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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us Octoberr 13, 2005 Commentary The myth of the South Asian invasion Robert Asghar There is no South Asian invasion of London: The city is safer than some would contend. American neoconservatives and even moderates have fretted about the potential of England and its European neighbors to be overrun by Mideast and South Asian immigrants in a recapitulation of barbaric hordes invading Rome. Commentator Tony Blankley made this case in the shrillest fashion, arguing in a new book that Islamists will accomplish what Nazi Germany could not: a takeover of Europe that will pose the most fatal threat yet to the United States. This will happen, Blankley argues, through a benign neglect on the part of squishy liberals that will amount to cultural suicide. For congenital jingoists, this is a red-meat storyline — this menace, this vast brown peril that is squeezing out dying populations of white Europeans. A generation ago, in 1961, only 100,000 South Asians made England home. That number has increased more than 20-fold, with roughly half that number from the predominantly Muslim countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. That is still only 3 percent of a U.K. citizenry that is nine-tenths white. Yet Londoners themselves are an embracing and stiff-upper-lipped lot, even after July 7. “It’s brilliant — black and white together,” says Jeremy, a young and successful advertising executive who fits the profile of the classic white Englishman. “London has become a very absorbent place.” Such cool-headedness can come across to American neocons as further proof of a death wish. But it is apparent that a city such as London is not the bubbling cauldron of fear that some wish to depict it as. Are extremists within the gates? Religious conservatives of the South Asian variety are certainly more active here than a few decades ago. But it’s relative: These folks are decidedly more moderate than the ones you will find in say, Iraq, as the West has already had a salutary effect on them. As I set out to visit Pakistani kinsman and colleagues in England, I am reminded of the simple motivations of those who come west. “People come here to earn more money, to find jobs,” says Pria, an attractive, soft-spoken 19-year-old student riding the Tube to the northwest part of town. Her own parents came from India — the largest source of British immigrants — but she is proud to be an Englishwoman. And she has seen many peers of South Asian origin make the same transition. Two Malaysians studying at Cardiff University say they have witnessed far less interracial drama than some American observers would imagine. “I don’t see racism” directed at or by Muslims, says Daniel, a Catholic with many Muslim friends at home and in England. His friend Diana adds that, to the extent that nationalities are segregated in England, it is a natural enough function. “Even Europeans stick to their own groups here, such as the French,” says Diana. “Often, it’s the language barrier.” She also notes that Muslims have their own reasons for being aloof: So much of British culture is built around pubs that “there is no way for Muslims to socialize.” True enough. The two bugaboos of Islamic life are alcohol and extramarital sex. When ale is the liquid fireplace around which Englishmen and women gather, and when sex is only as far away as the nearest subway restroom condom machine, many Muslims will keep a safe and occasionally judgmental distance. But even this will not last. Siddarth, a young engineer who came from India a few years ago, observes that, for young British-born South Asians, “their generation is more blended.” He and Amol, an Indian physician, agree that as more South Asians of every religious stripe are born and reared here, social isolation will be reduced further. These two South Asian professionals finish up their meal at a McDonald’s franchise on the banks of the Thames, then cross the river to Big Ben. It is a snapshot of our globalized times. They are happy here in England, and it is a sign that the next chapter in globalization may be a happy one, too. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams