SENIOR LEICESTER MUSLIM LEADER CALLS ON HIS COMMUNITY TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST SEX GROOMING GANGS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Senior Leicester Muslim leader calls on his community to speak out against sex grooming gangs

by Ciaran Fagan

A senior Muslim community leader has said people need to speak out against child sex grooming gangs in his community and all others.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, a Leicester imam and a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, (MCB), said grooming gangs existed in all communities.

However, cases recently uncovered in Derby and Rochdale, have involved Asian Muslims, he said.

He said he was concerned that people were reluctant to speak out against the problem.

Mr Mogra, the MCB’s assistant secretary general, said: “This is an appalling and abhorrent kind of behaviour which is totally unacceptable regardless of race or religion.

“Some of those perpetrators who have recently been convicted happen to be from the Muslim community so we need to be at the very front of the voice that is condemning this.

“It is important that leaders of religious communities speak out against this deplorable and abhorrent behaviour by adults toward vulnerable children.

“We should always be prepared to speak out against this form of criminality and remind our community of its obligation to protect children and young people from this form of exploitation.

“We will keep speaking out until we have eradicated this menace from society.”

The MCB is working with organisations including the police, the NSPCC and Muslim groups to raise awareness of the problem and to highlight people’s need to speak out against it.

The Muslim Council of Britain is planning a national conference to educate people about grooming, he said.

Mr Mogra spoke out against the practice when he appeared on BBC Radio Four’s Sunday programme this weekend.

The programme also spoke to Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, who is chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, which is also investigating the scale of the crime.

Mr Vaz told the programme: “There is no excuse for this kind of criminality, whoever is involved in it, but I don’t think it is a particular group of people, I don’t think it’s a particular race or religion.”

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) said child sexual exploitation spanned “all cultures and ethnicities”, while the recent cases had “highlight that Asian males have been involved in an organised manner in exploiting young women”.

A CEOP spokeswoman said: “Some of these cases involved offenders from different backgrounds as well, although CEOP are investigating why there may be a majority of Asians in these particular kinds of offence.”

Mr Mogra's radio appearance can be heard here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rqgys/Sunday_07_04_2013/

NO DISTINCTION MADE BETWEEN EDL AND UAF

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

No distinction made between EDL and UAF

It was with great sadness that I read Peter Soulsby's open letter to the people of Leicester ("Don't let protests tear our city apart", Mercury, February 4).

He seems quite unable to make any distinction between Leicester Unite Against Fascism and the English Defence League.

I was on the Leicester Unite Against Fascism demonstration which was, of course, completely peaceful and the vast majority of people were from Leicester, although a few friends came from Nottingham and Derby.

I am sure most of the people on our demonstration voted for Peter in the mayoral election and many had voted for him as our local MP.

Some of the people I recognised as long-time members of the Labour Party who, I am sure, had canvassed for Peter in the past.

There were even people who were personal friends of Peter's. All of us were united in our love for multicultural Leicester.

In contrast, the vast majority of the EDL were from outside Leicester and are full of hate for our multicultural city.

Is Peter not able to make any distinction between love and hate?

Andy Wynne, Daneshill

TURBANOLOGY: RECLAIMING THE TURBAN'S RELEVANCE

Interesting article in today's SocietyGuardian about a new exhibition exploring the significance of the turban for Sikhs. I must make time to go and see this exhibition myself - it sound tremendous!

Reclaiming the turban's relevance 

By Safraz Manzoor 

British Sikhs' religion requires them to leave their hair uncut, and the turban is the most popular way for men to encase this long hair. But the turban has increasingly come to be associated with violent Islamic jihadism because members of the Taliban in Afghanistan wear turbans, as have some British Muslim terrorists in their suicide videos.

A new exhibition, Turbanology: Sikhs Unwrapped, which opens in Birmingham on Friday, is seeking to raise awareness about the true history of the turban and its significance for Sikhs. In addition to specially commissioned films and talks, the exhibition hopes to provide knowledge and perspective on the turban's spiritual importance and will provide hands-on demonstrations on how a turban is tied. Exhibition director Jay Singh-Sohal hopes that the exhibition will counter negative preconceptions of the turban.

"A survey for the exhibition suggests that 33% of turban-wearing Sikhs have received verbal abuse and a further 14% have faced racial discrimination because of their turban," he says.

