Subcontinental Drift: Are You Asian?

If my recent Andalucian holiday was badly timed, my arrival in London (where I will be for the next few weeks, working at the offices of TIME Europe) couldn't have been more serendipitous: it coincided with a new debate about identity within Britain's large community of ethnic subcontinentals. For decades, British citizens of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan descent have been collectively referred to as "Asians"—different from people of East Asian descent, who are often called "Chinese." Both labels are misleading and faintly erroneous, but there have been few concerted efforts to correct them; in fact, most of my British-Indian and British-Pakistani friends routinely refer to themselves as "Asians."

Now, a London station that caters to the "Asian" community has set the cat among the pigeons by deciding to drop the label in its news bulletins. Sunrise Radio says it is responding to a growing concern among British Hindus and Sikhs that most Britons automatically assume that "Asian" means Muslim—that is, Pakistani or Bangladeshi. The usual excuse for such attempts to divide the community is that most British-Indians (read Hindus and Sikhs) tend to be from the middle- and upper-middle classes, while the majority of British-Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are at the opposite end of the economic spectrum, making up the underclass. So demographers who lump all three groups into one category don't fully appreciate the contribution British-Indians make to British society.

But there's a more pressing reason now. Since, in the wake of Sept. 11, some people assume all Muslims are potential terrorists, some Hindus and Sikhs feel it would be wise to distance themselves from the stereotype. By identifying themselves as British-Indians, as opposed to "Asians," they hope to escape bigotry.

I can sympathize with those who feel this way—even if I disagree with them. It must be disturbing for Hindus and Sikhs to hear news bulletins about "British-Asians" arrested for terrorist activities in Afghanistan, or about "Asians" involved in race riots in parts of the U.K.

But for the Asian community to split itself along religious lines would be a terrible mistake. Apart from being craven and narrowly self-serving for Hindus and Sikhs, it would also likely expose Muslims to even more racist abuse and violence than they have to endure today. I can just hear the taunts now: "If people from your own race desert you because you are Muslim, then surely there's something wrong with you."

As part of the Asian community, Hindus and Sikhs know that the vast majority of Muslims are NOT terrorists but perfectly normal, law-abiding citizens. It is their responsibility to communicate this to non-Asians. This is the time for Hindus and Sikhs to stand with their Muslim brethren and fight both racial stereotyping and bigotry. To turn away from Muslims at this delicate hour would be an act of cowardice.