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London:
Campaigners within the UK on Tuesday sought to make clear confusion arising out of latest reviews of Mahatma Gandhi being featured on a future commemorative coin being mistakenly related to a separate drive for ethnic minority illustration on British authorized tender.
The UK’s Treasury division confirmed that the commemorative coin for Mahatma Gandhi has been within the works since October 2019, when former Chancellor Sajid Javid proposed it to mark the 150th delivery anniversary 12 months of the Father of the Indian nation. However, that is unrelated to a separate marketing campaign for wider ethnic minority illustration on Britain’s authorized tender coinage.
“Legal tender is supposed to honour people who contributed to British society, culture or economy, never a universal figure. So, to give an example, when we had Churchill for the GBP 5, you did not also have suggestions for global leaders such as JFK or Mandela. We have waited 400 years for ethnic minority representation on legal tender,” mentioned Zehra Zaidi, who leads the “We Too Built Britain” marketing campaign, which acquired the backing of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak over the weekend.
“I know Zehra Zaidi, Patrick Vernon and many others have been campaigning for years for the BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) people who built Britain to be recognised on legal tender,” mentioned Sunak, as he revealed that he had written to the Royal Mint to think about have fun ethnic minority contributions on UK coinage.
Zaidi factors out that whereas a coin commemorating Mahatma Gandhi stays into account by the Royal Mint, Sunak’s letter associated particularly to their marketing campaign for a “Service to the Nation” set of cash to honour British historic figures. And, their marketing campaign is now firmly gaining floor round honouring a feminine navy battle associated heroine, with Indian-origin British spy Noor Inayat Khan and British Jamaican Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole among the many frontrunners since Sunak” formal intervention final week.
“For our campaign, the focus is very much around uniting figures from British history. Unity now is more important than ever, especially given some of the divisions we see online, the divisions we have faced post Brexit. Let’s move forward, positively, acknowledging all our contributions,” mentioned Zaidi, an Indian-origin activist and politician.
With Sunak writing to Lord William Waldegrave, the chair of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC), in his capability as Master of the Mint, the duty of drawing up the shortlist for such authorized tender coinage now falls on the Sub-Committee on Themes.
“We are pleased to be working with HM (Her Majesty’s) Treasury and The Royal Mint Advisory Committee to develop themes which celebrate the diversity of modern Britain. We look forward to sharing more in due course,” a Royal Mint spokesperson mentioned.
Others have additionally sought to rectify one other misplaced notion that Mahatma Gandhi would be the first ethnic minority determine to be recognised on a particular coin within the UK.
“It is not quite the case that no ethnic minority face has ever featured on British coinage. For example, the first black British army officer Walter Tull featured on a special GBP 5 coin, part of a limited edition First World War centenary set in sterling silver and 22 carat gold, for the First World War Centenary. But no ethnic minority Briton has featured on legal tender, or on the notes or coins that any of us might spend at the shops,” explains Sunder Katwala, Director of the combination suppose tank British Future.
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