British PM Tony Blair attends London Diwali bash
Sanjay Suri
November 4, 1999, 21:00 Hrs (IST)
London: British Prime Minister Tony Blair graced a Diwali event hosted by the well known Britain-based business family, the Hindujas, to bless "tolerance and multi-cultural understanding in the new millennium."
The eyes, and the cameras, were inevitably on Blair's wife Cherie Blair, who arrived in a shimmering off-white salwar-kameez, the latest in her Indian wardrobe that has attracted much attention and spun many pictures.
The event became an immediate test of tolerance and understanding for a couple of thousand guests who had to stand for three hours in a hall to support the millennium pledge. One guest fainted and had to be taken away in an ambulance.
Guests had passed through what was called a "tunnel of darkness" to arrive in the main hall. The 20-yard tunnel was quite bright really with hundreds of twinkling lights and a large red lamp at the end to symbolise emergence into light.
But there wasn't light at the end of the tunnel. Guests stepped into hours of standing and waiting in an eerie purple-green light to give the forest effect. The wait ended with the arrival of Blair when the lights were switched on and the guests looked human again.
The London event was only the first. "Such events will be held in cities all over the world," S P Hinduja announced.
The Diwali bash was another in a series of public events launched by the Hindujas to promote themselves as spiritual leaders in Britain. They have already made it to a list of top 20 spiritual leaders published by The Sunday Times. The brothers were at number 14 in the list headed by Pope John Paul II and in which the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, took fifth place.
Talk of Bofors kickbacks was out. That was made firmly clear at a press conference addressed by the Hinduja brothers -- all four of them - shortly before the event. There have been allegations that the Hinduja brothers were involved in the controversial deal for the purchase of Bofors guns by the Indian government in 1986.
"We will not allow any questions about the Hinduja business interests," it was announced as the press conference got under way. "There can be questions only on the event itself and on the millennium pledge."
Guests stood around about two hours before Blair arrived. His arrival and the switching on of the lights revealed an octopus-like balloon representing the sun. The lights showed up among other things giant posters of a dozen paintings of M F Husain strung from the ceiling. The paintings vied with two giant screens to show the closed circuit TV picking the arrival of Blair and providing the first glimpses of what his wife wore.
The event was compered by Sir David Frost, famous for the BBC programme Breakfast with Frost. He summed up the Hinduja mission in one statement from their father: "My duty is to work so that I can give." He introduced Blair as "the most famous Newcastle supporter in the world."
A loud blast and showering of confetti was followed by Blair's speech, which was in support of tolerance and multiculturalism. He also expressed his condolences for the families of those who died in the cyclone in Orissa.
S P Hinduja initiated the millennium pledge, but with the announcement that in the Hindu calendar it is the year 2056 and that the East is always ahead. An example, he said, was "the Indus Valley civilisation from where our family originates which is in its ninth millennium."
At the press conference earlier, he spoke of the family's spiritual ventures at some length. "All over the world people need a change, they need something that removes mental and cultural barriers," he said. "And so we decided to have this event of the festival of lights and signing of the pledge."
"Our family has a philosophy that whenever we initiate a good cause, they do it collectively so that there is involvement of all the communities," he said. "Whether we are helping the leprosy foundation or the Victoria and Albert Museum, whether we are helping in health, education, culture, we speak not just for the Hinduja Foundation but for everyone."
S P Hinduja said, "For the last 2000 years we are only aware that we have differences. We need to change the approach to life. My approach has been how to change the approach towards commonality rather than differences that lead to conflict." To that end, he said, "this event is a good start. It will depend on all of you to take it forward."
The first step Hinduja wanted was for guests to sign a card carrying the "millennium pledge" which read: "I/We pledge my/our enduring support to build tolerance and multi-cultural understanding in the new millennium." Guests were asked to open the card after the arrival of Blair, sign it and drop it in baskets around the hall.
(India Abroad News Service)
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