SOUTHALL (England), July 7: India and Pakistan may have come close to war over the occupied Kashmir, yet far away from the conflict people of both countries are living here side by side in neighbourly harmony.
As smell of curries fills air in the west London suburb of Southall, Indians and Pakistanis in traditional dress stroll along a high street of sari shops and halal butchers in living testimony that the two peoples can get along.
“Here we’re all Asian. That’s what matters,” said Saima Aslam, who arrived from Pakistan one year ago and now works in an Indian sari shop in the largely Asian area.
“People here are not bothered about religion or nationality issues,” she said. “This is an Indian Punjab shop and I’m working here. The fact that I am Pakistani does not make any difference at all.”
Over 55 percent of Southall’s 70,000 population is of Indian or Pakistani origin — the two communities blending almost seamlessly together.
It is a scene that is repeated in many other parts of Britain, where the country’s 900,000 Indian-origin population and 500,000 people of Pakistani origin live together with relatively few problems between them.
WOUNDS KEPT OPEN: Saima Aslam said she believed the conflict back home over the disputed Kashmir region would last for decades, unwanted by the people and fuelled by politicians and various interest groups.
She said the Muslims and Hindus did not interact back in her home country, but once in London they got to know and understand each other.
“I find more good friends in Indians than in anyone else,” she added. Local police share that impression.
“Liaison with community leaders has not identified any repercussions in the borough from events taking place abroad,” Southall Police Chief Inspector Chris Allmey told Reuters.
He and colleagues hold regular meetings with community leaders, and officers from neighbouring areas, to review any possible local impact of the India-Pakistan standoff.
“If a situation does arise locally as a result of the conflict I am confident that we will be able to resolve it with the help of the community,” he added.—Reuter