10,000 TOYS ARE HEADING TO SYRIA

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Sharen Ravat, centre, at St Philip's Church with the Rev Sonya Brown and Suleman nagdi and some of the toys

10,000 toys are heading to Syria

by Fiona Dryden

Generous folk have donated more than 10,000 toys for children devastated by the ongoing conflict in Syria.

Sharen Ravat, a multi-faith chaplaincy co-ordinator at Leicester College, was so deeply affected by the plight of children in Syria she decided to launch the initiative to help bring some joy to families, many of which have lost members.

According to the United Nations, the conflict has led to the worst humanitarian crisis since Rwanda, more than two decades ago.

The drop-in session held at St Philip's Church, in Leicester, on Sunday collected more than 10,000 toys – enough to fill seven van loads.

Sharen said: "The toys have been given to the charity Hand in Hand for Syria, which will take them to children in hospitals and refugee camps in Syria.

"I pay tribute to the wonderfully generous people, including many children, who donated toys for this vital cause.

"What was particularly heart-warming was that so many of Leicestershire's different faith communities came together.

"Collectively, they demonstrated their shared values of compassion and love for children they will never know. I hope that these toys will bring a smile to their faces."

The Federation of Muslim Organisations was one of the many faith organisations supporting the campaign.

Spokesman Suleman Nagdi said: "We were privileged to be part of this superb charity effort, which focused on children. I pay tribute to Sharen Ravat, who single-handedly had the vision to arrange this appeal." 

Fadi Al-Dairi, from Hand in Hand for Syria, said: "The people of Leicestershire will make a lot of children smile."

Hand in Hand works in partnership with projects overseas that have been established by members of the local community.

FEDERATION BACKS ABUSE PRISON TERMS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Federation backs abuse prison terms

The Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) has welcomed lengthy sentences imposed on seven men for their part in the sexual exploitation of children in Oxford.

FMO Spokesperson Suleman Nagdi said: "This is a truly awful and appalling case and it is a relief that the perpetrators of this heinous crime have been brought to justice."

He said: "The physical, mental and psychological abuse of children is totally abhorrent and must be condemned whenever and wherever it occurs.

"All communities, irrespective of faith, hold dear the value of children as a great blessing, which must always be protected and cherished.

"Any individual, or group, which commits any act of abuse against children must be condemned and brought to justice."

He said an important part of the FMO's work was Madrassah Safeguarding Project, run with the local authority, police and the NSPCC, to safeguard children in supplementary schools.

ATTACKS ON SOMALIS "ARE UP SINCE KILLING OF LEE RIGBY"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Attacks on Somalis "are up since killing of Lee Rigby"

by Ciaran Fagan

Members of the Somali community fear they are suffering an anti-Islamic backlash following the death of soldier Lee Rigby.

Somalis said they have been spat at, verbally abused and, in some cases, thugs have tried to pull off women's veils or scarves.

Jawaahir Daahir, founder and chief executive of Somali Development Services, a community group in Highfields, Leicester, said it was hearing more reports of abuse than it would usually expect.

The group met senior police officers on Tuesday to outline its concerns.

Ms Daahir said: "You cannot know what motivates people to do these things, but we have noticed an increase in incidents since the tragic death of Lee Rigby.

"There has been swearing and racist language in some cases, but also there have been incidents of people being attacked."

We have heard a woman had to run into a shop in the city centre to escape from some men and we have also heard stories of two women being spat at.

Another woman posted on Facebook that she was afraid to leave her home and felt she was under house arrest."

Chief Superintendent Rob Nixon, head of policing in the city, said reported incidents would be investigated.

He said: "The incidents referred to by Jawaahir are very concerning.

"I would urge anyone with information or who has suffered to contact us.

"Since the death of Lee Rigby, we have been carrying out significant work within the community, including daily messages to community leaders, reassurance visits and patrols.

"We pride ourselves on the strong relationship we have with the Somali community and hope if there are any concerns regarding the recent events they can approach us with confidence."

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for Leicestershire's Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "We have not picked up on any increase in incidents since the tragic death of Lee Rigby.

"There is always the possibility these things are happening to people but are not being reported to the police.

"We would urge people to report all incidents of this nature, so the people who are responsible can be held to account.

"Officers are searching for a cyclist who tried to pull off a Muslim woman's face veil as he rode past her in London Road, Leicester. The woman was targeted as she walked with her family to Victoria Park at 6.50pm on Sunday, May 26. On Monday this week, the letters EDL – thought to refer to the English Defence League – were written on a bin at Oadby Islamic Centre, in Sandhurst Street. In the past year, Leicestershire Police said it had seen a 9.9 per cent reduction in hate crimes – with 44 fewer offences than in the previous year.Anyone with information should call police on 101.

