Image: Al Jazeera
Faizel Patel – 06/08/2021
Saudi-based corporate communications professional and freelance writer Shaistha Khan says ignoring and diluting the partition and British colonial history makes South Asians feel isolated and like they do not belong.
Khan was speaking to Radio Islam about the UK South Asians push for partition history in school curriculums
Khan says the partition and British colonial history of is an important part of South Asian history.
“Previous generations of South Asians were focused on survival and integrating into the society and also fighting back against racism in their country. The current generation, the second, third or fourth generation have the the luxury of questioning belonging and their dual identities.”
Khan says anniversaries like the ‘black lives matter’ campaign are a good time to focus on the partition and the important history surrounding it.
“With the black lives matter and global discussion on race, it boils down to the value of life. So, does the brown life matter, do our stories matter? While there’s always been a push to make the British curriculum more inclusive of black history last year, there was also a petition to make BAME which is black, Asian and minority ethnic education compulsory in the UK curriculum.”
Khan says teaching a shared history is vital for social integration and a cohesive society.
Listen to the interview with Shahistha Khan
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