It’s not often you see British Sikh, Hindu and Muslim women side-by-side in a magazine cover for -- and by -- South Asians. Or one that doesn’t just feature fair-skinned women. But that’s what the latest issue of Burnt Roti magazine has done.
Ten young female and non-binary South Asians making strides in their respective industries appear on the boundary-breaking latest cover of Burnt Roti, a print and online magazine and movement for the South Asian diaspora. Participants include visual artist Soofiya Andry, photographer Kirran Gidda, musician Nadia Javed and poet and filmmaker Shagufta Iqbal.
Though all the women hail from the diaspora’s respective Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities, decades of religious, ethnic and cultural differences and conflicts have divided this community. The latest cover’s celebration of these women is then particularly poignant -- it’s not often readers can find a veiled fine artist (Jannat Hussain) sitting alongside a visual artist and radio host from a Sikh background (Jasmin Sehra). “It’s saying, ‘look, we all live quite openly and together and creatively, and look how great we are -- did you know you can do this too? It’s cool, join us,’” editor Sharan Dhaliwal says.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE.
