Recent debates relating to Vali Jamal’s work have highlighted a number of key issues.
The first one relates to the decision made by Idi Amin to expel the Ugandan Asians in 1972. The term ‘Ugandan Asians ‘ is a misnomer as people with an ‘origin in the Indian Sub-Continent’, that is, British Nationals, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bengali and Bangladeshi were also included. Then there were the ‘true’ Ugandan Asians – those who had acquired Ugandan Citizenship and were considered by some commentators to have paid a high price for their decision to become Ugandan Nationals. Why? They were the only ones who had committed themselves to live and invest in Uganda. In many cases the Ugandan Asians had also invested substantial personal funds to leverage bank loans and equity finance to start large businesses. When the announcement from Idi Amin came, it applied uniformly to all people with South Asian DNA; they were all included in the expulsion order. Although exceptions were made by the Ugandan Government and more people could apply to stay behind if they met certain conditions, the fear for personal safety of their families, especially of women and girls meant that even the Ugandan Asians felt that the risks of remaining in Uganda outweighed the benefits of living in there. Consequently, the ‘Ugandan Asian’ expellees consisted of several sub-groups that were distinguished by nationality, religion, country of origin, caste, socio-economic class and many other differentiators that mattered to them were of no concern to Idi Amin.
As a quick aside and a point to be discussed later, relates to ‘Asians’ who live in West London and more specifically in Southall in the London Borough of Ealing. The Asians have expressed grave concerns about the arrival according to their perception a large of Shamali, a derogatory term which applies to people whose origins are in the countries of the Horn of Africa and adjoining territories. They are all branded as Somali and in a number of well publicised cases, their presence on the streets of Southall have caused some concern to the Asian population principally owing to stereotyping; the Somalis are seen in a poor light and with perhaps, many racial undertones which are based on fear.
Returning to the current debates on Vali Jamal’s private List concerning Ugandan Asians at the time of expulsion, there are several factors that are worth noting:
a) The departing Asians were not politically driven by participation at grassroots level. Consequently, the potential political leaders could be counted to add up to the fingers of two hands. They were people such as Dayabhai Patel, Gurdial Singh Ahluwalia and Shafiq Arain who had been active in party politics but were not perceived as leaders by the departing Ugandan Asians. Their advice was considered to be interesting and helpful but not binding or influential.
b) The Asian leaders who had some influence were heads of religious or faith-based organisations – not necessarily religious in all cases but they derived their authority from managing places of worship.
c) Businessmen, who were in some cases the employers of the departing Asians but had no real power or command over the lives of the highly fragmented leaderless and rudderless Asian society of the time.
d) One or two businessmen have been reported to have broken the law through business malpractice – over-invoicing, that is, incorrect valuation of imports which supported their intention to externalise vast amount of funds. There have been suggestions that a number of major cases had riled Idi Amin but he did not use the framework of legislation to bring these errant businessmen to book or discharge them for lack of evidence. There have been suggestions that Idi Amin was so seriously angered by the behaviour of these businessmen that he decided that ‘getting rid’ of the whole of the Asian community was the only solution which would protect Uganda from the antics of ruthless exporters.
e) A few large communities, notably Ismaili and perhaps, Lohana could well argue that they were united at the time of expulsion and that their leadership worked behind the scenes to seek a reversal of Idi Amin’s order. Perhaps the evidence of these efforts will come to light one day…
The overall assessment appears to be that the departing Asians did not receive guidance or quality advice. In the main, their leaders were not sufficiently respected or even trusted to have an impact on the highly fluid situation which was fed by rumour and fear mongering on a daily basis. It is also conceivable that many aspiring leaders had very little clout with government but they were also rendered virtually helpless because they were afraid and did not wish to endanger themselves and their families and extended families.
The exodus was almost ‘united’ in its energy but bound by difference, with minimal influence of common factors which could have made a difference to strong, well respected and influential leadership.
