DO OTHERS SHARE SUNDIP'S VIEWS?

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Do others share Sundip's views?

I refer to the letter from Sundip Meghani ("Take a long, hard look in the mirror", Mailbox, November 28). He writes about "sensible" letters from people who "reflect the true face of Leicester people". Given the chance he would "try to give Clarissa Dickson Wright and all of her fans a much needed education".

Finally he suggested that, "the sooner we accept multi-culturalism and move on the better off we will be".

I would be interested to know how many more councillors share his views. I do not take kindly to being dictated to in this manner and suspect others agreeing with Clarissa Dickson Wright's views feel the same.

RJ Atkins, Leicester

TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Take your own advice

Sundip Meghani's letter ("Take a long, hard look in the mirror" Wednesday, November 28), in response to T Green's letter beggars belief.

I strongly suggest Mr Meghani takes his own advice.

What a load of old tosh and drivel, he clearly doses not know what he is talking about.

As for referring to the royal family as Germans, when exactly was the last time a British monarch was born outside the UK? Two hundred years at the very least. If it takes that long and still not deemed acceptable as British, what does that make Mr Meghani?

And clearly Mr Megahni does not consider himself jumping on the Clarissa Dickson Wright bandwagon. What a hypocrite!

S Newby, Wigston

TAKE A LONG, HARD LOOK IN THE MIRROR

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Take a long, hard look in the mirror

I was dismayed to read the letter from T Green ("I no longer feel at home in my city", Mailbox, November 22), one of several recent letters and online comments from people jumping on the Clarissa Dickson Wright bandwagon.

Thankfully, I have also seen more sensible letters from Ann Collins and Eddie Sentance, among others, reflecting the true face of Leicester people and the common decency and human compassion that most of us share.

Firstly, in response to T Green, I hate to break it to you, but you appear to be suffering from a bout of xenophobia.

Take two visits with friends to an Indian restaurant and perhaps a place of worship, followed by a long, hard look in the mirror.

If symptoms persist, contact your nearest library and try reading a few good books. Before long, you will discover that humans of different ethnicity are biologically identical and that different cultures – like languages – are not something to be afraid of, but something to be embraced.

You have to make a bit of an effort in order to understand something that's a tad different to what you're used to. Good luck with your recovery!

As for poor Clarissa Dickson Wright, one of the things she said in her widely-reported remarks was that she once got lost in a part of Leicester and none of the Muslim men would talk to her.

Well, to be honest, I'm not Muslim myself but if fox-hunting enthusiast Clarissa Dickson Wright came barrelling towards me on a Leicester side street, I would probably ignore her too.

On a serious note, I did find her comments about Leicester to be both idiotic and exaggerated.

But it was one particular phrase that really caught my attention, where she casually questioned whether or not multi-culturalism works.

Now, of course, I don't have enough column inches here to run through all the reasoned arguments as to why multi-culturalism does work, has worked and will continue to work in the future. (Or for that matter to try to give Clarissa Dickson Wright and all her fans a much-needed education).

But for the sake of brevity I will simply say this: St George was an Arab, the royal family is German, our national dish is Indian and some of our most gifted Olympians are of African descent.

Questioning multi-culturalism is akin to questioning evolution – both are part and parcel of the human story.

The sooner we accept that and move on to creating for ourselves a life of purpose and fulfilment in this increasingly globalised society, the better off we'll be.

Sundip Meghani, Leicester city councillor

SOULSBY AND CO CAN'T FACE REALITY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Soulsby and co can't face reality

I initially wrote a letter responding to the article about Clarissa Dickson Wright, but considered it would not be published, although it voiced a real concern and the view of many whose voices are being muted. I decided not to post it.

It was, therefore, refreshing to see the Mercury would print such views and having read the letter by T Green, I wish to support the views expressed.

Ms Dickson Wright touched on the reality of what is happening to Leicester. Ibrahim Mogra, Manjula Sood and Sir Peter Soulsby all have their heads in the sand and cannot accept the truth when it is put in front of them.

Like the magic suit of clothes, it takes someone whose views have not been clouded by the progressive indoctrination of multi-culturalism to see the reality of the enclaves of this city.

