British Armed Forces and the Hindu perspective, The

Hussain, Asifa

This paper examines the perceptions that British Hindus of Indian origin have of the British Armed Forces. It draws on a survey of 300 Hindus who reside in the Midlands and South-East of England, covering cities such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Derby, and London. The majority of Hindus in Britain are of Indian origin. Current estimates reveal that there are approximately half a million Hindus in Britain. However, despite making up nearly 1% of the population, latest figures show that Hindu representation in the total UK Armed Forces is only 0.05%. This is a very minute number, and the Ministry of Defence has been very active in recognizing the need to improve upon such a miserly figure. The desire to boost minority recruitment has been given further impetus by constant accusations of racial discrimination levelled at the Forces, particularly the perceived linkage that there appears to exist between racism and the desire of ethnic minorities to join the Forces. The findings in this survey indicate: a very low inclination on the part of Hindus to join the British Armed Forces; a lack of knowledge about Service careers; the attitude that higher education poses a bigger barrier than racism as to why minorities were not joining the Armed Forces; and a lack of awareness of advancements made by the Forces to enhance equal opportunities.

INTRODUCTION

Literature on the attitudes and perceptions of ethnic minorities in Britain is very scarce, even more so on individual ethnic groups. Although there have been a number of studies conducted on Hindus living in Britain, these have been few and far, and none has tackled the question of Hindu attitudes to the British Armed Forces (Jackson & Nesbitt, 1993; Nott, 1998; Raj, 2000). Far too often ethnic minorities are treated as one distinct group. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. "Asians are not a single group. The conventional terminology blurs critical distinctions between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs" (Parekh, 2000:30), three of the five main groups the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has targeted in order to bolster ethnic minority recruitment.1

Hindus are the second largest religious minority group in Britain. The latest figures show that they number around half a million (Commission for Racial Equality, 1999). As noted at the British Military Studies Group seminar, it is important that the Forces not only reflect the minority representation in terms of their representation in the population but also that they consider the ethnic minority breakdown. A report on the proceedings of the aforementioned seminar points out: "that Britain's minority communities were diverse. Thus a simple 6% target could achieve global representation without delivering representation for all minority ethnic groups" (British Military Studies Group, 1999:11). At present, ethnic minorities make up around 6% of the UK population. However, they represent only 1.3% of the total strength of the UK Armed Forces (Defence Analytical and Services Agency, 2000:55). The issue of the low uptake of careers in the Armed Services by ethnic minorities has dogged not only the Armed Forces but it has also made its way into the wider public policy debate in other uniformed services (Ishaq & Hussain, 2001). Indeed, increasing minority representation became an important government policy objective under the direction of the former Home Secretary, Jack Straw (Home Office, 2000).

Alon Peled (1998) in his work makes an effort to understand the complex issues which multi-ethnic states have to address when considering minority groups for military service. Peled argues that the question of loyalty is very important. However, the question of loyalty or patriotism should be less of a concern in Britain where ethnic minorities have in the past played a significant role in serving the British nation and demonstrated their devotion.2 The history of British rule in India will reveal that Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus all served in the armies of the Raj and made important contributions to the war effort during the First and Second World Wars.3 Hence, minorities of Indian sub-continent origin serving in the British Armed Forces are not a new phenomenon.

This paper aims to report the findings of a survey of Indian Hindus, in particular the perceptions they have of the British Armed Forces, and the attitudes they appear to have towards serving in the Forces.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

The survey of Indian Hindus was carried out by telephone, covering the Midlands and South-East of England, and targeting cities such as Birmingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, and London. These areas contain sizeable Hindu communities.4 In order to facilitate the telephone survey, Hindu names were selected from national telephone directories available at local libraries, using a process known as selected systematically.5 A high response rate (75%) was aided by the fact that the author is tri-lingual. The use of the mother tongue helped in the efforts to acquire answers to questions which were more difficult to understand in English or questions which some respondents were hesitant in answering.

Since the author herself is of Indian sub-continent origin, she was able to communicate more closely with the respondents and able to establish a rapport with them, while at the same time convincing them of the efficacy of participating in the survey for both the ethnic community and for the Forces.

