Does India have enough reason to rejoice over the appointment of Rishi Sunak as the first Indian origin PM of the UK? Is he a more Indian than Barrack Obama was a Kenyan? The early signs are saying ‘No’.
Suella Braverman also attributed the latest Leicester riots to the failure of the migrants to integrate into the host culture.
Does India have enough reason to rejoice over the appointment of Rishi Sunak as the first Indian origin PM of the UK? Is he a more Indian than Barrack Obama was a Kenyan? The early signs are saying ‘No’.
Within hours of giving warning of ‘tough decisions’ ahead, after his meeting with His Majesty King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, Sunak entered into a reshuffling spree of his cabinet. The most significant among them is the return of Suella Braverman as the Home Secretary of the UK. She is known for her anti-migrant stance and had courted controversy over her comments that Indians overstay their visa in the UK.
Braverman, who was earlier recruited by former PM Liz Truss at the same post had to resign due to an alleged breach of security. Reportedly, she used her personal mail to send an official document to her colleague breaching the protocol and the security compulsions.
As the issue came to notice, Braverman resigned from the office taking the responsibility of what she calls a “technical infringement”. In her resignation she said, “I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.” However, the reports indicate that she was asked to quit by the high office of Prime Minister.
Braverman’s resignation started the crisis in the UK politics that ultimately led to the resignation of Liz Truss within 45 days of taking over as the PM.
However, the opposition has strongly reacted to the re-appointment of Braverman. Claiming that Sunak is no different than his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, Labour party MP Chris Bryant tweeted, “Appointing Suella Braverman as Home secretary just days after she was sacked for a security breach doesn't smack of integrity, competence, professionalism or sensible politics. It's just cynical manoeuvring. This PM's no better than the last two.”
Though recruitment of Braverman in Liz Truss cabinet also evoked much fanfare in India due to her connection to the land through Goa-origin father and a Tamil-origin mother, there is nothing much to expect from her.
Earlier in an interview Braverman said that she clearly opposed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India as she believes that it will further increase the number of Indian migrants to the UK.
“I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country — the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she added.
She also attributed the latest riots in Leicester following the India-Pakistan match to uncontrolled migration of the people from subcontinent who failed to integrate into the host country.
It was not only Indian migrants, she fumed against all those migrants who ‘abuse’ the asylum-giving facility of the UK by crowding the shores of the English channel in boats. In matters of deportation, she follows the footsteps of her another Indian-origin predecessor Priti Patel who wanted to deport the illegal migrants to Rwanda.
So, the very first step of Sunak to reinstall Braverman at the helm of the Home department is not read by the political analysts as a favourable decision for India. In the regime of Baverman who was earlier Boris Johnson’s attorney general, what will be the fate of FTA is anybody’s guess.