I do not judge the situation from a one-off visit to the city, as Ibrahim Mogra would have us believe, but from a lifetime of seeing a city I once knew becoming a complex of enclaves.

John Croft, Leicester

I DO NOT FEEL AT ALL PRIVILEGED

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

I do not feel at all privileged

T Green's excellent letter is absolutely correct. Parts of this city are now mono-cultural ghettos and I can well understand Clarissa Dickson Wright's apprehension when she found herself in one.

T Green also states: "I am fed up with this council... forever going on about how we all live in harmony and take part in each other's festivals and celebrations; no we don't!"

I made the same point in a letter to this newspaper last year when I said: " I am sick and tied of being regularly told how privileged I should feel to be living in a multi-cultural harmonious well integrated society. I am not and I don't".

Younger readers might find the raison d'etre of this letter hard to understand because they have never known the Leicester of a few decades ago. Now, of course, they never will – that's sad.

Don Tallis, Wigston

ONE SIDED VIEW

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

One sided view

What makes Great Britain, this wonderful place where we live, so great is democracy – in other words the right to voice your opinion without fear.

Clarissa Dickson Wright did this and has been pilloried for it. Every word she spoke as far as I am concerned was the truth.

But unfortunately there is a section of the community in Leicester who have no wish to hear other people's point of view.

I am fed up with everything being one-sided. I believe in live and let live but as far as I can see it's we live and you'll live how we say you can. When I was growing up I was told when in Rome do as the Romans do. The older generation will recognise this saying but it certainly does not apply these days.

H Appleton, Wigston

CHEF'S EXPERIENCE DESERVES SYMPATHY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Chef's experience deserves sympathy

Having read the article ("Fury at star's comments on city muslims", November 16) regarding the comments made by Clarissa Dickson Wright about her experiences with certain members of the Muslim community in her latest book, I must admit that my sympathies in this case are with her.

Leicester does have a fair-sized Muslim community, as well as numerous other religious groups and foreign nationals, and as such, multi-culturalism has got to be the order of the day if people are to co-exist together in relative harmony.

This, however, does not mean that sexism and downright rudeness from either side of the divide is ever acceptable, regardless of religious tradition or the interpretation of such traditions made either in religious texts or simply handed down verbally from generation to generation.

Miss Dickson Wright points out in the article that none of the men would talk to her because to them she was an English female, and in their culture they do not talk to females they don't know.

In my experience, Leicester's Muslim community is just as helpful as any other when being asked for directions or aid, but then again I am a man and Miss Dickson Wright is a woman.

I must admit that if I had been treated with the same amount of apparent discourtesy and rudeness from virtually everyone I asked directions from, then I would not be afraid to say so, or who to point the finger of blame at.

Also, let us not forget that Miss Dickson Wright was born into a time in English culture when courtesy, respect and good manners ruled the day, and the term 'political correctness' had not yet replaced them.

In a multi-cultural society, exceptions to some traditional rules have to made, and a good rule of thumb surely has to be this: "To be courteous and helpful to any one in distress regardless of race, gender or any other social difference."

Rather than chastising Miss Dickson Wright for having the backbone to express her displeasure over such downright rudeness, surely it would be much better for representatives of the Muslim community to apologise for the behaviour of the small minority that she encountered, and to invite her to sample the excellent delights of Muslim culinary dishes with perhaps the hope that she may write yet another book extolling the tastes of a true multi-cultural tradition.

Alan R Pendragon, South Knighton

I NO LONGER FEEL AT HOME IN MY CITY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

I no longer feel at home in my city

Chef Clarissa Dickson Wright opens her mouth and speaks some truth about this city and Leicester's leaders want to boil her alive in one of her own cooking pots.

At the end of the day, she was writing about her experience in this city. Would people have preferred her to lie?

Areas in this city are monocultural. We all know it. If you don't then either you don't travel around this city or you go around with your eyes shut.

I am fed up with this council and its leaders forever going on about how we all live in harmony and we all take part in each other's festivals and celebrations. No, we don't!

Maybe an odd few do, but not Leicester as a whole. We all tolerate one another. That's what we have to do in this city. We have had no choice other than to accept this city becoming a multi-faith one.