The survey proceeded by asking respondents some questions about background measures such as age, sex, and occupation, in order to relax interviewees and gently lead them into the more important and serious questions, which centred on issues currently attracting media attention. All adult age-groups were covered by the survey, which meant that the views of both the older and younger generations could be collated. Seventy-one per cent of the sample fell in the age-groups below 35. Those above 35 made up 29% of the sample. The bias in favour of the younger age-groups is deliberate and based on the fact that the MoD would like to recruit from the younger age-groups, therefore their views are likely to be of most relevance6 Nevertheless, the views of the older generation cannot be completely overlooked. Although the Forces can recruit up to the age of 35, the question "Would you ever consider a career in the British Armed Forces"? was put to all interviewees, even those above the recruiting age. The reason for this was because the paper is not solely about minority perceptions for joining the Forces but also about general minority attitudes toward the Forces on related issues such as equal opportunities and the degree of awareness about the commitment of the Forces to recruit minorities. The responses gathered were analysed using both univariate and bivariate analysis.

WHY ETHNIC MINORITIES DO NOT JOIN THE ARMED FORCES: HINDU PERCEPTIONS

Particpiants were asked "Why do you think that ethnic minorities are not joining the Armed Forces in significant numbers"? In line with the results generated by the author's Sikh and Muslim surveys (see Hussain & Ishaq, 2002) lack of knowledge about Armed Service' careers was cited as the top reason (26%) as to why minorities were not joining.

One interviewee said: "I know nothing about what the Army does. They never tell you anything". This is despite the resources that have been made available for various forms of advertising, ranging from dissemination of literature to the presence of officers at recruitment fairs. To further assist the MoD, Focus Consultancy were hired to boost the campaign to recruit minorities.7 This begs the question of whether a radical reshaping of advertising strategies will be required and whether the nature of advertising will have to be looked at more closely.

It is interesting that while racism was not cited as a significant factor by Hindus as to why they would not join (see Table 3), it was however cited as a key reason as to why Hindus felt ethnic minorities in general were not joining (Table 1), with 18% referring to it. This could be because in this question interviewees were thinking of the issue from an overall minority perspective rather than on a personal level. When the Commission for Racial Equality first began to show an active interest in the subject of ethnic minority recruitment in the British Armed Forces, the issue of racism was often at the heart of its concerns (see Zugbach & Ishaq, 2000). The strong correlation between racism and ethnic minority recruitment in the public sector has been established by a number of studies (see Bradley, 1991; Abbott, 1997; & Sheffield & Hussain, 1999). In recent years, the Armed Forces have done considerable work in tackling racism, and the MoD follows a zero tolerance policy for racist behaviour (The Times, 4 July 2000).

Preference for education was another major reason (16%) which dissuaded minorities from joining. The importance of education to Hindus in Britain will become apparent as the analysis of this survey progresses. Among some of the less significant factors cited by Hindus included parental opposition and lack of patriotism towards Britain.

A FAMILY TRADITION?

Interviewees were asked "Do you have, or have you ever had, a family member in the Armed Forces of your country of ethnic origin"? Of the sample interviewed, 54% had a member of the family in the Indian military while 46% did not. Is there a connection between willingness to join the British Armed Forces and the presence of a family member in the Armed Forces of India?

When interviewees were asked "Would you ever consider a career in the British Armed Forces"? A large majority (87%) said "no" and only 13% said "yes". However, to get an accurate insight into the reason for the lack of interest in joining the British Armed Forces, we have to look at the reasons cited by respondents, and these are examined below.

There appears to be a correlation between the willingness to join the British Armed Forces and the presence of a family member in the Armed Forces of the respondents' country of ethnic origin. Of those keen on a career in the British Armed Forces (13%), 80% had a member of the family in the Indian military at present or in the past. Of those not keen on joining the British Armed Forces (87%), only 54% had a family member in the Indian Armed Forces.

GENDER VARIATIONS

Support for joining the British Armed Forces was very low among both males and females (see Table 2). Out of a total of 146 males interviewed, 21% said "yes" to joining while out of 154 females surveyed only 6% of respondents were in favour of joining. Higher support among males should not be seen as surprising because in Asian culture, certain professions are viewed as primarily masculine and are not pursued by females. A look at the breakdown of the Indian Armed Forces will reveal a distinct lack of female personnel among the ranks of its Services (Interview with official from Indian Defence attach6, London 2001).

