09-05-2008, 08:19 AM
http://www.global-prayer-digest.org/monthd...bruary-2003.asp
England's Hindu and Sikh Communities
Though the 400,000 Indian Hindus in England also feel alienated, you probably won't find them rioting in the streets of industrial towns like their Muslim counterparts. Most of the Muslims that came to England from South Asia were unskilled rural laborers, but the Hindus were well educated and were urban dwellers. Qualified teachers, doctors, businessmen, and army officers were ready to make their fortune in England after the South Asian colonies became independent of the U.K. in 1947. More came from Uganda in the early 1970s when dictator Idi Amin confiscated their property and sent them packing. These skilled people, many of them from the Patel people, went to England to start over. Today there are over 100 Patel millionaires in Great Britain according to estimates. Nine of them are actually billionaires.
Today, 83 percent of the Indians own their own homes. By contrast, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are at 40 and 36 percent respectively. Even those Indian nationals who do not make their fortune in the U.K. have hope that their children will be able to afford what they could only dream of possessing.
Ethnically, most of these immigrants are either from Gujarat (250,000) or Punjab (125,000). There are even more Punjabi Sikhs than there are Punjabi Hindus.
One of the things for which Punjabis are famous is their cuisine. Many restaurants boast of serving Punjabi food throughout the subcontinent of India. Opening a restaurant is a good way to make a living in today's U.K. There are more than 8,000 Indian restaurants in the U.K. That's more than the number that are in Delhi and Bombay combined! Though the number of Indian restaurants in India may be depressed because Indians don't usually go to restaurants in their own country, that number is still impressive.
Many of the Indian Hindus in England are more prosperous than the whites. A June 2001 article written by an English Hindu said, "The way Asians dominate the scene in the U.K. makes you feel that they are the core section of the society. Their integrity and resourcefulness have made a lot of British jealous. Jealousy would have been productive had it pushed the whites to do a spot of hard work. But they appear to sit back and fret and fume over the high standard of living Asians are increasingly enjoying. Some Indians chuckle at the very thought of being richer than most Britishers." Does this sound a bit smug?
The writer goes on to say, however, that South Asians in the U.K. told him, "Tension is so raw that we can taste it. Polarization has increased. We are tolerated, not accepted. Many of them remarked that after some years they would like to go back home-if for nothing else, at least to die in their own country."
With these attitudes, it seems as if it might be difficult for British Christians to reach out to their South Asian neighbors. Who is going to reach them? Fortunately, there are groups like Operation Mobilization, Christar and Gospel Missionary Union that send workers to reach these people for Christ.
England's Hindu and Sikh Communities
Though the 400,000 Indian Hindus in England also feel alienated, you probably won't find them rioting in the streets of industrial towns like their Muslim counterparts. Most of the Muslims that came to England from South Asia were unskilled rural laborers, but the Hindus were well educated and were urban dwellers. Qualified teachers, doctors, businessmen, and army officers were ready to make their fortune in England after the South Asian colonies became independent of the U.K. in 1947. More came from Uganda in the early 1970s when dictator Idi Amin confiscated their property and sent them packing. These skilled people, many of them from the Patel people, went to England to start over. Today there are over 100 Patel millionaires in Great Britain according to estimates. Nine of them are actually billionaires.
Today, 83 percent of the Indians own their own homes. By contrast, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are at 40 and 36 percent respectively. Even those Indian nationals who do not make their fortune in the U.K. have hope that their children will be able to afford what they could only dream of possessing.
Ethnically, most of these immigrants are either from Gujarat (250,000) or Punjab (125,000). There are even more Punjabi Sikhs than there are Punjabi Hindus.
One of the things for which Punjabis are famous is their cuisine. Many restaurants boast of serving Punjabi food throughout the subcontinent of India. Opening a restaurant is a good way to make a living in today's U.K. There are more than 8,000 Indian restaurants in the U.K. That's more than the number that are in Delhi and Bombay combined! Though the number of Indian restaurants in India may be depressed because Indians don't usually go to restaurants in their own country, that number is still impressive.
Many of the Indian Hindus in England are more prosperous than the whites. A June 2001 article written by an English Hindu said, "The way Asians dominate the scene in the U.K. makes you feel that they are the core section of the society. Their integrity and resourcefulness have made a lot of British jealous. Jealousy would have been productive had it pushed the whites to do a spot of hard work. But they appear to sit back and fret and fume over the high standard of living Asians are increasingly enjoying. Some Indians chuckle at the very thought of being richer than most Britishers." Does this sound a bit smug?
The writer goes on to say, however, that South Asians in the U.K. told him, "Tension is so raw that we can taste it. Polarization has increased. We are tolerated, not accepted. Many of them remarked that after some years they would like to go back home-if for nothing else, at least to die in their own country."
With these attitudes, it seems as if it might be difficult for British Christians to reach out to their South Asian neighbors. Who is going to reach them? Fortunately, there are groups like Operation Mobilization, Christar and Gospel Missionary Union that send workers to reach these people for Christ.