We have our celebrations, other faiths have theirs. We all don't merge together and celebrate other cultures' festivals as this council and its leaders like to think or portray to the rest of this country every time they appear on the TV or in the newspapers.

You only have to sit in parts of the city centre and listen to people's views on this city to know it's not the harmonious one we are all made to believe. That's when you hear someone actually speaking English.

I'm Leicester born and bred and my ancestors have roamed this city for many generations, but even I feel like a foreigner and outsider when I go into the town centre.

I feel more at home in Skegness town than I do here.

That says something about what this city has become, when I feel more at home in a place I visit a few times a year, than I do in my home town.

T Green, Leicester

INTER FAITH WEEK 2012, DAY 1: BBC RADIO LEICESTER

I'm on BBC Radio Leicester this morning from 0740, speaking for ten minutes about Inter Faith Week with Lucy Collins (photo above), who is sitting in for Monica Winfield.

While waiting to go on air, I meet Ali and Muhammad from Masjid Al Husayn, on Duxbury Road. They're going on the show immediately after me, to talk about the local Shi'ah community's public commemoration of Ashura in Humberstone Gate this Saturday. We agree to stick around and chat immediately after we've done our respective stints on air, to discuss ways we might support each other in the events of the coming week. In my eagerness to impress - aggravated by only having had four hours sleep - I mistakenly mix up Ashura with Muharram. All credit to Ali and Muhammad for being gentlemanly and not correcting my error.

I'm glad to see that Lucy has done her homework and knows all about our exhibition in Highcross as well as the other events we're involved in throughout Inter Faith Week. I get the chance to promote all of them and tell listeners how to access information via the events section of the Council of Faiths website and the special page on my blog.

I thought I'd done my homework too and have tried to anticipate some of the questions Lucy might ask me live on air. But she throws a me a curve ball when she asks me what I think of Clarissa Dickson Wright's recently publicised comments about her experience in Leicester. At least I don't have to respond to that hoary old chestnut about whether we're doing no more than preaching to the converted during this week. - although I'd prepared a pretty good response to that one!

TV STAR WOULD RETURN TO "FRIGHTENING" CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

TV star would return to "frightening" city

Clarissa Dickson Wright has refused to apologise for "hurtful" comments about the city's Muslim community – but says she would return to the city.

In her new book, the celebrity cook described a visit to Leicester "as one of the most frightening experiences of my life".

The 65-year-old wrote that she came off the ring road to escape a traffic jam and found herself lost in a part of the city she described as a "ghetto" where she felt like a "complete outcast and pariah".

Ms Dickson Wright was invited to defend her views by BBC Radio Leicester yesterday and said: "I'm not going to apologise. I'm not saying it's entirely accurate for the whole of Leicester, but I am describing an experience that I went through.

"I know other people who have had a similar experience, not necessarily in Leicester."

In her book, Clarissa's England: A Gamely Gallop Through the English Counties, the cook dedicated a chapter to Leicestershire's culinary and cultural merits.

"I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them," she wrote.

She said none of the men would talk to her when she tried to find out where she was and how to get out of there, because she was an English women and they "would not talk to women they did not know".

"Here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah," she wrote.

Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, described her comments as hurtful.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester, he invited Ms Dickson Wright to come back to the city and have dinner with his family.

"I would be delighted to host her at my home and take her to meet real Leicester people," he said.

Deputy city mayor Rory Palmer also invited her to return – and apologise for her comments.

He said: "I read the comments she made in her book in the Mercury and I was lost for words – and I am rarely lost for words.

"They are unwarranted and not the Leicester I know.

"Perhaps she ought to stick to what she knows – making pies and souffles.

"I think, given the reaction to her comments, that she ought to be prepared to make an apology.

"I'm not going to be rushing off to write her a letter of invitation, but if the opportunity presents itself in the future, I am sure we will all show her the real city."

Speaking on the radio, Ms Dickson Wright said: "They want me to come back? Yeah, of course I would accept."

FURY AT TV CHEF CLARISSA DICKSON WRIGHT'S COMMENTS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN LEICESTER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Fury at TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright's comments about Muslims in Leicester

A celebrity chef has come under fire after making "hurtful" comments about the city's Muslim community.