AGE AND GENERATION

Support was low across all age-groups. However, it was noticeable that support among the age-groups from 18-35 was better than it was among the ages above 35 where support was particularly poor. One possible explanation for this could be that members of the younger generation are more willing to give the Forces a try while members of the older generation are more interested in their children pursuing further education. Members of the older generation believe that their children ought to use higher education as a vehicle towards more mainstream professions. The exuberance of youth may also account for higher support among the younger age-groups. As discussed earlier, the views of those above the recruiting age should not be dismissed as of little concern. This is because, in Asian families, parents have a tendency to exert a significant degree of influence on the career development of their offspring (Modood et al., 1998a).

IF NOT, WHY NOT?

If we look at the reasons cited by those not willing to join the British Armed Forces (Table 3), preference for further education (27%) was the most influential factor. Both male and female respondents cited this as their top reason. This coincides with surveys, which reveal that Hindus do pursue higher education very vigorously and it plays an integral part in their lives (see Leslie & Drinkwater, 1999).

According to the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, the best educated groups in Britain were Indians with the Caribbeans and Pakistanis being less educated (Modood & Berthoud et al., 1998b:80).

Another interesting reason cited by 12% of respondents was that they "never thought about such a career", showing that serving in the British Army has not even crossed the minds of Hindus. It seems as though a number of respondents were shocked when such a career was suggested to them. To quote one interviewee:

"To be honest I have never really thought of the Army or the Navy as a career. I really don't know what to say. I suppose when I think of jobs I think of doctor, lawyer, scientist or something like that".

Lack of knowledge was quoted by 9%. This can be linked with a later question where respondents were asked if they had seen advertisements on the Forces aimed at recruiting minorities, where 76% said they had not seen any advertisements on this issue. Racism, often seen as a major factor as to why Asians do not join, was cited by only 7%. It was also noticeable when isolating gender responses that the various reasons registered by the sexes tended to mirror each other's response.

IF YES, WHY?

On the question of reasons why a job in the Forces would be attractive (Table 4), almost a third of interviewees cited "exciting" as a reason why they would join.

This is not surprising because traditionally, those wishing to join have often depicted the adventurous aspect of such a career and many advertisements focus on exciting footage of rescue operations and deadly missions (Desai, 1999). "Exciting" was also the single biggest reason among females. However, the male response was more dispersed. The male reasons ranged from "would like to be a pilot" to getting a "good salary"; to having "friends in the Armed Forces". Female respondents only cited three reasons as shown in Table 4.

ATTEMPTS TO INCREASE ETHNIC RECRUITMENT: THE DEGREE OF HINDU AWARENESS

When interviewees were asked "Have you ever seen the British Armed Forces advertise specifically for ethnic minority recruits"? 76% said that they had not viewed advertisements designed specifically to target ethnic minorities. This is somewhat startling given that the Forces have used a number of different mediums to advertise specifically for ethnic minorities.8 Of those who had seen such advertisements (Table 5), a very large proportion, 60%, had seen them on Asian TV. Asian TV is dominated by Indian culture, and many Hindus watch it as a show of pride and identification with India. Moreover, since programmes are offered in both English and in ethnic languages such as Hindi and Punjabi; they appeal to a wide cross section of the Asian population in Britain and not just to the older generation.

There has also been a boom in Asian radio stations in the last few years, largely due to the granting of official licences to broadcast on national airwaves. As a result, it is not surprising that 14% cited Asian radio as a source where advertisements had been viewed. Around the same number (13%) had viewed advertisements on British television. Newspapers appeared to be a poor medium for noticing advertisements, with only 8% referring to tabloids.

