Joy in India about Sunak: “Son of India rises above the Empire”

Pride and a kind of satisfaction – that’s what many Indians feel at the sight of the first British Prime Minister with Indian roots. Especially because Sunak is an openly practicing Hindu.

You don’t have to look far in India’s capital for people who are happy that Rishi Sunak is now British Prime Minister. They are very proud of him, says a woman on the street. That’s how many Indians feel: “When someone of Indian origin becomes British Prime Minister, that is, of the country that has ruled us for so long, then that’s a proud moment for all of India,” says another passer-by.

It is a euphoria that is spreading. “The story gets an Indian twist,” headlines the major daily Hindustan Times. “A son of India rises above the empire,” says the news channel NDTV. You can hear that on the street too. “The British have ruled us for 200 years and I believe the Indians will now rule Britain for the next 200 years,” one commenter said.

The details of Sunak’s vita hardly play a role. His roots are in the Indian state of Punjab. However, his parents were born in East Africa and are members of the Indian minority there. He himself was born in Great Britain.

Focus on Sunak as a Hindu

The fact that Sunak is a practicing Hindu and publicly professes his faith is particularly noteworthy, MP Shashi Tharoor of the Indian Congress Party told NDTV.

“Remember Churchill, who scoffed at Hindus being horrible people with a horrible religion,” Tharoor said. “And now we have someone here who not only practices Hinduism, but who has also taken his oath of office to the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad Gita. Who has been tweeting photos of him worshiping cows and Lord Krishna.”

“It’s hard to imagine something similar in India”

But opposition politician Tharoor also notes that something similar is hardly imaginable in India today: “Can you imagine that an open Christian or an open Muslim who publicly stands by his faith would be accepted by the BJP as a suitable prime minister for India? ”

The BJP is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalists. Modi is accused of leading the country to the right. India’s diversity is becoming more and more restricted in favor of the Hindu majority.

Minorities are either co-opted or excluded. Modi himself sent congratulations to London, noting that the British Indians are a bridge between the two nations. He is looking forward to turning the “historic relationship into a modern partnership” with the new prime minister – an undisguised indication that the former colonial power imbalance is still present in India.