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Piara Singh Khabra (20 November 1921〔(Obituary ), ''The Guardian'', 21 June 2007〕 – 19 June 2007) was a British politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Southall from 1992 until his death. He was the fifth Asian, and the first Sikh, to become a British MP. From the retirement of Sir Edward Heath in 2001 until his death, Khabra was the oldest MP sitting in the House of Commons, and at the end of his career was the only sitting MP to have served in the British Commonwealth's forces during the Second World War.〔(Statement ) by Jack Straw in ''Hansard'', 21 June 2007.〕 ==Background== Khabra was born into a well-off Sikh farming family in the Punjab, then part of British India.〔(Obituary ), ''The Times'', 21 June 2007〕 Khabra gave his year of birth as 1924, but his marriage certificate dated it as 1921.〔 He attended Khalsa High School and Punjab University, but his education was interrupted by the Second World War, and he served in the Indian Army between 1942 and 1946. He returned to university after the war, earning a degree in social services. He joined the Communist Party of India, and became a teacher in an elementary school.〔(Obituary ), ''The Independent'', 21 June 2007〕 Refused a visa to emigrate to the United States, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 leaving his wife and son behind in Punjab. In 1964 Khabra sponsored his son for immigration to UK where he completed an engineering degree. Khabra did not have a close relationship with his son who later immigrated to Canada to further his studies. Khabra's first wife and mother of his son immigrated to Canada in 1974 where she lived with her son until her death in 1985. Lacking qualifications to teach in the UK, Khabra worked in factories. He requalified in 1964, becoming an elementary teacher and then a social worker.〔 He became a leading member of the Asian community in Southall, west London. He also became the President of the Indian Workers' Association, which assisted Indian immigrants to establish themselves and find jobs, and was active in opposition to the far right.〔Hélène Mulholland and agencies, (Labour MP Piara Khabra dies ), ''Guardian Unlimited'', 20 June 2007〕 He left the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 1960s, and joined the Labour Party in 1972.〔(Obituary ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', 21 June 2007〕 He became a Justice of the Peace in 1977, and was elected as a member of Ealing Council in 1978. He briefly joined the Social Democratic Party in 1981, leaving two years later and returning to Labour in 1988.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Piara Khabra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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