Cameron's war on Multiculturalism and what it could cost us

My name is Krishnan. I am from a small city in the North West called Lancaster. My mother is from Essex, and my father from Chennai in south India. I go to church and sing in the local choir every Sunday. I experienced my Upanayanam (Hindu-Brahmin rite of passage) in India last year. I enjoy all the benefits of dual-heritage, and most of all I am proud of it. But I am only one of many dual-heritage children in this country.

We are multiculturalism personified. Are we a failure, Mr. Prime Minister?

In a speech made earlier this year in Munich, David Cameron claimed that ‘state-multiculturalism has failed’, and a change in policy is required. He insisted that we must stop ignoring the ‘extremist ideology’ and start enforcing ‘Western values’ on the people of the British Isles. It would take more than one blog to dismantle Mr. Cameron’s speech, and analyse the message he is sending to the British people, but I am only going to address two key issues.

Firstly, Mr. Cameron needs to review his definition of multiculturalism.

The Oxford Dictionary states that "multicultural" means ‘relating to or containing several cultural or ethnic groups within a society’. By Mr. Cameron’s definition, multiculturalism would be something very different. When Mr. Cameron explains why multiculturalism has failed, he appears to forget the many ethnic minorities in Britain other than Muslims.

To pick merely one example, the thousands of Indian Hindu doctors who keep the NHS afloat. Whether the NHS is failing or not is a different issue, but if it is I would vouch it isn’t due to any alien ‘Hindu ideology’.

Secondly, Mr. Cameron needs to think very carefully before he makes claims concerning his fight against ‘extremist ideology’.

Mr. Cameron specifically states that he is fighting 'Islamist Extremism' and not Islam itself, acknowledging that it is important to differentiate between the two. Extremism is a twisted ideology spouting from many sources, one of which is Islam, but Islam is not in itself extremist. Of course it isn’t. The Prime Minister is not staking the claim that out of the three million Muslims living in the UK, all hold extremist views. But Islamic culture, and everything it brings to this country and its people cannot be sacrificed in a (futile) attempt to solve the problem of this 'political ideology' of extremism.

And yet this is what is at stake.

He would have young Muslims feel a strong sense of British identity, so they don't end up being radicalized in their struggle to discover themselves. But I would argue that if they are discouraged from relating to their Muslim heritage, they will be even more likely to be confused about what it means to be a Muslim, and thus even more susceptible to radicalisation.

This being said, Mr. Cameron does not want to discredit Islam alone; he is making it fairer: by discrediting all cultures in Britain, all ideologies, bar his ‘Western values’. But in disowning this multiculturalism policy, what has he achieved? Will I forget everything my father has taught me, and ignore half of what defines me as a person? Will you? Will anyone? Or has Mr. Cameron done possibly the worst thing to do when fighting extremism by kindling anger and resentment?

A more constructive (rather than destructive) approach might serve us better. Cameron has admittedly encouraged a policy of integration including the requirement that immigrants must learn to speak English, which is on some level justified. However, getting people to speak the same language does not make them think in the same way.

If the Government attempts to suppress foreign cultures and religions, it will cost us. The sheer diversity of Britain is part of what makes it such a strong nation, and in trying to summarise this into one set of values he might not only damage ethnic minority communities, but Britain as a whole.

Things may become harder for people of dual-heritage such as myself, and maybe even all ethnic minorities. My simultaneous ancestries define me in my search for a true sense of self, and I believe just as I am able to feel whole, while accepting more than one culture, or ethnicity or religion, so should this country.

Due to an amendment in government policy, it may become harder to sustain a sense of identity which is not quintessentially British.

But I, for one, will not be prioritising either side of my heritage any time soon.