Speech to the Erith Rotary Club, Erith, Kent

3^rd March 2010

 "I am sure you all must have followed the News in the last few days, of the Bosnian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic being tried at the International War Crimes Tribunal. This is just one of the many testimonies of how Racism is being dealt with internationally. I shall give the two side of the coin. The first, our deeds that we all would be proud of for having done some thing, and the 2^nd one, what we have not done and still to do.

 For the first time in the history of Bexley, I have highlighted the efforts made by Bexley to combat racism by way of producing a Strategy to Combat Racism In Schools and other Educational settings, and other initiatives, such as the Race Hate Crime Panel, - a multi-agency panel which effectively deals with race hate crime etc. as a model of good practice to be shared by all the 192 Nation States of the world, and archived at the United Nations for future reference and use by future generations.

 I also have made 3 written and 2 oral presentations at the Durban Review Conference and its Preparatory |Processes held in Geneva last year. For Bexley to be further proud of is that only Bexley has been highlighted, to have made substantial efforts to implement the Durban Declarations and the Programme of Action (DDPA) in the UK, which I had the privilege of being able to do, as I took part in the World Conference Against Racism held in South Africa in 2001.

 In spite of having at an average of 258 cases of racist incidents per year recorded by the Bexley police, and over 100 enquiries per year, of mainly race and religious discrimination we deal with, Bexley is finding hard to accept that racism exists within our midst, and damaging our social integration and our economic advancement.

 Economy can be built, but our communal harmony and social cohesion once damaged will take a very long time to heal and will have a huge impact on the economic advancement of any Nation State. I have seen, and experienced that happening.We in the Western world may not feel the impact of such occurrences happening around us, as we are not directly affected. But, the indirect impact on all of us in terms of International Security, Global Peace, Bilateral understandings and agreements between States, Regional co-operation etc., though invisible will have realistic effect.

 Racism; though originated as an attempt of reasoning, to justify the horrible crime against humanity committed, by dehumanising the non –white peoples, mainly of the African Nations during the era of Slavery, and again by colonisation by deceit through subjugation, is being sadly continued to date.

 The 2^nd World War, the persecution of the Jews in the former Soviet Union, the Genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the emergence of Kosovo claiming an independent Statehood in the modern world, the chaos in Sudan, the massacre of the Tamil Nation amounting to genocide in Srilanka only last year in 2009, and still continuing in front of the eyes of the International community; are all evidences of the dynamics of Racism in the worst form in increasing frequency.

 It makes people like you, who are concerned about global issues, to think, what is going wrong.Let me, humbly highlight, with my limited knowledge of the world affairs to indicate what I think has gone wrong and what is happening.

The 2^nd World War, which was the prime example of Racism in the developed world in modern times; in stead of invoking renewed thinking to eradicate racism from the face of the earth, sadly diverted the attention in bringing about the Cold War and an Arms race between the Capitalist Democracies and the Socio- Communist ideologies.This attempt of the development of ideological competence and military dominance totally ignored the prime reason why the unholy coalition of the Euro-American-Soviets emerged at all.That is why we are still dealing with Racism today.

 Please listen to what I spoke at the United Nations Durban Review Conference held in April 2009 and the Preparatory Committee Meetings Held in 2008.

 G.A.Lux.Anandarajah.

THE Director of Bexley’s newly created diversity and equality council has warned candidates in the looming borough and general elections not to play into the hands of right-wing parties. Lux Anandarajah says candidates must avoid making immigration and asylum seekers an election issue. He said: “It has always been a cowardly political practice to create fears about the most vulnerable groups in British society in an attempt to win political power.” It is a plea he made during the last elections and he says Bexley is now faced with more and more right-wing influences which, in different forms, are “encroaching in disguise on our society, with legitimate political acceptance”. Mr Anandarajah fears candidates may exhibit their weakness and play into the hands of right-wing parties by ignoring the needs of marginalised and vulnerable communities, to score a political victory. It is expected the British National Party will field its largest number of Bexley candidates in May’s borough elections.

In January last year, a BNP candidate failed to win a seat on Bexley Council in the East Wickham ward by-election by just eight votes from the Tories. Mr Anandarajah said: “I think if politicians have any genuine desire to serve their people and their constituency with impartiality, they should have the courage to face up to illegitimate political and ideological challenges.” He criticised the new Single Equality Bill currently going through Parliament, saying it has “created more ambiguity about addressing inequality, than promoting equality”. Mr Anandarajah added: “The reality of the present situation in the nation as a whole is the equality we all worked hard to address is on the verge of slipping into irrelevance, just because rightwing elements are challenging the actions of right-minded politicians for their efforts in eliminating discrimination.”

He also warned any action or inaction of authorities which amounts to the ignoring of the legitimate needs of marginalised sections of Bexley’s community, may build up resentment which could take years to dispel and could have serious political consequences. Mr Anandarajah added: “I would request all the candidates in the general and local elections to be politically courageous, truthful, genuine and above all to give hope for a strong, cohesive and harmonious society of diverse individuals and communities in Bexley.”