‘Putting It in Writing—Indians in 1981 London and Me,’ by David J. Marcou.

    I’ve previously written that in Autumn 1981, I photographed and met some Sikh demonstrators and their leaders in London. I no longer have my photos of them, unless they’re tucked away someplace I haven’t looked in recent years. However, I recall quite a bit about my experiences relating to India in London.

     First, one of my housemates was Pinki Virani, who is today a leading author in India (’Bitter Chocolate’). Pinki and I got along passably well, though her closeness to Dan Higgins prevented me from talking regularly in-depth with her. I did photograph her once on the front stoop of our building, and once she invited me to an Indian restaurant, treating me to a nice curried chicken and rice supper.

     Also, the great British journalist I would meet late that semester, James Cameron, was married to an Indian woman, Monee; and he’d been a close friend of Pandit Nehru, the late Indian Prime Minister, too.

     In any case, I was walking in London one day, when I came upon some Indian protesters busy on a somewhat busy street. It was overcast, weather-wise, and may even have started to rain a bit. I know I took at least two good close-ups of protesters in profile, shouting, raising their fists, and holding up their banners.

     These protesters were members of the Sikh community in London. There has been an Asian-Indian community in London for more than three hundred years, but the Sikhs were a vocal lot in 1981. Fighting had broken out in the Punjab region of India, between Sikhs and government security forces. The protesters I photographed were trying to pressure Britain into assisting the Sikhs obtain better treatment in that region.

   The Sikhs believe in one eternal supreme being, who is responsible and in every creation. Gurus are the enlightened leaders Sikhs follow. The birth of Sikhism occurred in the early 17th century, and since Sikhs often served in the British military, quite a few of them found their way to Britain over the years.

    In 1897, there was a famous battle fought along the border with Pakistan, at Saragarhi. It is compared favorably with Leonidas and his 300 Spartans super-heroic defense of the mountain-pass at Thermopylae against massive Persian forces, in ancient Greece. At Saragarhi, 21 Sikhs troopers, fighting on behalf of the British government, made a pact to die rather than surrendering to an Afghan force of 10,000. The 21 fought incredibly  effectively before they were killed, and the British Parliament honored their memory accordingly.