Activists in the UK on Tuesday sought to clear up the confusion arising from recent reports that Mahatma Gandhi appears in a future commemorative coin mistakenly associated with a separate push for the representation of ethnic minorities in the British legal tender.
The UK Treasury Department confirmed that the Mahatma Gandhi commemorative coin has been in process since October 2019, when former Chancellor Sajid Javid proposed that the 150th anniversary of the birth of the father of the Indian nation be commemorated. However, this is not related to a separate campaign for broader representation of ethnic minorities in Britain's legal tender.
"The legal course is supposed to honor people who contributed to British society, culture or economy, never a universal figure. So, to give an example, when we had Churchill for £ 5, he also didn't have suggestions for world leaders like JFK or Mandela. We have waited 400 years for the representation of ethnic minorities in legal tender, "said Zehra Zaidi, who is leading the" We Too Built Britain "campaign, which was endorsed by British Chancellor of the Exchequer. Rishi Sunak during the weekend.
"I know that Zehra Zaidi, Patrick Vernon and many others have been campaigning for years for the BAME people (black, Asian and ethnic minorities) who built Britain to be recognized in legal proceedings," Sunak said, revealing that he had written Royal Mint to consider how to celebrate the contributions of ethnic minorities in UK coins.
Zaidi notes that while the Royal Mint continues to consider a coin commemorating Mahatma Gandhi, Sunak's letter specifically referred to her campaign for a "Service to the Nation" coin set honoring British historical figures.
And, her campaign is now gaining ground to honor a heroine related to the female military conflict, with British Indian-born spy Noor Inayat Khan and British Jamaican Crimean war hero Mary Seacole among the top candidates since the formal intervention. from Sunak last week.
No comments:
Post a Comment