lobby groups, not representatives of millions of people.

We need to foster a climate in which people can have private differences which include religion, language and culture, but also have a public space where such differences are bridged. The right to freedom of speech and expression of culture, faith and public debates must remain paramount.

Each one of us from this modern generation of Britons has multiple identities and we do not ask that anyone surrenders their heritage. Indeed, cultural and religious heritages are, in the main a source of empowerment.

The aim of this manifesto is to declare that too many discussions are framed as “them and us” by politicians, or dominated by reactionaries on all sides. To build a modern Britain at peace with itself we must also hear the voices in the middle that are interested in building bridges rather than stressing our differences.

Can’t say better than that.

Additional comments and articles will be published on CiF over this week and so far we’ve had comments from signitories Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Hari Kunzru.

This is a welcome initiative and long overdue. This project is the culmination of a group of people who have started a discussion about the role of reactionary unelected “representatives” from our communities hogging the airwaves and setting the agenda for communication from both within and from outside of the “communities”. There’s a need to tackle the communalism that is nurtured by defining identities based on religion alone. This phenomenon is most pronounced in the Muslim community but shows all the signs of creeping into the Hindu and Sikh communities.

The manifesto recognises that religious identity is as strong as other identities. That sentence looks easy to read on the screen but believe me, it is a thorn of contention in conservative Muslim communities. But we know individuals live with the duality of traditional and modern lives in the same way they possess religious and “secular” identities. The question is, are religious conservatives ready to agree? I’ve long believed Britain has all the historic and current ‘keys’ in place to qualify it as one of the few places in the world where this debate can be started, intelligently continued and seen to a fruitful conclusion.

The NGN launch has gone extremely well and, judging from most responses, seems to have had a successful reception and reactions have been mostly encouraging.

Munira Mirza’s comment on the NGN is superb. She seems to agree with and even elaborate on some of the manifesto’s points but is unwilling to sign it.

I was disappointed with Gary Younge’s take on the NGN’s decision to “single out” the Hizbut Tahrir for comment and not specifically the BNP. This unfortunately is the simplistic reduction of the HT citation into an “us and them” or “attacking our own” mindset encountered when Asians comment on the narrow politics of the Hizbut Tahrir. The BNP and the HT are not analogous mirror images of each other but we know the danger the BNP potentialises. But we’ve talked the BNP to death whereas the Hizbut Tahrir are not discussed nearly as often in polite company. Gary seems hung up on pinning all the blame on White on Asian/Black prejudice. The NGN manifesto admits the dangers there but is not afraid to address the Asian on White, Asian on Asian and Asian on Black (and vice versa) prejudices too. I’ve posted a comment on Gary Younge’s article on CiF to this effect as well. I have a lot of time for big GY; it’s unfortunate he’s not in support of this initiative.

Other responses are rounded up and being discussed here.

You should read the manifesto and sign the agenda yourself.

This entry was posted Thursday, November 23rd, 2006 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.