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In January 2018, Sarkar suggested to Conservative MP [[Andrew Rosindell]] that the British national anthem be changed to a "[[Grime (music genre)|grime]] banger" such as "[[Wearing My Rolex]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wjpkvm/national-anthem-wearing-rolex-wiley-good-morning-britain |title=The UK National Anthem Probably Should Be a "Grime Banger," You Know |publisher=VICE |date=2018-01-18 |accessdate=2020-01-12}}</ref>
In January 2018, Sarkar suggested to Conservative MP [[Andrew Rosindell]] that the British national anthem be changed to a "[[Grime (music genre)|grime]] banger" such as "[[Wearing My Rolex]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wjpkvm/national-anthem-wearing-rolex-wiley-good-morning-britain |title=The UK National Anthem Probably Should Be a "Grime Banger," You Know |publisher=VICE |date=2018-01-18 |accessdate=2020-01-12}}</ref>


In September 2018, Sarkar attracted controversy by defending anti-Israel activist Ewa Jasiewicz, who had spraypainted "Free Gaza and Palestine" onto a wall of the [[Warsaw Ghetto]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Hugo Rifkind |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-shameful-silence-of-labours-top-team-h9rsjqzrx |title=The shameful silence of Labour’s top team &#124; Comment |publisher=The Times |date=2018-09-11 |accessdate=2020-01-12}}</ref>
In September 2018, Sarkar attracted controversy by defending anti-Apartheid activist Ewa Jasiewicz, who along with a fellow Israeli activist had spraypainted "Free Gaza and Palestine" onto a wall of the [[Warsaw Ghetto]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Hugo Rifkind |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-shameful-silence-of-labours-top-team-h9rsjqzrx |title=The shameful silence of Labour’s top team &#124; Comment |publisher=The Times |date=2018-09-11 |accessdate=2020-01-12}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==

Revision as of 23:27, 22 January 2020

Ash Sarkar
Ash Sarkar speaking at The World Transformed 2018
Born (1992-04-17) 17 April 1992 (age 32)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity College London
Occupation(s)Journalist, academic

Ash Sarkar (born 17 April 1992)[1][2] is a British journalist and political activist. She is a senior editor at Novara Media[3][4] and teaches at the Sandberg Institute.[3][4]

In 2017, she taught Global Politics at Anglia Ruskin University as an associate lecturer.[1]

Sarkar is a contributor to The Guardian[4] and The Independent[5] and is a regular commentator on politics and society in UK broadcast and online media.

Early life and education

Sarkar grew up in North London and was raised by her mother. Sarkar's great-great-aunt, Pritilata Waddedar, was a Bengali nationalist who participated in armed struggle against the British Empire in 1930s Bengal.[6] Her grandmother is a hospital carer.[1] Her mother is a social worker[1] who was an anti-racist and trade union activist in the 1970s and 1980s,[6][7] helping to organise marches after the racially motivated murder of Altab Ali.[7] Sarkar says that, as a child, her mother briefly met Mao Zedong while in Beijing.[8]

Ash Sarkar talking on a panel at The World Transformed 2017

She attended a comprehensive school before moving to a selective grammar school for sixth form education.[1] She gained undergraduate and master's degrees in English Literature from University College London.[9]

Career

Sarkar is a senior editor at Novara Media and teaches at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam.[10] In 2017, she taught Global Politics at Anglia Ruskin University as an associate lecturer.[1]

She is a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent and is a regular commentator on politics and society in UK broadcast and online media, appearing on shows including Have I Got News for You, Question Time, Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Channel 4, Daily Politics, and Newsnight.[3]

Political views and reception

In her writings and commentary, Sarkar has expressed anti-imperialist,[11] feminist[12] and anti-fascist[13] views. She has taken part in anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-Trump protests[14] and joined a hunger strike to protest against the detention of asylum seekers at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre.[15] She supported the Stansted 15's actions against deportation flights.[16] After a clip of her telling Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain that she was "literally a communist!" went viral, Sarkar clarified her views as Libertarian Communist, a "long termist" who supports Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn's anti-austerity policies.[17][9] Novara Media began selling t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan following Sarkar's outburst.[18][19]