Sikhs and their turbans have been in Britain since the 1860s and have historically been associated with bravery, loyalty and acts of courage as they fought for Britain during two world wars, and all over the empire. Their turban was representative of their identity and protection. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, however, Sikhs came under attack from people who assumed their turbans meant they were Muslim radicals.

Singh-Sohal wants the exhibition to challenge this assumption that the turban represents something to fear. "The aim of the exhibition is to tackle these preconceptions in a fresh and fun way by focusing on the aesthetic, the symbolism of the turban and the things that British Sikhs have done to earn their place as respected members of our society," he explains.

The exhibition will travel to Derby, Slough and Leeds and at each location schools will be invited to participate so that young people can learn about the history and relevance of the turban.

In Britain, according to Singh-Sohal, the turban is seeing a revival among young British Sikhs who are finding new ways to wear their hair long. In India, however, the turban is in decline as more Sikhs cut their hair in order to fit in or to get jobs and avoid abuse. "All too often it is those Sikhs that come to Britain from India who cut their hair in order to be more western," says Singh-Sohal, "despite the fact that wearing the turban is protected by law in the UK."

Turbanology will be reminding visitors of the journey that British Sikhs have taken to ensure that the turban is accepted. Singh-Sohal says: "It will show it has an exciting future ahead as well as an illustrious history."

Turbanology opens at the Nishkam Civic Association, Birmingham on 10 June. Tour details at www.turbanology.info

In the photo above: Young Sikh boys wearing traditional dress and turbans for the Sikh new year festival of Vaisakhi (photograph: Jaskirt Dhaliwal)

Read this article, along with reader comments (and the opportunity to leave your own) on the Guardian Society off diary website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/07/turban-exhibition-sikh-history?INTCMP=SRCH

East Midlands regional event: Knowledge, Impact & Success

At the Riverside Centre, Pride Park, Derby, for a conference jointly sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund, Capacity Builders and One East Midlands. The title of this regional event, "Knowledge, Impact and Success" offers an upbeat face when much of the sector is unsettled in the light of changes, cuts and contractions threatened by the new economic regime of the Coalition Government. But there's actually no doubting that there is a generally upbeat air about the proceedings here today. The Voluntary and Community Sector has never been comfortable and safe, never really felt at ease with its political masters, never been able to look to the future with security and certainty. Things may look unsettled and grim all round, but many people are saying, "Well, what's new?" Oh, what is new is that it seems that we're not the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) now, we've been dubbed "Civil Society Organisations" (CSO). I spent a fair bit of time yesterday, going through some of REDP's texts, making it read consistently, "Voluntary and Community Sector" and "VCS". Does this mean I need to go back through all that and change them all again?

Be that as it may, it's another worthwhile trip out of Leicester. Laura Horton, Project Manager of REDP, and I are here to make contacts and make an impression. I'd like to think we manage to do both. In the afternoon, we conduct three "speed dating" workshops, where we both sit at a table while someone comes and sits with us for up to 20 minutes and quizzes us about our organisation and its work. I'd been asked to write a short  piece about REDP's work for Insight, the One East Midlands magazine, which is in delegates' packs today. We were a bit anxious about this when we saw the proofs a week or so ago, and were unable to make some alterations that we thought necessary - but seeing the finished product, I'm glad to say that it's turned out just fine.

The event finishes at three o'clock, to allow everyone to follow the England v Slovakia match at the World Cup. I end up watching it in a big hall behind where we've had our conference, sitting with the centre staff, who've been given a few free hours in the afternoon to cheer on Rooney & Co. I enter into the spirit of things with a great big chip butty. But then I reveal my true nature by putting mayo on my chips, rather than ketchup. Mind you, it could have been worse. I could have really given myself away by asking for a can of Irn Bru!

REDP involvement event: Derby

To Derby, for the sixth in the series of "Involvement Events" hosted across the East Midlands by the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership. Dee (from LCIL) drives Taherah (from TREC) and me through from Leicester. We leave just after eight and would have got there in double-quick time if Dee's sat nav hadn't thrown her off when we arrive in Derby city centre by telling her to take the third turning off a roundabout that doesn't appear to be there.