APPEALS AHEAD OF EDL MARCH

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury (with an expanded version on its website):

Appeals ahead of EDL march

by Ciaran Fagan

Muslim community leaders have urged people to stay away from a protest against the English Defence League, (EDL), in Leicester this weekend.

The Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, (FMO), has written to its members, including mosques and various community groups, across the city and county ahead of Saturday’s planned event.

Leicester members of the EDL announced earlier this week that they intend to march from the Clock Tower to the war memorial in Victoria Park to lay a wreath in memory of Drummer Lee Rigby, the soldier who was murdered in London last week.

Leicester Unite Against Fascism is preparing a counter-protest.

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the FMO, said: “We are advising people it is better to stay away because of the risk of confrontation.

“It is right to pay respects to Drummer Lee Rigby but you have to ask whether it is necessary to march through the city centre.”

The EDL has said its members would not wear the group’s branded clothing, drink alcohol or chant throughout the march.

The march is also expected to only attract its local supporters.

Mr Nagdi also urged people not to react to rumours which may circulate on social networking sites or via text messages.

He said: “In many cases this information is not accurate. The police will be providing regular updates up to and including Saturday.”

Leicestershire Police said it was talking to both Leicester Unite Against Fascism and the EDL.

In a statement issued this afternoon, the force said: “We are expecting relatively small, low-key events, which will be peaceful and respectful in nature, and which will cause a minimum of disruption.

“We are not expecting people to travel from outside Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for either of these events – there are similar events in neighbouring counties on Saturday.

“We will adopt a low-key policing style, with appropriate contingencies in place.

“We do not expect either event to disrupt normal business in the city centre, and encourage people planning to visit the city centre on Saturday to continue with those plans.

“We are talking with the organisers of both events to remind them of their obligations to ensure safe and peaceful events.”

The three city councillors who represent the Castle ward, which includes the city centre and Victoria Park, jointly condemned the EDL’s decision to march.

Patrick Kitterick, Lynn Moore and Neil Clayton said the EDL should not be allowed to march through the city.

Councillor Kitterick said: “The English Defence League could pay its tribute without marching through the city centre. There is absolutely no need for them to do this.

“Any counter demonstration needs to be peaceful and respectful.”

In a joint statement, the three councillors said: “As Castle Ward Councillors we wish to totally condemn and dissociate ourselves from the potential decision by senior officers of the police and city council to allow the EDL to march in Leicester on Saturday.

“We wish it to be made clear that no consultation took place with ourselves before this decision was made and if it had we would have asked for the march to be stopped.

“We call on anyone who wishes to pay tribute to Drummer Lee Rigby to do so as individuals and communities as thousands have done.

“The decision of the EDL to do this as a group and incorporate a march through the city shows that they are cynically exploiting the death of a young man for their own political aims.

“We call on senior officers of the police and council to ban the proposed march which has nothing to do with paying tribute to Drummer Lee Rigby and everything to do with dividing our city.”

EDITORIAL APPEAL FOR CALM WELL RECEIVED

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Editorial appeal for calm well received

An open letter to Mercury editor Richard Bettsworth:

On behalf of the Federation of Muslim Organisations, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the editorial published on Friday, May 24.

The shocking events that unfolded in Woolwich last Wednesday, when Drummer Lee Rigby was brutally slaughtered in broad daylight in full view of passing members of the public, has been almost universally condemned, including by most of the Muslim community.

We live now in most troubled times where the actions of a few criminals can unfortunately have a detrimental effect on other members of a law-abiding community.

Regrettably, there have already been a number of incidents of hate crime, targeting the Muslim community, which have been reported.

This is a clearly unacceptable state of affairs and we as a society must not accept or tolerate hate crime carried out against any individual, group or organisation.

It is against this background, that your editorial is much welcomed.

Your emphasis on the fact that the horrifying events in Woolwich are not reflective of the behaviour of an entire community could not have been expressed better.

Moreover, your appeal for calm has been extremely well-received by the community, as well as other communities who have asked us to relay their thanks to you.

There was absolutely no obligation for you to write this editorial.

However, the fact you have gone out of your way to do so reflects your humanitarian concern for safer and stronger community cohesion, something which we in Leicester have prided ourselves in for many years now.

At a time when some sections of the media have come under attack for their sensationalist reporting, yours is an example of balanced and just reporting which needs to be recognised. You have clearly set yourselves out as an example for others in the media to follow.

