UK MP Khabra, aged 82, dies

LONDON: Piara Singh Khabra, one of the UK’s first Indian-origin MPs in the post-war period, died on Tuesday night at the age of 82.

Khabra, who has represented the heavily Sikh-dominated constituency of Ealing Southall since 1992, died at Hammersmith hospital in West London, where he was being treated for abcesses on the liver since April. Khabra was a Labour MP and the oldest sitting member of the House of Commons.

Prime Minister Tony Blair paid tribute to Khabra and endorsed the ‘tremendous contribution’ of the Indian community in the UK. Born in Punjab in 1924, Khabra attended Khalsa High School and Punjab University earning a degree in social services and a B.Ed.

He served in the Indian Army between 1942 and 1946. In 1958, he was refused a visa to study in the United States because of his Indian Communist Party membership and so he emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959.

He worked as a teacher and a social worker and became a leading member of the Asian community as it congregated in Southall. Khabra became involved in local politics, both as a Labour Party councillor and through the Indian Workers Association in Southall. He led the fight against the far right in the 1970s and 1980s.

Popular with his constituents, Khabra had won at the large general election with a comfortable majority of 11,440, however he had said he would not be contesting the next election. His Parliamentary researcher Julian Bell said he was a “remarkable servant of the people.”

“At an age when most people had long since retired he was still energetically tackling individual and constituency problems. His service and political wisdom will be sadly missed,” said Bell.