Sarkar's writing and broadcasting makes liberal use of humour and London slang, and she has written that politics "should be joyful and exuberant."[9]

Although she only became a Labour Party member during the UK General Election campaign in late 2019,[20] Sarkar (and Novara Media more generally) has become closely associated in media commentary with Jeremy Corbyn's democratic socialist project:[21] The Times has described her as "Britain's loudest Corbynista",[1] and Dazed magazine said she is one of "the voices resetting the political agenda in the UK".[22]

In November 2017, responded positively to calls by a speaker at a World Transformed festival to "make the left hate again", pointing to Philip May, husband of the then-Prime Minister, as a legitimate target.[23] Sarkar declared: "I'm on Team Hate".[23]

In January 2018, Sarkar suggested to Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell that the British national anthem be changed to a "grime banger" such as "Wearing My Rolex".[24]

In September 2018, Sarkar attracted controversy by defending anti-Apartheid activist Ewa Jasiewicz, who along with a fellow Israeli activist had spraypainted "Free Gaza and Palestine" onto a wall of the Warsaw Ghetto.[25]

Personal life

Sarkar lives in North London and is a Tottenham Hotspur supporter.[3][9] She is a Muslim.[1][22][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Fisher, Lucy (4 June 2018). "Meet Ash Sarkar, Britain's loudest Corbynista". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ^ "It's my birthday so if you haven't already, register to vote! It takes 5 mins, EU nationals can do it, and I'll forgive the absence of an outrageously expensive present if we unseat every Tory council in London". Twitter. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sarkar, Ash – Rodgers, Coleridge & White". Rodgers, Coleridge & White. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Ash Sarkar". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Ash Sarkar". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b Sarkar, Ash (5 February 2018). "My great-great-aunt was a terrorist: women's politics went beyond the vote". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b Sarkar, Ash (21 August 2018). "This isn't just a culture war – we need a radical anti-fascist movement right now". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  8. ^ Jones, Owen (20 July 2018). "Owen Jones meets Ash Sarkar | Is communism 'literally' back?". Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e Hogan, Michael (22 July 2018). "Interview: 'That's when I lost my temper': Ash Sarkar on her clash with Piers Morgan". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Shadow Channel", Sandberg Instituut.
  11. ^ Sarkar, Ash (5 February 2018). "My great-great-aunt was a terrorist: women's politics went beyond the vote | Ash Sarkar". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  12. ^ Sarkar, Ash (8 March 2018). "Let's put the politics back into International Women's Day | Ash Sarkar". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  13. ^ Sarkar, Ash (21 August 2018). "This isn't just a culture war – we need a radical anti-fascist movement right now | Ash Sarkar". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  14. ^ "Piers Morgan clashes with anti-Trump protester who calls him an 'idiot'". The Irish News. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  15. ^ Sarkar, Ash (28 February 2018). "By demeaning refugees, Tories have caused the Yarl's Wood hunger strike | Ash Sarkar". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Ash Sarkar Meets the Stansted 15". Novara Media. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  17. ^ Diavolo, Lucy (15 July 2018). "Meet Ash Sarkar, the Communist Who Called Piers Morgan an 'Idiot'". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  18. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/59ca75e0-7598-11e9-b0ec-7dff87b9a4a2
  19. ^ "'I'm literally a communist' T-shirt – literally free market economics | Coffee House". Blogs.spectator.co.uk. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  20. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000d22y#playt=00h31m04s BBC Radio 4, Any Questions, 10 January 2020
  21. ^ Chakelian, Anoosh. ""Luxury communism now!" The rise of the pro-Corbyn media". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  22. ^ a b Cafolla, Anna; Alemoru, Kemi (4 July 2018). "Meet the voices resetting the political agenda in the UK". Dazed. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  23. ^ a b Tim Shipman (2017-11-26). "Left aimed hate at Philip May | News". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  24. ^ "The UK National Anthem Probably Should Be a "Grime Banger," You Know". VICE. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  25. ^ Hugo Rifkind (2018-09-11). "The shameful silence of Labour's top team | Comment". The Times. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
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