I’d earlier written about Rushanara Ali, the Labour candidate from the Bengali enclave of Bethnal Green and Bow. The latest news from the BBC shows that she’s won her seat handily, winning twice as many votes as her nearest competitor, the Liberal Democrat candidate.
This is a good day for many, a bleak one for some. The fortunes of the British people may swing with the fortunes of the Conservative Party. Or perhaps, not. Nevertheless, today Bengalis in Banglatown are now represented in Parliament by one of their own. This is something worth attending to for one moment or another.
For all my declamatory notes, however I cannot hope to even dial up to what the excitement on the street must now be, for partisans of both parties.
I hope the video you will find below gets to some skeletal feature of that celebration, by hinting at the sights, sounds and flavors of a bustling street corner in the heart of a frenetic city.
As Bangladesh achieves greater international stature and welcomes into her fold her far flung expatriate community, Bengalis the world over will need to look toward the contribution of leaders like Ms. Rushanara Ali.