Suleman Nagdi, Federation of Muslim Organisations.

FIRST PERSON: RELIGION CAN'T BE DEFENCE FOR BRUTAL KILLINGS

Suleman Nagdi has written the First Person column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Religion can't be defence for brutal killings

Suleman Nagdi says the murder of a soldier on a London Street betrays all Muslims

The shocking murder which took place on Wednesday has left me appalled and angry. Appalled at the brutality and savageness of the murder of an innocent man and angry that this wanton act of violence is being labelled as "Islamic".

The Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) rightly condemned in the strongest terms possible what occurred. I concur with our Prime Minister when he said: "This was not just an attack on Britain. It was a betrayal of Islam and the Muslim communities who give so much to our country."

I must begin by expressing sympathy and condolences to the family of the dead soldier, who have lost their loved one as a result of inexplicable violence.

It is shocking that this tragedy happened in broad daylight.

Eyewitness accounts describe the depth of psychotic callousness with which the killers acted – killers whose motives are irrelevant, as the crime itself demonstrates an extreme level of psychological disturbance.

I am numb and outraged that two people intent on violence have hijacked my faith to such an end. This is a complete distortion of the true meaning of Islam.

It betrays all Muslims who have peace and compassion in their hearts and particularly those in our Muslim communities across the UK who work for the security of our nation.

Such a brutal act of murder cannot be justified using religion as a defence. Islam places the highest value on life and safeguarding a single human life is tantamount to safeguarding all life.

It is truly distressing to see the extreme right opportunistically using this tragedy to spout their vicious racist hatred and sadder still to see that some people are responding to this incident by joining their extreme cause.

Most Muslims I have spoken to have been distressed by the fact they are being made to defend themselves when the deranged killings have nothing to do with them or their religion.

The killers' motives are political and their methods are criminal.

The tensions felt by British Muslims will be exacerbated in the days to come by those who blame all Muslims for the actions of two psychotic men, who may happen to be Muslim.

As reports of two lone attacks on mosques in Britain are covered in the media, it is imperative that all of our communities, Muslim and non-Muslim, come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail.

It is important we allow our police authorities to do their job without speculation. We also urge the utmost vigilance and ask the police authorities to calm tensions and ensure this tragedy does not unfold into greater tragedy.

Suleman Nagdi is chairman of Leicestershire Faith Forum [sic] and spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations.

LEICESTER'S MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMN WOOLWICH SOLDIER KILLING

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Sheikh Ibrahim Moghra

Leicester's Muslim Leaders condemn Woolwich soldier killing

by Dan Martin

Muslim leaders in Leicester have condemned the murder of a soldier in London yesterday in a suspected terrorist attack.

The serviceman was killed in the street near army barracks in Woolwich yesterday afternoon.

Shocked passers-by then took video footage of the two suspected culprits - one of whom said the victim had been attacked because British troops had killed Muslims everyday.

Witnesses reported the soldier was hacked to death after being run over. The suspected attackers were then shot and injured by police before being taken to hospital.

Today religious leaders in Leicester stressed the incident was in no way representative of Muslims here.

Ibrahim Mogra, imam at three city mosques and the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said: “We are shocked at this killing as is every decent human being. It was an appalling killing on our streets in broad daylight.

“One of the culprits claims to have done it in the name of God and Islam. Absolutely not. How dare he use the name of God to try to justify this terrible act. There is nothing in Islam that justifies vigilantism.”

Mr Mogra urged people to remain calm in the aftermath of the killing.He said: “We must allow the authorities to carry out their investigation.

“We should be vigilant against those who would use this awful act to try to divide the community. We cannot allow hate-filled people from any side to drive a wedge between us.

“It must be clear that the vast majority of Muslims stand side by side with all other communities in condemning this brutal killing.”

THe Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) has also condemned the killing in “the strongest terms possible.”

Leicester-based FMO spokesman Suleman Nagdi said "This is a most truly appalling crime.

“Reports about the graphic nature of the incident with the use of a machete to commit murder in full public view, makes this case even more reprehensible. As the situation unfolds, our thoughts are with the family of the victim.

Mr Nagdi added: “The FMO condemns violence for whichever cause in all its hideous guises and it is our sincere hope that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime are brought to justice.

“Muslims historically through the first and second World Wars have contributed greatly to the defence of our country.

“I appeal for all communities to remain calm in the face of this attack and not to allow this evil crime to divide communities in our country.”

The Bishop of Leicester, Rt Rev Tim Stevens, has also called on communities to remain calm following the murder.

He said: “I am deeply distressed by reports of this barbaric attack which took place in front of passers-by in a street in South London.

