Last night (2/11/2005) I attended a function at the Birmingham Council House organised by the Sikh Community and Youth Service based on Soho Road in Handsworth. This was to celebrate the Sikh contribution to World War II. Given the relatively small number of people involved their sacrifice was immense. The Lord Mayor was present as was a military band complete with their scarlet tunics and bear skin helmets. (Someone is asking that the bear skin be replaced by artificial fibre - can't be British surely?). It was intended that the ceremony should take place in Victoria Square, but rain forced it to take place on the Council House steps whre the band huddled together. I wasn't expecting them to break into "Sing, Sing, Sing" with their Gene Krupa on drums having a field day. They then broke into a nostalgic medley including "Run Rabbit Run", Roll out the Barrel" and "Lilli Marlene".

As we walked up the stairs to the reception in the Banqueting Suite we passed two youg Sikhs, a boy and a girl with the large bhangra drums (dhol).

There were several veterans present including Sikhs and British officers who had served in the Indian army. I toolk the opportunity to raise with a senior army officer and event that Oscar Stewart (well known as a member of the Singing Stewarts in the 1960s)told me about. He had taken a group of African Caribbean young people to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo a few years back. During the proceedings the M.C. asked who was there from Australia. There was a huge response of shouting and cheering. Whose's from Canada? New Zealand? South Africa? They waited to hear who was from the Caribbean. It didn't happen so they cheered themselves. Neither was India mentioned. An incident in Canada in 1993 illustrates clearly how discrimination overrides any wish to honour service, devotion and sacrifice.

The idea of institutional racism is routinely denied. You must integrate if you are to live in Britain. Many people from other parts of Europe, the Irish, have done that by changing names and moving out of close-knit communities into anonymity in the suburbs. Who knows? If you are a "visible minority" you can do that, but your presence is still obvious. Has the "integrationist" lobby ever given a moments thought to the ridiculous situation they are inventing? Do they begin to understand the realities of life away from their ivory towers where some idiot has dreamed up a "cricket test" to exclude would-be settlers?

As we descended the Council House stairs after celebrating the heroism of one section of the community (there were many others from other parts of the commonwealth and elsewhere. I thought of the Muslim Noor Inyat Khan, murdered by the Gestapo who had gone to France as a radio operator like Odette) the dhol players continued their drumming. I spoke to the piper who had been playing upstairs saying stupidly "you've got opposition". Next I knew bagpiper and dhol players had got together. The combination was convincing and highly effective. My supposition of cultures in conflict was rudely banished into oblivion. Here was two way traffic indeed!