When the 300 people in the survey were asked "Did you know that the Armed Services have been trying to improve race relations"? only 20% said that they were aware of this. This low figure coincides with the survey of Muslims and Sikhs by the author, which revealed a similar picture (see Hussain & Ishaq, 2002). Further evidence that the Hindus in this survey were largely oblivious to the work on equal opportunities done by the Armed Forces is evident when asked "Did you know that you can practice any religion in the Armed Forces"? A massive 89% said that they were unaware that the practice of minority religions was sanctioned in the Forces. A typical reaction to this question was, "I had no idea. I never knew this. I am surprised that you can. I thought that they would never let other religions to be practised". In some ways, these negative responses on equal opportunity issues in the Forces are not surprising given that, in an earlier question on whether respondents had seen advertisements specifically aimed at recruiting minorities, 76% said that they had not seen them. It is clear that the Hindus in this survey have a very low awareness of equal opportunities in the Forces. These results are likely to be a source of irritation for the MoD, which has been under intense pressure to tackle racism, sexism, and homophobia so that it can create an environment which embraces diversity.

Moreover, recent efforts to enhance equal opportunities have not come cheap. Considerable expenditure has been incurred in promoting such issues.9 One possible explanation of the lack of awareness of equal opportunities among Hindus could be related to the findings that Hindus are less concerned about racism and discrimination issues than they are about other issues. As a result, they are not taking seriously the question of whether these issues have been promoted by the MoD. Therefore, this does not necessarily imply that they are concerned about such matters. On the contrary, it could imply that they do not care about such issues very much at all. This is a point touched on by writers such as Bhatt (2000) who notes:

"If the awareness of racism is manifest, the Hindutva movement in the UK has historically been conspicuously absent from campaigns against it, even when these campaigns have been primarily South Asian" (Bhatt, 2000:572).

When asked "What do you think the Armed Forces could do in order to recruit more ethnic minorities"? A wide range of reasons were registered by respondents (Table 6). Two points cited were the need to provide more information to Asians about Armed Service careers (22%) and spending time with the Asian community (20%). That 17% of respondents cited advertising in the British Media is not surprising, as it links with the response to an earlier question, where very few had seen advertisements related to the Forces on British television. Therefore, respondents felt that this medium needed to be exploited further. Only 12% cited the need to remove racism and promote racial equality. In fairness, most of the ideas suggested by the interviewees have already been put in place by the Forces (Focus Consultancy Limited, 1999).

One very pronounced theme that has emerged from the surveys that the author has conducted on different ethno-religious groups is the lack of emphasis that interviewees have placed on persuading parents or liasing with community and/or religious leaders as a strategy for recruiting ethnic minorities. This is an indication that Asian parents do not have the degree of control over their children's decision-making as they did in the past and therefore believe that their attempts at influencing their children would have little or no impact (Modood & Berthoud et al., 1998b:319).

However, a suggestion worth some attention was the point made by the 7% who said the Forces should "promote non-combat roles in the Forces". This concurs with a point stressed by Dr. John Reid, who as Minister for the Armed Forces in 1997 wrote:

"We need to place more emphasis on high-lighting aspects of the Forces work which lie undeveloped or under exposed, particularly where this assists the public to appreciate the usefulness of the Forces to civil society. Civil disasters, floods, fire, mountain and sea-rescue - day in day out the Armed Forces assist the civilian community when no one else can or will." (RUSI, 1997:34)

Overall the answers to this question were fairly dispersed, with a wide variety of reasons recorded.

DISCUSSION

This paper has attempted to measure British Indian Hindus perceptions and attitudes towards the British Armed Forces. Because this is a relatively small-scale survey, it is not totally representative. However, it nevertheless gives some useful insight into Hindu attitudes and perceptions towards the British Armed Forces.

The purpose of this final section is two-fold. Firstly, it will reflect on some of the main findings of the paper. Secondly, in the light of the findings, it will explore some of the implications for the MoD in the context of its continued drive to recruit ethnic minorities into the Forces.

Support for joining the Forces among the Hindus in this survey was abysmal. This was also the case when gender differences were isolated. However, this need not be construed as a dislike of the British Armed Forces since support for joining the Indian Armed Forces was only marginally better.10 It appears that careers in the military are not particularly appealing to Hindus.

There is a school of thought which would relate the lack of Hindu interest in joining the British Armed Forces to the absence of a Hindu tradition of fighting and the promotion of peace in Hindu religious teachings (Interview with ex-senior officer, British Army, London 2000). Coincidentally, figures obtained on the composition of the British-Indian Army reveal that there were relatively few Hindus in the British-Indian Army during the duration of British rule in the Indian sub-continent.11 The ethnic balance was heavily weighted towards Muslim and Sikhs. Nevertheless, the low level of support in this survey cannot be accounted for by a lack of fighting spirit or pacifist explanations. Instead, the dominant factor cited by respondents was preference for education.