“It has been confirmed that the victim was a serving soldier and the Prime Minister has said that there were "strong indications that it is a terrorist attack".

“The police now need to be allowed to do their job and ascertain the facts behind what took place.

“Individuals who commit such crimes in the name of religion or politics stand at odds with the compassionate shared values which we stand for as a society.

“Such acts aim to divide our communities and I call upon everyone to remain calm and united.

“At this deeply tragic time, my prayers and thoughts are for the victim and those who knew him, but also those many ordinary people traumatised by this shocking and wholly unjustified event.”

FEDERATION OF MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS STATEMENT RE WOOLWICH INCIDENT

As you can imagine, faithful reader, many comments and statements will be made regarding the incident in Woolwich, Wednesday 22 May 2013. I'm posting a selection of these on the blog, limited to relevant organisations with which Leicester Council of Faiths is involved to some extent. Below is a statement issued this evening by the Federation of Muslim Organisations:

Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) condemns in the strongest terms possible the shocking and abhorrent murder of a soldier in Woolwich, London. FMO PR Officer Suleman Nagdi said "This is a most truly appalling crime. Reports about the graphic nature of the incident with the use of a machete to commit murder in full public view, makes this case even more reprehensible. As the situation unfolds, our thoughts are with the family of the victim".

The Prime Minister David Cameron has said that there are "strong indications that it is a terrorist incident". Mr Nagdi added, "The FMO condemns violence for whichever cause in all its hideous guises and it is our sincere hope that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime are brought to justice. Muslims historically through the first and second World Wars have contributed greatly to the defence of our country.  I appeal for all communities to remain calm in the face of this attack and not to allow this evil crime to divide communities in our country".

HALAL BURGERS OFF MENU AT 19 SCHOOLS AFTER PORK FIND

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Halal burgers off menu at 19 schools after pork find

by Fiona Dryden & Jonathan Pott-Negrine

Halal lamb burgers have been removed from 19 city schools after tests revealed pork content in a sample burger.

Halal products are used in 24 city schools, but only 19 of these are affected because the lamb burger was served there.

The burgers have been on Leicester school menus since January this year and are the only product supplied to the city council by the firm.

Councillor Vi Dempster, assistant city mayor for schools, said she was “appalled by the situation.”

Coun Dempster said: “The council took immediate action when it was discovered and the product was withdrawn from school menus immediately ahead of further tests being carried out. We will not be using this company again.

“It’s disgraceful that none of us can have confidence in the food we eat. We regret any distress this will cause families and staff, and would like to reassure them that robust action is being taken to address this serious matter.”

Regular tests have been carried out on behalf of the council since the horse meat scandal in February when traces were found in beef products across the country.

The council was informed of the results on April 18 and says it withdrew the product the following day to await further tests.

All other Halal products used in the council’s kitchens are supplied by another company, The Punjab Kitchen Ltd, based in Tyneside.

Tests have shown that they are Halal compliant.

Education bosses have sent out 6,000 letters to parents and head teachers at the affected schools this week to tell them about the situation.

Trevor Pringle, the city council’s director of young people’s services, said: “We will not be purchasing any further products from this supplier and we have made it clear to all our suppliers that this is totally unacceptable. We are taking urgent legal advice about the next steps.”

The Food Standards Agency has been notified of the contamination, along with local authority bosses in Doncaster.

Taylor Road Primary, in St Matthews, Leicester, is among the schools which received the lamb burger.

However, head teacher Chris Hassall, said that it had not been served in school since March.

He said: “The horse meat scandal made me very cautious about the food we were serving in school and regardless of its halal content, we did not consider it to be the healthiest option - therefore it was removed from our menu.

“I eat school dinners myself everyday and I want to be assured that children are receiving nutritious food that is what it says it is.

“I’m pleased that we took our own precautionary measures and that Leicester City Council has been pro-active enough to carry out tests since this scandal immerged. [sic]

“Muslim parents need to have confidence in school food and the council has been absolutely transparent about its findings.”

The council has been working with the Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) as part of its investigations.

Suleman Nagdi from the FMO said: “This is a shocking and unacceptable development. As Muslims, we cherish our strict dietary needs, which are well known and have been developed for well over a thousand years. The consumption of pork and alcohol is prohibited for all Muslims.

“This recent event will raise an issue of confidence in our community as to the measures and processes that are put in place that gives assurance of Halal meals. All due diligence procedures should be thoroughly reviewed and bolstered where necessary and should include intermittent and random sample testing which should encompass DNA testing.

