BBC Radio 4 has just completed an epic series on the Bengal Famine, which led to the unnecessary and cruel deaths of over 3 million people, whilst India was being governed and ruthlessly exploited by the British.
Reminders of the evils of Empire are everywhere today – the Middle East war is also a legacy of Empire, and reading Sathnam Sanghera’s ‘Empireland’, we see a comprehensive analysis of a history which has shaped who we are today as Indians living in Britain. The East India Company was the first global public corporation with its own private army, and today we have giant corporations like Google, Facebook or Amazon, with their own private armies of expropriation, seriously disrupting the planet.
Jains are here, because the British were over there, and our home is now the whole natural and human world, not just a little island called Britain. Their wisdom and leadership is needed like never before.
On April 29, Jain leaders, artists and entrepreneurs were invited by No. 10 Downing Street to celebrate the birthday of Lord Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankara of the Jains, and I was fortunate to be among this delegation. For many, it was their first step into the heart of political power, where No.10 is the door to the “First Lord of the Treasury”.
For me, the symbolism had much deeper layers of significance than a mere acknowledgement of a Jain diaspora and its contribution to British society. In his welcome speech, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden celebrated the leadership and virtues of the Jains, and acknowledged the open-mindedness and caring community values, with the world famous Oshwal Centre in the heart of his own constituency.
Jains historically have been some of the best treasurers to royals in India, and even Chief Ministers and Administrators. We have finance in our DNA and have developed a reputation for trustworthiness through disciplined character and inclusive knowledge. Jains can help manage the treasury if we get the recognition and opportunity to do so, even today.
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Furthermore, our sense of civic responsibility and compassion to all living beings, shows that we fully understand the nature and limits of money, and are able to ‘transcend’ its material qualities and handicaps to shape a fair and just society and planet. Inter-faith respect is at the heart of the Jain wisdom, through its science of Anekant (non-absolutism and respect for diverse perspectives).
Thanks to the legacies of my penniless migrant forefathers, and my British professional and higher education training, I managed to visit 10 Downing Street. In professional life, I have chosen to become an ambassador for this ocean of culture so that we have much wider respect and understanding in society, and are no longer asked to ‘spell’ the word Jain. Sometimes this involves significant personal risk, and my challenges to the social sciences are felt as threatening.
I speak positively of the Jains when they are often not in the room. This risk is the price of Empire, when our global theories take animals, plants and nature as a resource to be consumed and exploited. To counter this hegemony at its heart is very disturbing for many career academics.
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As an educator, I feel very proud of many of our community leaders who have revived this culture on our shores, and given it new breath and vigour, with a determination to pass the baton to future generations. The importance of this relay is not just for the Jain community, but really for the whole planet and ecosystem.
Jains need to be thought leaders and policymakers, so that the whole planet and ecosystem can be sustained. There is no need for an apology.
Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.