It is also noticeable in this survey that Indian Hindus are less concerned about racism and discrimination or are less aware of it. Very few mention racism as a barrier to considering a career in the Forces. Lack of knowledge and awareness about Service careers was also apparent in the survey as a barrier to consideration of a career in the Forces.

When examining connections between age-groups and the degree of support for joining the Forces, it was evident that support was weak across all age-groups.

One of the facets of the Forces' strategy to persuade more minorities to join has been to enhance and promote equal opportunities.12 However, despite such efforts, Hindu awareness of attempts to improve race relations, awareness that minority religions could be practised, and awareness of the existence of advertisements designed specifically to attract ethnic minorities were very low.

When asked for suggestions that the Forces could consider as a means for attracting more minorities, it was interesting to note that many of the reasons cited - advertise in the British media and spend time with Asian communities - were already an important part of the strategic approach adopted by the Forces in their quest to boost minority numbers (Focus Consultancy Limited, 1999).

While the minuses may outweigh the pluses, there are some positive implications for policymakers to consider as a result of these survey findings:

* Asian culture and tradition pose very little threat to consideration of a career in the Forces among the Hindus in this survey, and has very little influence or impact on the decision-making of Hindus.

* Support among the younger age-groups was marginally better than it was for the middle and older age-groups.

* Many of the solutions recommended by respondents that would aid the Forces to attract more minorities were identical to measures that had already been implemented by the Forces. This at least illustrates that both the Hindu community and the Forces were thinking along the same lines.

The surveys of different ethno-religious groups have highlighted the need for the Forces to appreciate and understand that ethnic communities, particularly the Asian communities in Britain, are different both socially and culturally from the indigenous population. Trends in uptake of occupations, rates of participation in higher education, and religious practice and observance, provide ample evidence of this (Parekh, 2000). It is therefore important that the Forces acknowledge these differences and take these into account when devising strategies for ethnic recruitment.

The commitment of the Forces to equal opportunities is no longer in question. The problem is that the hard work may erode confidence. This could make it harder to maintain the morale of those charged with the task of reversing the Forces' fortunes on ethnic recruitment unless unrealistic goals are revised to reflect the scale and reality of the task still facing the Forces. While progress on equal opportunities may have gathered momentum in recent years, practical progress measured in terms of new ethnic recruits has been slow (The Times, 4 July 2000). After all, you cannot reverse decades of ignorance and neglect on race relations and equal opportunities in a matter of a few years.

While the survey in this paper was admittedly a small scale survey, it is nevertheless a stepping stone, together with the survey of other ethnoreligious groups, in attempting to unravel the views of Britain's ethnic minorities towards the Armed Forces. The importance of the minority viewpoint cannot be overstressed. Many of the minority groups targeted by the Forces have been settled in Britain since the 1960s. It has taken more than three decades for the institutions that serve them to recognise that these people are now an integral part of this nation despite their obvious distinguishing physical and cultural characteristics. It is only by genuine persuasion, commitment, and a sense of being invited that this nation will be able to make active strides in tackling one of the elements of social exclusion, racial discrimination (Social Exclusion Unit, 2001). The contribution that Indian Hindus - together with other ethno-religious groups - have made to Britain's unique diversity must be recognised in other fields aside from the arts, business, and commerce.

' The other two main groups which the MoD has targeted are Black Africans and Black Caribbeans.

2 See Ethnic Minorities Photographic Exhibition: We Were There at http://www.mod.uk/2191.html.

' See Indian Anny at http://armed forces.nic.in/arms/arthist1.htm.

4 Minorities Job Bank Non-White Ethnic Minorities in Britain at http://www.iminorities.com/minorities/statistics/ethnicuk5.html.

-' This technique is explained in Le Lohe, M., The Participation of Ethnic Minorities in the British Political Process, report submitted to the Commission for Racial Equality, 1982.

6 For some coverage on second generation Hindus in Britain see Robert Jackson and Eleanor Nesbitt, Hindu Children in Britain, Stoke on Trent: Trentham books 1993.