“It’s hoped that this will not occur again and the community are now looking to the city council and our elected councillors for this assurance and to rebuild the confidence that has clearly been shaken.”

The federation has also urged the council to take legal action against the company concerned.

Mr Nagdi added: “We feel that such a prosecution would be in the public interest and would send a clear message to all businesses in this sector that contamination will not be tolerated.

These are the schools:

• Coleman Primary, Crown Hills.
• Crown Hills Community College, Crown Hills.
• Hazel Primary, in the Filbert Street area
• Humberstone Infants school,in Humberstone
• Humberstone Junior school, in Humberstone
• Linden Primary, in Evington
• Medway Primary, in Highfields
• Northfield House Primary, in Northfields
• Oaklands Special School, in Evington
• Shenton Primary, in Spinney Hills
• Slater Primary, near Frog Island
• Sparkenhoe Primary, in Highfields
• Spinney Hill Primary, in Spinney Hills
• St Barnabus CofE Primary, in Evington
• St Paul’s School, in Evington
• Taylor Road Primary, in St Matthews
• Uplands Infant School,in Highfields
• Uplans Junior school, in Highfields
• Whitehall Primary, in Evington

WHY WE ALL TAKE PRIDE IN THIS NATION

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Why we all take pride in this nation

Today, We celebrate national patron, George, and all things English. to mark the occasion, some well-known citizens tell Natalie Derham and Tom Mack why they are proud to be English.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester

"I'm very proud of England's wonderful history and particularly its democracy."

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations

"We have a great history of acceptance and tolerance and I'm proud of our liberal society and its multiculturalism."

Carl Gunns, owner of boxing club in Birstall

"I love the history of England and the great kings and queens we've had, such as Charles I and Henry VIII. I'm also proud of the film industry, particularly in the 50s."

Tom Joule owner of Joules Ltd Market Harborough

"What makes me proud to be English is the Grand National, the sound of an ice cream van in the summer and the beer garden at the pub."

Rosemary Conley, fitness guru

"I'm proud of England for its heritage, its people, its beauty as a country and for its diversity. I would never want to live anywhere else."

Canon Barry Naylor, urban dean

"The Church of England reflects some of the very best of what it means to be English.

"It values diversity yet acknowledges the essential realities that bind us all together."

INTERFAITH FORUM FOR LEICESTERSHIRE: HATE INCIDENT MONITORING; ENGAGEMENT & REPRESENTATION OF FAITH COMMUNITIES

At County Hall, Glenfield (seat of Leicestershire County Council), for a meeting of the Interfaith Forum for Leicestershire.

The topic this evening is in two parts: Hate Incident Monitoring and Engagement and Representation of Faith Communities. The former is addressed by Sally Penney, Hate Incident Monitoring Project Co-ordinator at Leicestershire County Council), the latter by Chino Cabon (Senior Race Equality Officer at The Race Equality Centre).

The meeting is opened by Peter Lewis (Chairman of Leicestershire County Council), Chaired by Suleman Nagdi (Spokeman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations) and wound up by Resham Singh Sandhu (Chair of the Sikh Cultural and Welfare Society).

The Interfaith Forum for Leicestershire is less formal in nature than Leicester Council of Faiths, which allows it to be free from the need for formal membership, more open to input from those attending its meetings and more amenable to suggestions from any interested party for future topics.

There are 30 attendees this evening - a decent number for early Monday evening. I can't help wondering, though, if the turnout will have been affected by the fact that the Council of Faiths held our most recent meeting on a very similar topic, less than six weeks back, on Hate Crime and the Criminal Justice System at the University of Leicester. One of this evening's speakers spoke then. It would be a pity if that were so, as the approach taken to the subject this time round could be considered complementary. Chino, who spoke at the earlier meeting, gives a distinctly different talk this evening. There are around 185 hate incidents (which are different in nature from hate crimes) related to religion or belief reported in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We should continue talking about this subject until that reduces to nothing.

OPEN MEETING: HATE CRIME & CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

This evening the Council of Faiths hosts an open meeting, "Hate Crime and the Criminal Justice System", at the University of Leicester.

This is the fourth in a series of such meetings, on topics of interest to people from all sorts of communities across the city. I've posted on this blog about the three earlier meetings:

• Faith in Family, 20 November 2012
• God in My Faith, 13 March 2012
• Open Meeting with City Mayor, 31 January 2012

Despite extensive preparations for this evening, we haven't produced signage (note to self: do that for any future meetings we hold on campus), and it's easy to miss the entrance to Lecture Theatre 3 in the Ken Edwards Building if you haven't been here before. So I spend the first half hour outside at the top of the pathway, rounding up stragglers. It's cold (the gritters are out already) but worth it, as I redirect more than half a dozen people who appear to have missed the venue - including one of the speakers.

