Piara Khabra

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Piara Khabra
honorific-suffix =

---

constituency_MP = Ealing Southall
parliament =
majority =
predecessor = Syd Bidwell
successor = Virendra Sharma
term_start = 9 April 1992
term_end = 19 June 2007
birth_date = birth date|1921|11|20|df=yes
birth_place = Punjab, India
death_date =death date and age|2007|06|19|1921|11|20|df=yes
death_place = Hammersmith Hospital, London
nationality = British
spouse = 2nd, Beulah Khabra
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Punjab University
occupation =
profession = Politician
religion = Sikh


website =
footnotes =

Piara Singh Khabra (20 November 1921 [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,,2107859,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian", 21 June 2007] – 19 June 2007) was a British politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall from 1992 until his death. He was the fifth Asian, and the first Sikh, to become a British MP. From the retirement of Sir Edward Heath in 2001 until his death, Khabra was the oldest MP sitting in the House of Commons, and the only sitting MP to have served in the forces during the Second World War. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070621/debtext/70621-0004.htm#07062146000965 Statement] by Jack Straw in "Hansard", 21 June 2007.]

Khabra was born into a well-off Sikh farming family in the Punjab, then part of British India. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1963740.ece Obituary] , "The Times", 21 June 2007] Khabra gave his year of birth as 1924, but his marriage certificate dated it as 1921. He attended Khalsa High School and Punjab University, but his education was interrupted by the Second World War, and he served in the Indian Army between 1942 and 1946. He returned to university after the war, earning a degree in social services.

He joined the Communist Party of India, and became a teacher in an elementary school. [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2686794.ece Obituary] , "The Independent", 21 June 2007] Refused a visa to emigrate to the US, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 with his wife and baby. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=I0QGUIC3JXZIXQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/06/21/db2101.xml Obituary] , "The Daily Telegraph", 21 June 2007] Lacking qualifications to teach in the UK, he worked in factories. He requalified in 1964, becoming an elementary teacher and then a social worker. He became a leading member of the Asian community in Southall, west London. He also became the President of the Indian Workers' Association, which assisted Indian immigrants to establish themselves and find jobs, and was active in opposition to the far right. [Hélène Mulholland and agencies, [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/commons/story/0,,2107160,00.html Labour MP Piara Khabra dies] , "Guardian Unlimited", 20 June 2007]

He left the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 1960s, and joined the Labour Party in 1972. He became a Justice of the Peace in 1977, and was elected as a member of Ealing Council in 1978. He briefly joined the Social Democratic Party in 1981, leaving two years later and returning to Labour in 1988.

He entered Parliament at the 1992 election, the fifth Asian MP and inherited a large majority in the safe Labour seat of Ealing Southall, following the de-selection of the long-serving sitting MP Sydney Bidwell. He claimed to have the largest caseload of immigration and asylum cases of any MP. He maintained good attendance and voting records, but very rarely spoke in Parliament. He said he was proud to speak on the report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and on the Race Relations Amendment Bill.

Khabra was known to face controversy. In the run-up to the 2001 UK general election, he suggested that Avtar Lit, chairman of Sunrise Radio and an independent challenger for his seat, should be "sent back to India". In 2002, he criticised the Somali population in relation to street crime.The police confirmed that this increase was due to the insurance claims for mobile theft. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2233124.stm MP in race row over crime] ", BBC News, 3 September 2002]

Khabra was a firm supporter of people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. [" [http://e-paper.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1980433.ece Lives Remembered: Piara Khabra MP] ", Ivan and Charika Corea, The Times, 25 June 2007] He sponsored one of the most successful early day motions on autism in the 2002 Autism Awareness Year - it was supported by 153 Parliamentarians of all parties. Khabra personally backed the work of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. [" [http://www.businessportal24.com/en/Autism_Campaign_Piara_Khabra_MP_205097.html Autism Campaign's tribute to Piara Khabra MP] ", BUSINESSPORTAL24.COM, 21 June 2007]

In late 2006, Khabra announced that he would be standing down at the next UK general election. [" [http://icealing.icnetwork.co.uk/ealinggazette/headlines/tm_headline=slaughter-will-stand-in-new-constituency&method=full&objectid=18244442&siteid=67372-name_page.html Slaughter will stand in new constituency] ", "Ealing Gazette", 11 December 2006]

Khabra died as a result of liver problems on the night of 19 June 2007 at Hammersmith Hospital, where he had been being treated for abscesses on the liver since April. [David Doyle, " [http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/display.var.1484093.0.piara_khabra_dies.php Piara Khabra dies] ", "Ealing Times", 20 June 2007] He customarily gave his year of birth as 1924; birth registration was not compulsory in the Punjab until 1970 and so no birth certificate exists, but on his marriage certificate his year of birth was 1921. He was married twice. His first wife died in 1978, and he remarried in 1990. He was survived by his second wife, Beulah Marian, and a son from his first marriage.

References

External links

* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2893,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Piara Khabra MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/piara_s_khabra/ealing,_southall TheyWorkForYou.com - Piara S Khabra MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/mpdb/html/217.stm BBC News - Piara Khabra] profile, 8 March 2005
* [http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/famousperson/khabra/2578064 Obituary and public tribute - Piara Khabra MP]