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Writer's pictureNaeema Sajid

Leadership Insights: South Asian Heritage Month

In our series of articles, we discuss topical issues facing the legal industry all through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion (D, E & I). This month’s article focuses on South Asian Heritage Month, which this year runs from 18th July to 17th August.


South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) is now in its fifth year of official celebration, with a mission to enhance understanding of the diverse contributions the South Asian community has made to British society. By doing so, there is hope that it will promote intercultural dialogue and foster greater cohesion between communities. The South Asian Heritage Trust, through its work, pursues these aims throughout SAHM, which runs from 18th July to 17th August 2024; respecting the traditional South Asian solar calendar and enabling celebrations to mark Indian and Pakistani independence and Partition Horrors Remembrance Day to be included in the period.



What is South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM)?


The SAHM Trust works to deepen people’s understanding of the rich history of South Asian contributions to British society by creating education packs for schools, organising art/cultural shows, commemorating important historic events and collaborating with other organisations and institutions. Co-founded by a leading family law barrister and specialist respiratory consultant, the organisation chooses a particular focus or theme for each SAHM. This year’s theme is ‘Free to be me’ and its purpose is to raise awareness of the need for people to feel comfortable and welcome in their workplaces and communities so that they can express their true self – allyship is key to the success of that purpose.


What countries are INCLUDED IN SAHM?


Each of the 8 countries in South Asia are rich in history and culture in their own right. While there are intrinsic elements that unify them, there is also great diversity between each of them, in terms of culture, religion and many other factors. The 8 countries deemed to be included in South Asia are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These are the official 8 countries however there is growing call for the importance to recognise other regions such as ‘Azad Kashmir’.


In light of the diversity between these countries, we need to be careful not to group all of the individuals, with their own stories, too closely together when discussing their contributions to society. We ought to be aware of, acknowledge and celebrate the differences that exist between groups and individuals in such a multicultural area of the world.


What does allyship mean?


Back in 2021, Dictionary.com reported that their word of the year was ‘allyship’. The word was added to their dictionary in 2021, defined as “the status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalised or politicised group in all areas of society… in solidarity with its struggle”.


To help us understand what allyship means in practice, it is best to think about it in four pillars: yielding, listening, learning, and action.


Being an ally has its benefits for those you are seeking to support and even for yourself. By showing solidarity with, and an interest in, the cultural and religious practices of your South Asian friends and colleagues, we are creating a safe space that encourages everyone to be their true self. Engaging in new cultures and ways of living allows us to be more rounded individuals that are more understanding of others and aware of how to make others feel comfortable.


Celebrating with, and standing up for, South Asian minorities helps to create greater cohesion between different parts of society and bring to the fore the benefits of a truly multicultural society. Acting as an ally helps people to feel accepted and cared for, it inspires others in a similar position to follow your lead and also stand up for underrepresented groups – this snowball effect can help to create more inclusive workplaces and society more generally.


Putting this into practice can be difficult but we will suggest a few ways in which you can be an ally for your friends and colleagues who will be celebrating their South Asian culture during the month.



How to be a good ally


Below we will list a few ways in which everyone can show up as a good ally for their South Asian friends and colleagues. Some are more specific to a workplace setting but the overarching message is the same: show a genuine interest and be prepared to call out bias by standing in solidarity and encouraging learning.


Yield

Yielding serves as a foundation for allyship. We can not listen to others if they do not give them time and space to be heard. .


listen and Learn


One of the best ways to show a genuine commitment to allyship is by learning about cultures that are new or alien to you. Start by asking your friends or colleagues about their heritage and cultural or religious traditions. South Asian Heritage Month offers a great opportunity to engage in this learning with a number of articles, webinars and in-person events popping up to mark SAHM. South Asia is a truly diverse region of the world with a number of different communities represented, meaning there is always something new to learn!


Celebrate


Keeping with the theme of learning, we can also learn about and celebrate the contributions of various South Asian communities to our society. Exploring this and celebrating it (key to SAHM) helps to form social cohesion and goes a long way to tackling negative perceptions or stereotypes that still persist. For example, contributions to sport, technology, culinary efforts and tourism ought to be celebrated.


Show solidarity - take action


Importantly, we must stand up and show solidarity with our South Asian friends and colleagues that continue to face discrimination. This can be done by learning about the struggles and experiences that they face, by listening but not pretending to understand fully, and then advocating for and being involved in projects and movements that seek to address inequality and discrimination. Calling out microaggressions in the workplace goes a long way but requires bravery and knowledge on how to identify and tackle these.


There are many ways to learn about SAHM and in doing so you will improve both your cultural and emotional intelligence, skills that are becoming increasingly important if you wish to reach your EDI goals. Leading to Change has a wonderful toolkit on its allyship page if you are looking for further guidance.


At Diversity+ we provide bespoke learning sessions and toolkits on cultural and emotional intelligence, the barriers created by privilege, unconscious bias, microaggressions and many more topical issues to help our colleagues tackle these and foster a more inclusive working environment. We have found that this is an area that employees are very keen to learn more about and is often a central part of our learning sessions.


Reach out for a consultation call today.

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