A panel of four distinguished, experienced and knowledgeable speakers have been invited to address the topics of Hate Crime and the Criminal Justice System from their own perspectives (professional and personal), then answer questions from the audience. Each of the speakers had a different perspective to offer (professional and personal) and it would be fair to say that not all of the speakers agreed on how these such crimes - and the underlying attitudes that allow them to persist - are treated in society. But such differences of opinion and approach are aired in a courteous manner and lead to some thought-provoking discussion.

Detective Superintendent David Sandall at the podium

First speaker: Detective Superintendent David Sandall, Head of Safeguarding and Lead for Hate Crime, Leicestershire Police.

Neil Chakroborti at the podium

Second speaker: Neil Chakroborti, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Leicester and Director of the Leicester Hate Crime Project.

Chino Cabon at the podium

Third speaker: Chino Cabon, Senior Race Equality Officer, The Race Equality Centre - demonstrating his mastery of the double karate chop emphasis there.

Luman Ali at the podium

Fourth and final speaker: Luman Ali, Secretary, Federation of Muslim Organisations. Luman stepped in at late notice for Suleman Nagdi, Chair of the Muslim Burial Council for Leicestershire and PR Officer for FMO.

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, had accepted the invitation to chair the meeting, but has to withdraw, due to ill health. Tony Nelson, who had taken responsibility for organising the meeting, chaired in Bishop Tim's stead. Tony (who represents the Leicester Hebrew Congregation on Leicester Council of Faiths) is in the centre of the photo below, flanked by the speakers.

There are 50 attendees (not counting the speakers and chair), many of them representing communities, groups and organisations with first hand experience of crimes committed against their members on account of disability, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation among a variety of reasons. More than one person spoke about the effect of belonging to a group which has been unfairly accused of perpetrating hate crime.

Light refreshments are served at the end of the meeting, allowing attendees to mix, mingle and network for a further half hour. Another note to self: take greater care to clean up after eating oily finger food. When putting away our generic pop-up banner, the thing slips from my grasp and takes a bit of a doing, leaving some visible damage. That's the first such hit that any of our banners has taken in more than four years of regular use.

We're grateful to those agencies which backed up this event with their own personnel, resources and time, such as Victim Support, whose display is shown above.

All photos posted here were taken by Ambrose Musiyiwa (Civic Leicester). Ambrose recorded two videos of the proceedings this evening: one of the main presentations by the four speakers and one of the Q&A that followed them. They are now available on YouTube. Our thanks got to Ambrose for his tireless support!

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: EAST PARK ROAD INCIDENT

Yesterday afternoon I was approached by BBC Radio Leicester (twice), with a request to go live on air this morning to speak for the Council of Faiths about the incident on East Park Road and about the meeting between Leicester Council of Faiths and Leicestershire Police that was to take place that evening. Given the sensitivity of the issue, I felt that this one might be above my pay grade. Readers of this blog will know that normally I'm perfectly happy to go on the radio and talk about anything (within reason) at the drop of a hat. But I couldn't help thinking that it might be better for an Executive Officer of the Council of Faiths to appear on the radio this time. But at the end of last night's meeting at Mansfield House, I had a quick confab with the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary and it was agreed I should go on. So I did the interview, by phone, with Martin Ballard (deputising for Jonathan Lampon on the Breakfast Show). Here's a transcript of the interview:

MB: It’s eight minutes past eight. Now: next this morning, police and religious leaders in Leicester are calling for calm following an attack on a restaurant in the city earlier this week. The police are continuing to question six men after a number of people were injured in the incident on East Park Road on Monday night. Now, detectives have also confirmed they’ve now spoken to a Sikh girl and her family regarding a separate incident.

Raj Mann is from the Leicestershire Sikh Alliance, and he’s worried these recent incidents could cause friction in the community.

RM: In Leicester we are a community of communities and we enjoy good standards of community cohesion; there is room for improvement on that. Unfortunately, the police yesterday mentioned two religions, mentioned Sikh-Muslim tensions.

MB: Well, Luman Ali is from the Federation of Muslim Organisations. He’s calling for calm and urging people to work with facts, not rumours.

LA: I think it’s up to us to monitor the concerns of our youth and make sure things don’t get out of hand. This is always the case when you have incidents of violence. It’s a process of misinformation which we have to work hard to work against, especially in the form of these text messages that fly around with misinformation that aren’t helpful to any of us.

