Treasures Revealed

HINDUS OF CALDERDALE

Hosted by Piece Hall, Off Horton Street, Halifax  HX1 NRE
Contact:  Seema Buttoo
Tel:  01422 363228   Email:  seemabuttoo@hotmail.co.uk

As the UK economy picked up in the 1960s, there was suddenly a shortage of workers in key industries and sectors, especially in healthcare.  The UK government actively recruited large numbers of well qualified, English-speaking Hindu doctors and nurses from the Indian sub-continent.  A further influx came about when Idi Amin expelled Gujarati and other Asians from Uganda in the 1970s.

Those homeless and stateless Hindus had British Overseas Citizens status, and many took up their eligibility to live and work in Calderdale. In the 1990s again, there was a boom in the UK economy and again many highly skilled professional Indians were recruited into the new technology industries, and these numbers were swelled by Tamil refugees fleeing the war in Sri Lanka.

Hindus have now been a part of Calderdale’s mainstream faith heritage for 50 years or more, and have made major contributions to local culture and society.ns to local culture and society.