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LONDON, ENGLAND, November 1, 2002: In what they hope will be the most auspicious new political season of them all, hundreds of British Hindus took incense, diyas (oil lamps), sweets and the spirit of Deepavali for the first time ever into the UK’s Victorian houses of Parliament, only to be rebuked by a leading government minister for political apathy. With his mouth full of mithai (a sweet), Home Secretary David Blunkett chided Britain’s Hindus for “not voting very much, for any party,” a criticism commentators said could imply an insularity and self-centredness at the heart of one of the richest immigrant communities in Britain today. Leading community leaders privately admitted Blunkett was right, but emphasized that change was in the air and Deepavali’s arrival in parliament was symbolic. Blunkett’s criticism, which were the only fireworks around in the safety-conscious and very inflammable British parliament building, came as prominent Indophile British MPs and those with Indian-dominated constituencies carefully lit oil lamps and chanted “Om shanti, shanti, shanti” — “Om, peace, peace peace.”

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