MB: Now members of the faith communities in Leicester met last night with the police. George Ballentyne, from Leicester Council of Faiths, was there and joins us now. Good morning George.

GMB: Good morning.

MB: What exactly happened last night?

GMB: Well it was a very productive meeting and I think it was very positive. We had 30 people there in all, and there were representatives from the Sikh and Muslim communities, as well as other faith communities in the city. I should just mention that the two people we’ve just heard from, they were both at the meeting last night, both contributed to it. And we spoke with Rob Nixon (who’s the City Commander) and two of his colleagues, about the current situation of the investigation into the incident. Then we went on to talk about some of the underlying issues that are of concern to the communities, in terms of protecting young people and vulnerable people. And then we devoted the last part of the meeting to talking about how to move forward, how to preserve that unity amongst the communities that Leicester is so famous for and how to also work with (like) the city’s Safeguarding Board, with schools, with GPs, to make sure that these kind of situations are open, not confined inside the community networks and that there are actually practical ways of addressing these issues that don’t end up with the kind of incident that we saw a couple of nights ago.

MB: George, apart from the specific concerns about protecting vulnerable children and this specific incident, were there major concerns about any disruption to that unity and racial harmony in our city?

GMB: Well of course there were, because we have to be careful in Leicester that we don’t become a kind of site for working out a national situation and we were very conscious that we have to attend to what’s going in Leicester, what the people do in Leicester and keep things within our own community, rather than making it a place of working out difficulties that are happening in other cities around the UK. We’ve always been aware that the situation in Leicester tends to be different from what we see in other parts of the country. There’s a higher degree of integration, there’s a higher degree of a kind of happy living alongside each other and we really (uhm …). You know, that exists because people work at it, it’s not an accident; and when something like this happens, we have to be really careful to take action. Rob Nixon, the City Centre Commander, was praising the faith communities that within 48 hours of the incident, we had this quite large-scale meeting of people who are opinion-formers and influential speakers within their own communities. And he felt that this was a sign that we really do want to take this topic seriously and address it in a way that will deal with it and heal any kind of rift that may have emerged within our communities in the city.

MB: Now, much of this disruption seems to have been caused by the rumours that have been flying around on texts and so on – some of them may have been malicious, we don’t really know – but how can that sort of thing be stopped?

GMB: Well social media’s a great thing and I’m a big fan of it and even just in the ten minutes before coming on air, Radio Leicester and I have been tweeting and retweeting each other, saying to people: listen to this spot, find out what’s going on. But it’s also a terrible rumour mill it’s the way it is now that (you know) people can express their opinions or their beliefs or their misconceptions about things and it’s part of the freedom that we have to do that and people have to be very conscious, I think, and very self-aware that someone may only see one tweet, one Facebook post or something like that and it could really inflame things, it can give people the wrong idea. But it also meant that the police, the Council of Faiths, other organisations involved, like the Federation of Muslim Organisations, the Leicestershire Sikh Alliance, we’re all using social media responsibly right now to try to get the facts out there, get the names of the people that folk can talk to if they’re concerned and help to actually help to show the process that’s going on in a very live and transparent and current way.

MB: I have to say that we should take things at face value more than we do, we believe, or many people believe what they red and there are lots of untruths around on social network sites and so on and that can be damaging, can’t it? But no doubt the faiths in Leicester are determined to work together and that’s the strength of Leicester, isn’t it?

GMB: I really think that’s so. I mean, there were people there from every walks of the communities there last night, from the kind of folk who really pride themselves on having their ear to the ground and knowing what’s happening amongst people on the street, through to those people who are very involved with the places of worship and the community centres, working with all different kinds of different people within the communities. The most important thing, really is that the message we call want to come out from last night is that this is not a faith-on-faith issue, it’s not a community-on-community issue, the police are very clear that what we are dealing with is criminal behaviour, it’s criminality, not conflict of belief or conflict of practice among the communities and the important thing is to deal with the situation as it exists and everybody’s really now into this process of dispelling some of the myths, make people feel a bit more secure and happy about what the police are doing, how the communities are meeting together – and the Leicester Council of Faiths has such a good track record over more than a quarter of a century of helping to promote trust, understanding and co-operation amongst the communities. And it’s at times like this when we are put to the test and we hope that we are able to do it in such a way that serves the greater good in the city.

MB: Okay George, just remind us then, if it’s not “faith-on-faith”, how would you describe this: just pure criminality?

GMB: That’s the term that the police want to use. Whoever would have done this and however it would have arisen, this is criminal behaviour.

