New magazine brings together progressive British Asian voices

“The voice of progressive British Asians is being drowned out”

A new web-based magazine launches this week to provide a platform to the voice of progressive British Asian voices, a group, the founders believe, has increasingly been sidelined in the national conversation.

Writers for the webzine include journalists, lawyers, teachers and some in the arts industry. It will be run by Sunny Hundal – also editor of the successful online magazine Asians In Media (AsiansInMedia.org).

Sunny Hundal says: “Pickled Politics is here to provide a new range of progressive voices that previously, we feel, were not being represented. It is important that within our own community we have a vigorous debate on social change, and this magazine is part of that.”

“Traditionally, others have been reluctant to push the boundaries of debate and too willing to appease religious groups. We hope to bring new voices to this mix through this webzine.”

Journalist Rahul Verma, who writes for the Metro among other publications, says: “The representation of South Asians within the media, arts and especially politics is frequently reductionist and narrow, not to mention tokenistic.

“And then to switch on the TV and radio to find my, and the Asian community's, views represented by a reactionary and defensive fifty-something so called 'community leader', with the mentality and values of the homeland he emigrated from in the 1960s, verges on insulting and is frustrating as hell.”

He adds: “Pickled Politics doesn't claim to speak on behalf of a complex and diverse Asian Community, but it will offer enlightening thoughts and opinions, and no doubt impassioned rants, that have not been aired publicly so far in Britain today.”

Pickled Politics (www.pickledpolitics.com) will be run in the form of a group ‘blog’ with an aim to reflect a diverse variety of progressive thought and opinion on British current affairs and politics.


Notes for editors:

Sunny Hundal launched and looks after Asians In Media – the industry webzine for British Asian media. He has written about media related issues for the Guardian and Independent, and earlier this year published the ’20 Most powerful Asians in British Media’ with the Media Guardian.

http://www.AsiansinMedia.org/

For further information or comments, please contact: sunny@pickledpolitics.com ;
http://www.pickledpolitics.com