By Maximilian Russel – Social Researcher for From East to West: The History of Ugandan Asians
Dr Mohamed Keshavjee, member of the BUA 50 Steering Committee, in a special programme to mark the Ugandan Asian Expulsion of 1972 highlights the fact that Asians in East Africa at the end of empire had no real choice. He will be joined in conversation with Dr Ria Kapoor Migration historian of Queen Mary University of London.
The session is sponsored by the From East to West: The History of Ugandan Asians oral history project under the steer of Fiyaz Mughal OBE.
Keshavjee emphasises that colonial history and structures were highly stratified and based on racial lines. The immediate task of the newly independent African countries was to dismantle that structure.
Different economic and political ideologies defined the approaches that were to be used. Asians ended up being “stepchildren of the colonial empire.”
In this thought provoking conversation two leading scholars embark on a 50 year retrospective which is of interest to millions in the larger South Asian diaspora associated with former European colonial powers. At the end of empire the nature of racism was changing and the Asians were projected as a racial and highly commercial minority blocking the upward mobility of the bulk of the African population.
In reality British colonialism placed Asians in this invidious position.
However Asians who largely ran the retail trade were seen as the economic blockers of aspiring African entrepreneurs. They were branded as economic saboteurs and subject to racial abuse.
This particular conversation helps to add the necessary context in which to place the excellent endeavours undertaken by various organisations trying to capture the history surrounding the expulsion.
The discussion is available to view on YouTube from the 25th of June 17:00 (GMT+1) onwards via this link https://youtu.be/BXICNUqjLNQ
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