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Tribute Mr Heath fondly
remembered by Ugandan Asians In 1972, August
4th, President of Uganda, Idi Amin announced that he had a dream in which God
had told him that the Asians should leave his country and asked Despite
opposition by many politicians including Mr. Enoch Powell, Conservative MP who
gave a "rivers of blood speech", Mr Heath's government made a decision that decided the fate of Ugandan Asians. He said that Uganda's loss, There were many
tales of intimidation. On the way to the The government
prepared for their resettlement by establishing
transit camps for 12,000 Asians centres across the country. One of the
main hubs of settlement was at Stradishall in
Sir Edward Heath
Pran C. Arjan Dhanak - Editor
Asians leaving Uganda
Pattni members along with other Asians proved that far from
being a drain on the resources of host countries, immigrants often become
creators of wealth and employment.
My fond memory
Mr Heath's decision and with it the
arrival of Ugandan Pattnis, played an important part of my own life i.e. my own
wedding. May 1973 was a memorable year
for me. Yes, I was getting married!
First Pattni Soni Wedding in
My own wedding was also a historical event for our Pattni Samaj
because as to my knowledge, mine was the very first ever Soni wedding in the
We only
had very few relatives living in this country in those times. So it was
pointless to hire a coach to take the wedding party. It would have
gone half empty!! All the relatives were invited and then we called upon my
friends to make up the rest of the party.
The total
numbers of guest at the wedding were expected to be around 300.
However whilst the ceremony was going on, large crowds of unexpected guests
started arriving, almost doubling the expected numbers. As these guests entered
the hall, they started hugging each other. A few of them had tears running down
their faces.
I made
some tentative inquiries whilst performing the wedding ceremony to find who
these people were. It was then that I found out that these were the Sonis who
had recently arrived from
As the word
spread that a Soni wedding was taking place, these new arrivals could not
resist themselves and came uninvited. For many, this was the first time
that they met each other. The atmosphere became very emotional.
Everyone talked intensely about their traumatic experiences of leaving
Over
three decades have since passed. Many arrived almost penniless. It was
through sheer hard work that all made tremendous progress and became
prosperous. People still talk and remember those times and now thank the self
titled �His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal, Al Hadji Dr Idi
Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea
and Conqueror of the British empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular; Idi Amin, as because of his mad dream, Asians from Uganda now have
a much better life!! It became a blessing in disguise. Were it not for this
historical event, Pattnis would still be in
The government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Edward Heath
helped Asians settled in
Former PM Heath left Pounds 5m in
will
Sir Edward, who died last
July aged 89, bequeathed most of the �5,410,364 to a charitable foundation in
his own name. The will, drawn up in 2002,
leaves only two legacies: �20,000 to his brother's widow and �2,500 to his
housekeeper.
Sir Edward, a lifelong
bachelor, was prime minister from 1970 to 1974. He retired from the Commons in
2001 after more than 50 years as an MP.