Today's venue, The Spot, is very "clubby". There's no natural light, the air conditioning is noisy and the place is festooned with posters for appearances by the "UK's number 1 tribute act!" (self-proclaimed, methinks) for a variety of turns: Calvin Stardust, Mylie Minogue, Rake That (I might have made those names up, but you get the picture). A great night's entertainment plus a three-course meal for only £22.95. Well, at least the venue is central and should be easy to find, but the whole place is fraught with roadworks and the venue itself appears to be in the middle of a building site, like an unfinished Spanish resort hotel. The sound of drilling outside occasionally intrudes on our presentations and discussions.

We have 10 attendees from the Voluntary and Community Sector when we get underway, a few minutes late to accomodate those delayed by the roadworks. I'm chairing the morning session. Dee's presenting the Beginner's Guide to REDP and Ian (from the LGBT Centre) is operating the slides. His is the hardest job in the first session, as Dee does a fair bit of extemporising. She has much more historical knowledge related to this project (particularly knowledge about a number of  failed attempts to do something similar across the region in the past); well, she just has much more knowledge about this, full stop. She's the best known of all of us who make up the core partners of REDP; she can speak with authority and experience, but not necessarilly to the running order of the slides!

I haven't said much about the workshops that form such an important part of the progrmme at these events. We've been using this "world cafe" model for workshops at these events, where participants are invited to write or draw on the paper covers we put on the tables they sit around. If you've ever taken part in a workshop where you've felt that your views aren't being recorded (and felt that means your contribution has not been respected) then the world cafe approach is an antidote to that. You get the chance to write down your own thoughts and feelings there and then. There's an REDP staffer sitting in on the discussions on each table as scribe too, so hopefully, just about everything gets recorded. These paper table cloths and notes are being compiled into one set of notes, for sending out to all those who have participated in these Involvement Events once they're over. All very good and well, but then, there's the pens ... we started using some alcohol-based pens, in a variety of bold colours, but we got complaints about their intoxicating properties when working with them so close up for the hour or so that these workshops take. At our event in Loughborough, Laura nipped out to buy some non-intoxicating pens, but these older ones refuse to die, and keep turning up, no matter that we think we've chucked them away!

The questions to be considered by each of the workshops are:

"What should REDP look like and what model best fits the needs?"


"How do you ensure engagement of all organisations?"

"What are the natural organisations that could sit on the core reference group to not only represent your views but also work in partnership?"

"What do you think are the key issues that should be considered at a regional level for your area?"

Mind you, we all know what Alexei Sayle said about anyone who uses the word "workshop" who isn't connected with light engineering, don't we?

We have the services of two palantypists today, who keep a full record of the day's proceedings, although the person for whom we'd booked them doesn't appear at the meeting. Gill Croft's website is http://www.gillcroftpalantype.co.uk/; Georgina Ford can be contacted on ginford@aol.com

After lunch (the first hot one we've been offered on any of these events) we're joined by another ten people from the public and private sector, making this the best attended of these events so far. Ian takes over the chairing. Carolyn Pascoe presents her "Profile of Derby" based on published statistics. She gets more vigorous interogation today then she probably has at any of the earlier events, but rides the wave in her usual confident and professional manner.

Next up it's me, presenting half an hour on the Equality Bill. Since we have to use a hand mic today, I feel that makes me a little more awkward and a little less natural with the presentation. The projector (provided by the venue) blacks out halfway through my presentation. I prefer not to use PowerPoint and can happily cope with that; but if it goes off halfway through, that's not quite so easy to deal with. Still it gets done, though having to move into the audience with the mic for questions is also stiff and awkward - especially if people actually shrink from me when I approach them with the microphone! At the end of my presentation, Dee takes the opportunity to emphasise the importance of Carolyn's stat-based presentation and clarifies how that aspect of REDP's work will become more of a two-way process.

There's a question why so much time is being given to the Equality Bill, when surely we're preaching to the converted on this topic. An assumption's being made that everyone who attends a meeting such as this will know the Equality Bill inside out, but that proves not to be so. During the break in the afternoon session, two attendees (one from the public sector, the other from the private) confess to me that this is the first time thy've been onb the receiving end of any presentation on the Equality Bill, that their employers, although they have clear interest in it, have not provided any kind of briefing on it.

For the second time in this series of events, Vidar Hjarding is our guest speaker, bringing proceedings to a close. Vidar, who is blind, is Diversity Manager for ITV News Group. There's some interesting discussion about the relationship between diversity and equality in the context of Vidar's work. You can read a profile of Vidar at:
http://www.efd.org.uk/role/vidar-hjarding-political-producer-amp-diversity-advisor-itv-bcidn-associate-political-producer-