British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has always embraced his Hindu roots and says he’s proud of them. AP
All eyes are on Rishi Sunak as he becomes Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister as well as its youngest in over 200 years. His ancestry and his willingness to wear his religion on his sleeve have amped up not only the Britishers but Indians too.
In India, as the news broke about his elevation, people began to celebrate. Front pages of Indian newspapers carried the reports; ‘Rishi Sunak, a proud Hindu is the new UK PM’, said the Times of India. Famous news channel and website NDTV said, “Indian son rises over the empire. History comes full circle in Britain.” Another famous channel, India Today, wrote that Sunak “got the top job in UK despite being Hindu, not because of it”.
As Sunak and his family — Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy, and daughters Krishna and Anoushka — move into 10 Downing, here’s a look at the many instances when Sunak has proudly displayed his Hinduism.
A practicing Hindu
Rishi Sunak is born in UK’s Southhampton area to an Indian family of a pharmacist mother, Usha Sunak, and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father — Yashvir Sunak.
Since joining politics, Sunak has always referred to himself as having “Indian roots” and has embraced his Hindu religion.
When he became a minister in the Theresa May Cabinet, Sunak took his oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita. At the time he had said, “I am now a citizen of Britain. But my religion is Hindu. My religious and cultural heritage is Indian. I proudly say that I am a Hindu and my identity is also a Hindu.”
He repeated taking the oath of office on the Gita when he was appointed as finance minister in 2020.
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The new British prime minister also refrains from eating beef — a fact that we learnt after he professed the same during a 2015 interview with Business Standard, saying he never ate beef and “it has never been a problem”.
Rishi Sunak also displays his religion by placing an idol of Lord Ganesh on his desk at work. In an interview with Politico, he was quoted as saying that he had left the idol at 11 Downing to watch over then Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he fought coronavirus in 2020.
“Lord Ganesh is still on my desk in No 11 (Downing Street),” Sunak told Politico, adding, “My wife was insistent we left it in there… when the prime minister was sick. He used my office in No11, because he lives above and it was easy for him to have this walled-off area where he could come up and down. And so he was using my office in No11, and I took all my stuff out — but Akshata was insistent we left that there for him, to keep an eye on him as well.”
File image of Rishi Sunak visiting a temple in London. Image Courtesy: @rishisunakmp/Instagram
Wearing his Hinduism
Despite growing up in Britain and going to Winchester, Oxford University and then Stanford, Sunak is proud of his cultural roots and that is clear with his choice of wearing the sacred red Hindu ‘Kalawa’ thread.
He was seen sporting the sacred thread during his meeting with King Charles III on 25 October when the monarch officially appointed him the new prime minister.
He was also seen wearing the thread as he entered 10 Downing on Thursday.
King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London. Sunak can be seen wearing his sacred thread, the Kalawa. AP
Visiting temples and gau poojas
Sunak has also been seeing performing different Hindu rituals and visiting temples from time to time. As he stepped into 10 Downing as the new prime minister, cameras showed him performing religious rituals outside the residence.
In August, as he was vying to be the replacement to Boris Johnson, Sunak was seen performing ‘gau pooja’ (worshipping of a cow) in London.
In the same month, he was also seen with his wife, Akshata, visiting the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple to celebrate Lord Krishna’s birthday.
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Rishi Sunak’s big Diwali
Sunak has always celebrated Diwali in a big way. He had said lighting Diwali oil lamps outside 11 Downing Street in November 2020 as Britain’s first Indian-origin finance minister was one of the “proudest moments” of his life.
As prime minister, he continued this tradition and shared images of his Diwali celebration at 10 Downing.
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While extending Diwali wishes, Sunak also vowed to build a Britain where “our children and grandchildren can light their diyas”.
“Brilliant to drop into tonight’s Diwali reception in No10. I will do everything I can in this job to build a Britain where our children and our grandchildren can light their diyas and look to the future with hope. Happy #Diwali everyone!” he tweeted, sharing a picture of himself at the reception.
With inputs from agencies
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