Scotland’s ‘Pakistani’ leader

Scottish National Party voters made history after choosing Pakistani-origin parliamentarian Hamza Yousaf as its next chief, as the 37-year-old will soon take over from Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, or head of the Scottish government. Yousaf took his oaths of office in Urdu while wearing a sherwani and a kilt to reflect his dual heritage. Yousaf’s rise to the top will also have the former colonial rulers of India spinning in their graves, as the heads of the Irish, British and Scottish governments — Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Yousaf — all have Indian or Pakistani ancestry. But in all three cases, it is also a win for democracy — with hard work and a bit of luck, the children of ‘second-class’ citizens can become the rulers of their countries without hanging on the coattails of dictators or being born into influential families.

In Scotland, the South Asian leadership is even more noticeable because the Scottish Labour Party — the third-largest party in Scotland’s parliament — is already led by Anas Sarwar, whose father is former Punjab governor Mohammad Sarwar. The older Sarwar also held elected office in the UK before giving up his nationality to take office in Pakistan. Yousaf and Sarwar are also not outliers. Though they are the highest-ranked leaders of Pakistani-origin, several others have risen to senior positions, including cabinet ministers such as Sajid Javid in the UK and Abid Raja and Hadi Tajik in Norway, and, in the case of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, leader of one of the world’s cultural and economic capitals.

Pakistanis have also been elected to prominent state, provincial, and district or county level positions around the world, including first-generation immigrants, which reflects how these countries, despite varying degrees of trouble with racism, are willing to put people in positions of power based on competence, without judging them for their faith, place of origin, or funny accents. It also shows how allowing immigrants to participate in the system helps grow the system.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2023.

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