AND EXCLUSION POTENT WHY IS BIN CONTINUINO MAJORS RA POLICIES AC BLACK AND ИНГЕ PEOP LAZENSHI B. Skanthakumar (SMG-Unity)
A RALLY for unity among Southall's predominantly South Asian communities took place on August 17 amid official celebrations of India and Pakistan's fiftieth anniversary of independence.
The Rally was a response to recent tension and outbreaks of violence between gangs of Sikh youth from Southall and Muslim youth from Slough which has polarised both communities and introduced new difficulties to communities increasingly stratified on class lines.
The initiative against communalism drew controversy among so-called community leaders as well as Sikh organisations agitating for independence from India.
The Sikh separatist (Khalistani) movement was prominent in protests and picketing of all celebrations of Indian independence in Britain, among which it mistakenly included the August 17 event.
In the week preceding the Rally the premises of the Southall Monitoring Group (SMG) were firebombed and its Director, Suresh Grover, was the target of death threats and a vicious poster campaign.
Fortunately no one was hurt in the arson attack and damage was confined to the first floor of the building. While no one has claimed responsibility for the fire--bombing its timing appears related to the rally and the public intervention of SMG against communal groups and their activities.
Key workers at SMG and other political activists formed in June a new organisation called SMG-Unity to undertake campaigns against communalism and racism particularly attractive to Southall youth.
Undaunted by the cowardly threats and abuse, SMG-Unity proceeded with the rally which was well attended and had speakers from a range of local organisations including local Labour MP, Piara Singh Khabra.
Southall is also home to a large refugee community from Somaliland and there was participation in the event by Somali women who These political-religious movements offer an illusory way out from grappling with the daily problems of unemployment, poor and overcrowded housing, low wages and the loss of educational and recreational facilities through council cuts.
They offer a solidarity and support of their own based on communal loyalties and identity politics, when class based organisations have failed to attract and mobilise youth across ethnic and religious divides to struggle against oppression and injustice whatever its form and whomever its subject.
This is the challenge ahead of SMG-Unity, to focus attention on precisely those issues which confront people every-day in the real material world while seeking also to understand the craving for an identity which helps make sense of "who we are?", "why we are here?" and "where we belong?".
These questions are not novel and in the struggles of the past when black communities stood together against the racists, fascists and the police we have asked these questions in other ways and found answers to questions we didn't know we had.
It is that memory of struggle, that tradition of resistance, that spirit of solidarity that SMG-Unity is trying to recover. Along the way it will need to innovate, to find an appropriate vernacular, original styles of organising and rhythms of activity.
It does not have the answers nor know the routes it will take but it proposes that it is the process and method of struggle and a critical assimilation of theory that contributes to its resolution.
On October 12, a March for Unity through Southall will take place. It has already attracted the widest base of support locally and will include forces from across London.
In a determined effort to make this event inclusive, accessible and enjoyable to all sections of the community, the March will be followed by a celebration with music, talks, poetry and comedy.
Leading the March will be the Hillingdon Hospital Strikers and it will be accompanied by drummers from the Dhol Foundation. Current supporters include Tariq Ali, Imran Khan, Hanif Kureishi, Indira Jaisingh and Achin Vanaik (both from India) among many others.
In facing down the reactionary forces in our own communities and in our constant battles for self respect and dignity this March is a manifestation of our resolve.
It deserves the active support and mobilisation of the left and labour movement.
If you/your organisation would like to get involved in planning for the March, publicising and building it and/or participating in it, please con• tact SMG-Unity at 018| 843 2333 or PO Box 304, Southall, UB2 5YR