' Focus Consultancy Limited is a private firm taken on by the MoD to help market the Armed Forces as an attractive career to Britain's ethnic minority communities.

The different forms of advertising used by the Forces are highlighted in quarterly reports published by Focus Consultancy Limited based in Wiltshire.

9 This is a well known fact and was reiterated by senior officers in the British Army.

to In a supplementary question put to respondents, which asked, "Would you ever consider joining the Indian Armed Forces"? A large majority (83%) said they were not in favour of joining the Indian Armed Forces.

" See The Role of Muslims Martial Races of Today's Pakistan in Brtitish-- Indian Army in World War II at http://www.defencejournal.com/sept99/ martial-races.htm.

12 There is comprehensive coverage of the army's equal opportunities policy in Army General and Administrative Instructions (Vol. 2, Ch. 75.) Reference to this source can be found on the official Ministry of Defence at http://www.mod.uk/.

REFERENCES

Abbott, Diane

1997 "Racism is Real". Nursing Standard 13 (17):17. Bhatt, Chetan

2000 "Hindutva Movements in the UK". Ethnic and Racial Studies 23(3):572.

Bradley, Alan

1991 "Racial Discrimination in the Public Sector". Public Law (Autumn:317-325)

British Military Studies Group

1999 "Ethnic Minority Representation in the British Armed Forces." A report on the proceedings of the BMSG seminar held at Kings College London on 16 March 1999. London: BMSG.

Commission for Racial Equality

1999 Ethnic Minorities in Britain. London: CRE.

Defence Analytical and Services Agency

2000 UK Defence Statistics 2000. London: The Stationery Office. Desai, Philip

1999 The Army's Recruitment Marketing Programme. London. Focus Consultancy Limited

2000 Ethnic Minority Recruitment: Marketing Services in Support of the Army. Wiltshire: Focus Consultancy.

Home Office

2000 Race Equality: The Home Secretary's Employment Targets. London: Home Office.

Hussain, Asifa, and Mohammed Ishaq

2002 "British Pakistani Muslims' Perceptions of the Armed Forces". Armed Forces and Society (May).

Ishaq, Mohammed, and Asifa Hussain

2001 "Race and Recruitment from an Uniformed Services' Perspective: The Scottish Dimension". Policy Studies 22(3/4):217-232.

Jackson, Robert, and Eleanor Nesbitt

1993 Hindu Children in Britain. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.

Leslie, A., and S. Drinkwater

1999 "Staying on in Full-Time Education: Reasons for Higher Participation Rates Among Ethnic Minority Males and Females". Economica 66(261):63-77.

Modood, Tariq, Sharon Beishon, and Satnam Virdee

1998a Ethnic Minority Families. London: Policy Studies Institute. Modood, Tariq, and Richard Berthoud

1998b Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage. London: Policy Studies Institute.

Nott, Kim

1998 "Hinduism in Britain." In Harold Coward, John Hinnells and Raymond B. Williams (eds.), South Asian Diaspora in Britain, Canada and the United States. New York: SUNY. Parekh, Bikhu

2000 The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain: The Parekh Report. London: Profile Books.

Peled, Alon

1998 A Question of Loyalty. Military Manpower Policy in MultiEthnic States. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Raj, Dhooleka

2000 "Who the Hell Do You Think You Are? Promoting religious identity among young Hindus in Britain". Ethnic and Racial Studies 23(3)535-558.

Reid, John

1997 "The Armed Forces and Society". RUSI Journal (April:34). Sheffield, James, and Asifa Hussain

1999 "Organisational Barriers and Ethnicity in the Scottish NHS". Management in Medicine 13(4/5):263-284.

Social Exclusion Unit

2001 Preventing Social Exclusion. London: Social Exclusion Unit. Von Zugbach, Reggie, and Mohammed Ishaq

2001 "Managing Race Relations in the British Army". Defence Analysis 16(2)193-195.

ASIFA HUSSAIN

University of Glasgow

ASIFA HUSSAIN is a Ministry of Defense research fellow at the Scottish Centre for War Studies, Glasgow University.

Copyright Dr. George Kourvetaris Summer 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved