Events

How can we best commemorate South Asian service in the world wars?

Around 45 people gathered at Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre in Leicester for an evening of discussion, reflection and community conversation on how best to commemorate South Asian service in the World Wars.

Hosted by British Future in partnership with the UK South Asian Digital Archive, with support from the Royal British Legion, the event formed part of the My Family Legacy project, which explores and shares stories of South Asian service and sacrifice during the First and Second World Wars.

The panel brought together three speakers with distinct but complementary perspectives: Nisha Popat, Co-Founder of the UK South Asian Digital Archive and cultural sector leader; Gurinder Singh Mann, a Leicester-based historian from the Sikh Museum Initiative; and Dr Avaes Mohammad, Programme Manager for the South Asian Bridgers Project at British Future. The discussion was chaired by Raj Bilkhu from British Future’s My Family Legacy team.

The panelists explored why this history remains so under-recognised in mainstream remembrance, how it can be made more relevant to younger generations, and what families, schools, community organisations and cultural institutions can all do to preserve and share these stories.

Speakers reflected on the importance of shared history in bringing communities together. Dr Avaes Mohammad emphasised that the story of South Asian service is not simply about the numbers who served from different communities, but about the fact that they served together. If people from different backgrounds fought alongside each other then, he suggested, that history can also help us think about how we live together today.

Gurinder Singh Mann spoke about the importance of learning this history from an early age, recalling how family stories had helped give him a strong sense of identity. He reflected on the role that older generations can play in passing these histories on, while also highlighting the need to use digital media and storytelling in ways that connect with young people today.

Nisha Popat spoke powerfully about identity, belonging and the need to collect family histories before they are lost. She reflected on how shared histories can help connect British Asian communities across differences of religion, background and migration story. As she put it during the discussion, this is not only about representation, but about accuracy: ensuring that the full story of Britain’s wartime history is told.

The conversation also touched on the importance of women’s stories, including those who served directly and those who sustained families and communities through periods of war, separation and trauma.

A strong question-and-answer session followed the panel, with many attendees contributing reflections of their own. One South Asian audience member, aged 71, spoke movingly about three generations of service in his family: his grandfather, his father, and his own 34 years of service in the RAF. He also shared the story of an uncle who had served in Burma and was thought to have been killed, only to return home months later.

The engagement from the audience showed just how much appetite there is for this history to be explored in a more personal, intergenerational and community-rooted way. Attendees gave warm feedback on the evening, praising the quality of the discussion and the opportunity to reflect together on how remembrance can speak more directly to British Asian experiences today. A clear theme of the evening was that this history cannot be left only to museums, schools or public institutions. Families and communities also have a vital role to play in recording stories, asking questions of older relatives, and becoming digital storytellers themselves.

British Future and the Royal British Legion are encouraging South Asian families in the UK to share their own family stories of service in the World Wars at www.myfamilylegacy.org.uk — where you can also read many stories already submitted, bringing to life this remarkable history of service and sacrifice.