By Dr Tilak S Fernando

Rishi Sunak became the first Asian Prime Minister in the UK on 7th November 2022, creating a world record in the history of politics. Liz Truss decided to give up the premiership due to the extreme pressure of the UK’s economic crisis, and she entered the history books as the shortest Prime Minister in the UK. Rishi Sunak was the Chancellor of the Exchequer before contesting for the Premier’s post. More surprising is how approximately over two hundred members of his party supported him to be the Prime Minister. Th Conservative party respects traditional values and shows the diversity and talent of the party.

Rishi Sunak was born in the UK, Southampton, to an Indian family. His father was a pharmacist, and his mother was a General Practitioner attached to the National Health Service (NHS). Rishi Sunak is the youngest Prime Minister in modern history. He entered parliament from the Richmond parliamentary seat. It was William Pitt the youngest premier in the UK age of 24 years old.

Indian Resentment.

Some Indians (Hindus) were critical about the new Prime Minister of UK ” eating beef.  The picture attached shows how Rishi Sunak participating in a Hindu ritual involved with a cow before becoming the UK’s Prime Minister. There is a powerful lobby in India stating, “should we celebrate his Indian origin or be incensed for giving up his Indian passport? “

Dr Manmohan Singh registered a note in his fan club stating: “I do not know why Indians are so excited about this beef-eating Prime Minister! His father was born in Kanya, and his mother in Tanzania. His paternal grandfather was born in Gujranwala (Pakistan), and his maternal grandfather was in Tanzania. He does not hold an Indian passport but still  calls himself  Indian.” He further says: “Should we celebrate his Indian origin or be angry with him for giving up an Indian passport! But now Rishi Sunak works for His Majesty, who oppressed our country for 195 years and stole our riches.”

But the fantastic factor is that most Britishers welcome an Asian (Indian) as their Prime Minister after 400 years! Most of the Tory (Conservative) Party voted for him as the most suitable candidate to be the Prime Minister. The attached picture shows how he is very much a Hindu by religion in participating in an Indian sacred ceremony where the cow is regarded (Hinduism) as holy (before he became the Prime Minister.

Family Background

Sunaks are a Punjabi Khatri family from Gujranwala. Khatri is a caste employed in commercial professions such as artisanal occupations and agriculture. They are found predominantly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to A.R. Desai, Khartis, were traditionally tradesmen and government officials. “Ramdas Sunak worked for His Majesty, who oppressed our country for 195 years and stole our riches.” But the fantastic factor is that most Britishers welcome an Asian (Indian) as their Prime Minister after 400 years! The attached picture shows how Rishi Sunak  is very much a Hindu by participating in an Indian sacred ceremony where the cow is regarded (Hinduism) as holy (before he became the Prime Minister.) Most of the Tory (Conservative) Party voted for him as the suitable candidate to be the Prime Minister.

Family Background

Sunaks are a Punjabi Khatri family from Gujranwala in India. ‘Khatri’ is a caste employed in commercial professions such as artisanal occupations and agriculture. They are found predominantly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to A.R. Desai (Rishi Sunak’s parents) had three sons and three daughters

Ramanlal states that Ramdas Sunak (Sunak Rishi’s paternal grandfather) left Gujranwala to work to be employed as a clerk in Nairobi in 1935. Gujranwala is the birthplace of the founder of the Sikh Empire, Maharajah Ranjith Singh. Akshay Ramanlal Desai’s move to Nairobi was linked to the deteriorating Hindu-Muslim relations. 

Parents

Rishi’s father, Yashveer Sunak, was born in 1949 in Nairobi. Yashveer  (his father) arrived in Liverpool in 1966 and went to study Medicine at the University of Liverpool. He now lives in Southampton.

Sunak Rishi’s maternal grandparents also hail from Panjab. His maternal grandfather, Raghubir Berry, also moved to Tanganyika as a Railway engineer. He married Tanganyikan-born Srakhsa. Their daughter, Srakasha, came to the UK in 1966 with a one-way ticket after selling her wedding jewellery. The Sunak’s brother, Berry, also arrived in the  the UK and worked for many years at the Inland Revenue Department. He became a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1988. The couple had three daughters, One of whom is Rishie’s mother, Usha. Rishi Sunak’s mother received a degree in Pharmacology from Aston University in 1972. Rishi’s parents ( Usha and Yashveer) met in the UK and married in Leicester in 1977. Rishi was born in1980 in Southampton and attended Winchester College to study study philosophy, politics and economics and also at Lincoln College at Oxford. He earned a MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. 

Comments on Rishi Sunak.

According to Nuwan Jude Liyanage: We are a nation that objected to the appointment of Lakshman Kadiragamar to the post of Prime Minister and are praising to galore for the selection of an Asian, Rishi Sunak, as the Prime Minister in the UK! “We will never espouse a gentleman akin to Lakshman Kadiragamar. Will Sri Lanka be able to find a politician like Lakshman Kadiragamar? Not as a Prime Minister but as a human being….? It is the greatest folly Sri Lanka did to ignore this noble man.

The writer accounts for the family history of the first Asian Prime Minister of the UK, appears anonymous on the internet. Instead, he says: “Be careful before you call Rishi Sunak as Indian because he is one hundred per cent coconut. He emphasises that ‘ coconut is black and as long as any Asian who conforms to European culture at the expense of his ancestral culture, is coconut, who is dark on the outside and white on the Inside.”

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