International - India & World   

U.K. Indians in New Year’s honours

LONDON: Two prominent Britons of Indian origin — a jurist and a businessman — had a surprise New Year’s gift on Thursday when they were honoured for their contribution to British society.

Mota Singh, QC, Britain’s first Asian judge, has been given a knighthood and would now be known as Sir Mota, and Paramjit Singh Bassi, chairman of a private investment firm, an MBE.

They are among more than 900 British citizens named in the New Year’s Honours List, a much-awaited annual event.

In a sign of a move towards greater official recognition of immigrant groups, some six per cent of those honoured this year are from ethnic minority communities.

But in another sign of the times, not a single politician has been honoured, and there is just one banker who made it to the list. This is seen to reflect Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s acknowledgment of the widespread public anger against politicians and bankers who are perceived as architects of Britain’s worst economic crisis.

But controversially, senior police officer Cressida Dick — who supervised the botched operation that led to the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent young Brazilian shot dead by police commandos after mistaking him for a potential suicide bomber in the wake of the July 7 London bombings — has been awarded the Queen’s Medal.

“Rewarding Ms. Dick after her role in the biggest policing scandal of the decade displays woeful disregard for both the Menezes family and broader public opinion,” a spokesman for the Menezes said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

8 CIA staffers killed in Afghan blast
France: carbon tax ruled unconstitutional
Russia to push asteroid away
Harper shuts down Parliament again
Knowledge-based society is the aim, says Rajapaksa
Confusion over Mousavi, Karroubi whereabouts
Canada issues warning for travellers to India
Niger Delta farmers to sue oil giant Shell
Airline attack could lead to more scanners
Canada issues warning for India travellers
U.K. Indians in New Year’s honours

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu