Quote of the Day

A provocative one to start the year with:

Britons have founded multiculturalism on the ethos of the Raj: leaving people alone to get on with being different. We indulge multiculturalism with non-interference, just as the Raj did- staying away from difficult topics that might stir up trouble, until trouble occurs. The effect of the kind of multicultralism we have patronized has been to create mutual ignorance. The consequence has been to render invisible what is really happening in lives like mine: diverse cultural influences authorising the citizenship of compound identity. We have assumed cultural identities are authentic only when static. We have empowered all those who neither think nor reason with the meaning, intent and purpose of their values, the core of their identity.

Ziauddin Sardar writing in "Balti Britain", a book I'll be reviewing next week.