• Home

UAE resident nominated for Indian Upper House

ABU DHABI - Social worker, educationist and long-time resident of the UAE, Barbara Thyab Ali, has found favour for nomination to a seat for the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament, as a representative of the Anglo-Indian community.

Barbara is backed by recommendations to the post by the Tamil Nadu Anglo-Indian Teachers and Staff Association, the International Anglo-Indian Association and the Green-eyed Foundation of NGOs, as well as the Dubai-based Anglo-Gulf Association.

"I will take up the post to serve the Anglo-Indian community, although I have never sought position or power," Barbara said in an interview to Khaleej Times from her residence in Sharjah. Barbara is the patron for some 41 Anglo-Indian schools in the southern state of Tamil Nadu alone.

"If chosen as a Member of Parliament, I will strive for the betterment of the Anglo-Indian community, particularly the educational needs of the youth and development of their character to fortify the secular fabric of the country, which is now riding high on the crest of the wave of success, thanks to its leader Sonia Gandhi," Barbara said.

"My mission will be to raise a new crop of students who are physically fit, emotionally stable, mentally alert, socially active and spiritually God-fearing," Barbara commented.

Barbara had been recommended for nomination as MP to Rajya Sabha earlier in 2001, but declined to offer on considerations of domestic compulsions. "There are some 20,000 Anglo-Indian expatriates in the UAE and we founded the Anglo-Gulf Association in October 2003, to champion the cause of the community," Barbara said.

Barbara is also member of a number of voluntary organisations in the UAE such as the Muslim Women's Association, and the Anglo-Gulf Club.