In her new book, Clarissa Dickson Wright describes a visit to Leicester "as one of the most frightening experiences of my life".

The 65-year-old dedicates a chapter of Clarissa's England: A Gamely Gallop Through the English Counties to each county in England, discussing their culinary, cultural and historical merits. On Leicestershire, she writes of the city's "ghetto".

She describes coming off the ring road to escape a traffic jam and becoming lost.

"I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them," she wrote.

She said the men would not talk to her "because I was an English female and they don't talk to females they don't know".

She said: "Here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah.

"If multiculturalism works, which I have always been rather dubious of, surely it must be multicultural and not monocultural.

"I can only hope that in generations to come there will be a merging of the cultures and not the exclusion zone that is the ghetto."

Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and a city imam, said: "How is she judging an entire community on her one-off rare time of getting lost in Leicester?

"I find it very hurtful to read because everybody is working so hard to create a peaceful and happy Leicester.

"It showed a complete lack of appreciation of the fact we are almost two million in this country, doing our bit for our country.

"When she says that she was in the centre of a city in the centre of her own country, I take objection. This is also my country and this is also my city.

"I would like to call on Leicester people to be even more welcoming and hospitable than we've been so far."

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "That is the sort of thing that makes me very angry – when someone breezes in from outside and paints a picture of Leicester that does not have any foundation in reality."It may help sell books but it is cheap."

Councillor Manjula Sood, chairman of Leicester Council of Faiths, urged readers to ignore her comments.

"I don't believe a meeting with one person on one street should mean you can label a whole city," she said.

Both Coun Sood and Mr Mogra invited Ms Dickson Wright back to the city for an opportunity to change her opinions.

When contacted by the Mercury, the chef, who lives in Edinburgh, said: "I'm surprised any of the people who might object could read what I wrote as it is written in English.

"When you get to 65, you will think back on this conversation and I think you might find yourself in my frame of mind."

She said she had a lot of Muslim friends but her experience of Leicester was "unpleasant".

"It scared me and I am not scared easy," she said.

Asked why, she said: "Because it was part of my country that I was born in and there are a lot of radical Muslim preachers in this country.

"I was in London when the July 7 (2005 bomb attacks) happened and this to me was proof for those people who have been saying we're getting ghettoisation of Muslim areas.

"I have never believed that political correctness was a reason not to say what I have experienced."

She said she had "done a lot" for Leicestershire, campaigning for the protected geographical status of Melton pork pies and Stilton.

In her book, Ms Dickson Wright praised Melton's food festival, saying "it was just everything that a good food festival should be".

She also wrote about "charming" Market Harborough, and "pleasant" Oakham.

She is signing copies of her book at Northfield Farm Christmas Fair, in Cold Overton, on Saturday.

---

ON THE COUNTY

In her book, Ms Dickson Wright wrote:

Melton: I first came across it at the original Melton Mowbray Food Festival, which, in the first two years, was held in the cattle market in Melton Mowbray and was to my mind without doubt the best food festival in the country.

(It had) produce from the Asian communities, in particular in Leicester, and the West Indian community, and it was just everything that a good food festival should be.

Market Harborough: A charming old town.

Rutland: Rutland is a triumph and a lesson to us all.

Oakham: A pleasant town with all the right sort of shops and bookshops and I am always happy to visit it.

ON LEICESTER

I had one of the most frightening experiences of my life there.

Leicester has a very high Asian Muslim population and I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them.

None of the men would talk to me when I tried to find out where I was and how to get out of there because I was an English female and they don’t talk to females they don’t know, while if the women could speak English they weren’t about to show it by having a word with me.

(She bought a map at a newsagents.) Somebody, very reluctantly, pointed to where I was and then I had to work out the rest myself.

I have many good acquaintances and even some friends among the Muslim community, yet here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah.

If multiculturalism works, which I have always been rather dubious of, surely it must be multicultural and not monocultural.

However, everything has an upside and one of the results of this is that Leicester has a very good selection of Asian restaurants.

I can only hope that in generations to come there will be a merging of the cultures and not the exclusion zone that is the ghetto.