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Dear Kamal It is possibly correct i e demographically supported, that the Leicester city has the highest percentage of Gujarati population in Britain. It is not only Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu but there are other ethnic languages like Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, Swahili, etc etc depending upon the perceived number of ethnic people living in the Borough. Yes, the majority might be the phased migrants from Uganda but there is definitely a large number from Kenya as well. A fellow passenger from India once told me that his father succeeded in bringing 35 families from India after their own migration from Africa. The welcome signs at the Railway Stations in ethnic language are not common. Years ago in London itself, at certain places plaques written in Arabic started appearing before Banks, high street shopping malls etc in order to lure the oil-rich Arabs. You might have heard of Brick Lane of London, a place having a mosque, a big street market and numerous Bangladeshi shops have a visible Bangladeshi presence with a few signboards written in Bengali as well. But they are being driven out by the developers. I do not have the figures readily and in fact I believe accuracy in this matter is doubtful because of several factors to which I presently cannot go. London and together with its suburbs, I believe, might challenge our first assumption. Like Marwaris in India, I believe the Gujaratis didnât want to be noticeable in the midst of a racist society. Once a Managing Director of the BBC remarked that there were more Gujaratis than Welsh people in Britain. The Welsh have been pampered; they have their own television channel but the Gujaratis didnât agitate for one. They have it now commercially as also other languages like Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, etc. Gujaratis certainly didnât think of taking active part in local Council or national elections. But now they do. So many changes in Britain in my own time! Actually, not long ago, there was a report saying that the immigrants will outnumber the Anglo-Saxons or the whites in about ten years time. The way the Bangaleshis and the Chinese are penetrating Europe is staggering. Leicester is pronounced Lester. Regards Bhuban |
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