I repeatedly heard comments and statements on what’s defining british model of integration, a matter often linked to another crucial issue, secularism in Great-Britain.
To be more precise, let’s talk about England, and what people called ironically “Londonistan” when various Islamic groups took shelter in the English capital in the 90’s of last century. For many people, wich include some folks living in Algeria, this phenomenon was due to a specific vision of secularism shared by most people in English society, and far different from what is commonly conceived in a country like France for example.
First of all, it should be reminded that London had also sheltered refugees who did not belong to Islamic movements. A taxi driver told me, recently, that he knows a journalist who had left Algeria during the dark decade of terrorism for England in order to work in the BBC. There must be several cases like that coming from other parts of the world.
That was an empiric example, valid but insufficient to have a fair view of questions like foreigners integration and secularism in England. A good way to reach that goal is probably leaning on individual testimonies and what better testimony then a novel written by a writer known for his autobiographical material like Hanif Kureichi, renowned novelist of English and Pakistani descent.
I have previously read a book of Kureïchi titled Something to tell you, wich described, in a certain extent, United Kingdom since the 1970’s until years 2000, with characters of Pakistani or Indian origins, but more useful is the second novel of Hanif Kureichi, Black Album wich portrays, accurately, the life of a young Pakistani student, Shahid, living in suburbs and wondering wich way to go, after his encounter with a group of islamic students of his decent, who warn him of the dangers of western civilization. In the meantime he gets close to a leftist woman called DeeDee Osgood, who is his teacher at university. From then, reader gets familiarized with many characters, including relatives of Shahid and Deedee’s ex-husband known as Brownlow, and further on in the book a drug dealer, but the outcome of reading is better understanding of how fundamentalist Islamism could grow in a city like London, and elsewhere in United Kingdom.
First of all, children of Pakistani immigrants felt marginalized by the Conservative party, and the Labour was in decline, facing value and ideology crisis, thus it’s obvious that Islamic groups were found on the basis of identity, because weakened and isolated Pakistanis could find no one besides them when attacked by skinheads.
A striking example to illustrate that identity crisis is the chapter where Deedee Osgood tells Sahid about her encounter with of one of these Pakistani students before he committed himself to religious activism. Deedee asked him, once :
-“Why don’t you feel good, living here, is it because you dont have a job?
- “No. I don’t have a country.”
- “ Oh…It is not so grave”.
In fact, it was grave. These Pakistanis have a desperate need to belong, so they gathered in small communities to feel protected and immune.
Perhaps Indians could not form similar religious groups because of religious diversity in India. Sill, they contributed to create the so called English multiculturalism which is now minutely examined after the vote for Brexit, and the vivid debates raised on many questions concerning immigration and integration.
Perhaps to look back won’t be useless to understand the problems, and thus find appropriate solutions.
Lyes Ferhani