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Rishi Sunak says sorry for leaving D-day events early to record TV interview
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2024
66 points (100.0% liked)
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He’s certainly got his priorities.
To be fair, he wouldn’t have lost any ancestors in D-Day.
Yeah I get that the sentiment appears to sail rather close to the wind, and I’m not racist.
Even rich people died on D-Day. Not as many as the poor lads thrown into the meat grinder but the officer class got hit too.
I’m afraid I’m referring to his Indian heritage. Although, to be fair, I have not done the research to find out whether his grandparents / greats were in the UK at the time or indeed participated in WWII in Europe.
He is of Punjabi descent and the Indian Army contributed in a major way during WW2 - it's often aid that we'd have lost without them. The bulk fought the Japanese (which include some huge brutal battles - the Stalingrad of the East) but they were active in the European, North African and Pacific theatres of war.
There were 300 Indian soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk, almost all Muslims from the Punjab. It became an issue when Christopher Nolan released his film about it and left them out, despite them being evacuated from the pier in the film.
Sepoy Kamal Ram of the 8th Punjab Regiment received the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the push on Monte Cassino. One of 31 issued to Indians in WW2, a number handed out for the Italian campaign (with the Ghurka Rifles and Mahratta Light Infantry getting a few each).
I couldn't find anything on his actual ancestors being involved (some seem to have been in East Africa at the time) but with such a large mobilisation of Indian troops in WW2, he will have had relatives involved in the conflict.
Great, thank you. Good to know. I’ll file that away in the old bonce.
I’ll withdraw my statement on the off chance that his family did in fact take part.
He’s still an entitled twat and utterly out of touch, but that’s another argument.
Come on now fella, who his grandparents were pumped by is hardly of relevance here.
I merely think he may not have as deeply-felt reverent ideas about the day as other Brits.
No disrespect to his heritage, but it may not ring quite the same for him.