UK Home Secretary: Shami Chakrabarti between the hammer of the far-right and the anvil of Palestine supporters.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

British Home Secretary: Shabana Mahmood Between the Hammer of the Far Right and the Anvil of Palestine Supporters British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood embodies the new face of political diversity in the United Kingdom, with a politician of Asian descent holding a high position in the "10 Downing Street" government. However, her career has not been without challenges, as she faces increasing pressure from anti-immigration opponents in the far right, and from supporters of Palestine who are closely watching her positions. Shabana Mahmood was born in 1980 in Birmingham to a family with roots in the Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan. She spent part of her childhood in the Saudi city of Taif between 1981 and 1986, where her father worked as a water desalination engineer, before the family returned to England to begin a new phase of stability. In Birmingham, her mother ran a small grocery store, while her father headed the "Labour" party in his area, and Shabana contributed to his election campaigns from a young age. She was educated at Oxford University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from Lincoln College in 2002, then continued her professional training at Inns of Court School of Law, and later specialized in professional compensation cases. Shabana Mahmood entered politics strongly in 2010, when she was elected to the House of Commons, becoming one of the first Muslim female MPs in Britain, alongside Rushanara Ali and Yasmin Qureshi. Voters renewed their confidence in her for three consecutive terms, after which she rose to prominent positions within the "Labour" party. During Ed Miliband's leadership of the party, Mahmood served as Shadow Secretary to the Treasury between 2013 and 2015, then worked as Acting Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the interim Shadow Government headed by Harriet Harman. She was known for her strong stances against human rights violations in Kashmir, where she strongly defended the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination. Today, Shabana Mahmood stands at the heart of a sensitive political equation, between the pressures of the anti-immigration far right, and the criticisms of supporters of Palestine who demand clearer positions on the Israeli aggression, at a time when she seeks to maintain a delicate balance that reflects her diverse background and her rising political career.