"There's little understanding of the shared history of Britain and the subcontinent"

As Britain celebrates South Asian Heritage Month, SHALINA PATEL, SUMITA MUKHERJEE and SHRABANI BASU talk to Matt Elton about how histories of the subcontinent can be better shared and explored

- MATT ELTON

Matt Elton What do you see as the value of South Asian Heritage Month? And do you think this kind of specific history month is generally a good thing?

Shalina Patel Black History Month was first marked in the UK in 1987, at a time when there was a huge absence of under- standing about black history. Fast forward 30-plus years, and there are groups now advocating for black history 365 days a year. They feel that it shouldn't be relegated to a specific month, but should be integrated [into conversations] all year.

So if we think about the journey, I'd say that South Asian Heritage Month [SAHM, first held in 2020] is really important as a starting point, because there is currently an absence of understanding of the diversity within South Asian culture, communities and history. True, there's a risk that this is the only time of year when people will talk about this topic, but we're starting from a place where so few conversations are taking place on a public scale. So marking SAHM is really important now - and I hope that we will get to a point where we won't need it anymore, because [South Asian stories] will be really integrated into people's understanding.

Sumita Mukherjee I agree that it's really important to increase the diversity of history that is being told. SAHM gives us the opportunity to have this conversation - it encourages the media and other forums to showcase stories and histories around South Asia. I would say that there's an issue, though, with the timing as it stands, because most schools and universities are closed in late July and August, and lots of people are on holiday.