MB: George, thank you for joining us this morning. George Ballentyne from the Leicester Council of Faiths. And we’ll follow that story here on BBC Radio Leicester; any developments, you’ll hear them first here on 104.9 FM.

Just after a quarter past eight. The headlines on BBC Radio Leicester: As you’ve just heard, the Council of Faiths in the city has told this programme they’ll work together to heal any rifts in the Spinney Hill community after an attack on a restaurant on East Park Road earlier this week.

If you visit this blog before Thursday 24 January, you can hear the interview on BBC Radio Leicester's Listen Again facility, starting at 0808.

DIVER-CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Diver-city

White British people now form less than half of the population of Leicester.

Figures released yesterday revealed 45 per cent of the city's residents are white British – compared with 61 per cent in 2001.

About 49 per cent of the population is made up of people from Asian, African or Caribbean or mixed race backgrounds and about 5 per cent are white but not British.

The numbers were the latest to be released by the Office of National Statistics from the 2011 Census.

The city's 93,335 Asian or British Asian Indians make up the next biggest ethnic group in Leicester, accounting for 28 per cent of the population – an increase of two per cent since 2001.

Leicester now has the highest proportion of people of that ethnic group in England and Wales, where three per cent of the total population is Asian or British Asian Indian.

Meanwhile, two per cent of people in Leicester are Asian or British Asian Pakistani, equalling the average for England and Wales.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "It has always been recognised we have a diverse community in Leicester, and I think that is a great strength. It is quite interesting these figures should come in the year the Queen chose to start here jubilee tour here – obviously it is a strength that she recognised, too.

"These statistics are so useful as they help remind us of the people in the city.

"I think you will find a large proportion of people who, for instance, might say they are Asian will actually be Leicester born and bred."

Sir Peter said the figures would be analysed to make sure the council was providing services suited to the whole population.

The statistics, which are made up of information provided by residents, also revealed 65 per cent of the city's population was born in England.

This is lower than the average for England and Wales, which is 84 per cent.

The religious make-up of the city's population has changed drastically since the last census in 2001.

The most common religion is still Christianity. However, it is now the religion of 33 per cent of city residents, compared with 45 per cent in 2001. The next biggest group is people who said they had no religion. This accounted for nearly a quarter – 23 per cent – of people in the city, and is up six per cent since the last census.

Canon Barry Naylor, the Bishop of Leicester's adviser on urban issues, said he thought the change was down to people feeling like they could be "more honest" about their religious beliefs.

"I think in the old days people would just say 'put me down as C of E,' because they felt they should," he said.

"I think when people are more honest, it helps to show where we are.

"Also, we seem to be at a time when the church seems to be doing its best to alienate people, and that means we are not very effective at communicating what the Christian gospel is about.

"That could be a factor here."

The city has the third highest percentage of Hindu people in England and Wales – 15 per cent.

Leicester has the 11th highest percentage in England and Wales of Muslims, who account for 19 per cent of the population, an increase of eight per cent since 2001.

Overall in Leicester, 51 per cent of residents class themselves as white, regardless of where in the world they are from originally, and 49 per cent as not white.

Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "I think we are seeing what makes Leicester so unique – there is no such thing as a majority.

"I think it shows we need to keep working hard to keep our relationships going."

The figures released yesterday were the second set of statistics released from the 2011 census.

Population figures were revealed in July, when the Mercury reported the city has 329,900 residents – 16 per cent more than in 2001 when the figure was about 282,800 – the fastest growth of any city in the region.

More than a quarter of Leicester's population – 27 per cent – is aged 20 or under, making it the youngest population in the East Midlands.

SPECIAL MEAL MARKS END OF RAMADAN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury (some nine days after the event):

Special meal marks end of Ramadan

Members of different religions in the city gathered for a meal together.

Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, and assistant city mayor Manjula Sood were among the guests who joined Muslims marking the end of their day of fasting for Ramadan.

The event, at St Philip's Centre [St Philip's Church, in fact], in Evington, Leicester, on Wednesday, August 15, was organised by the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicester.

The meal, known as an Iftaar, was attended by guests representing Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and other faiths and non-faith communities.

The federation also organised regular meals for the homeless and hungry during Ramadan.

Federation spokesman Suleman Nagdi, said: "The blessed month of Ramadan is a time for sharing and giving.

"However, there are many Muslims and people of other faiths who are vulnerable and lonely and do not get to enjoy the togetherness of Iftaar. It is our hope that we are able to bring hope and happiness to those who desperately need it."

FEDERATION OF MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS RADIO SHOW ON EAVA FM

This morning I'm presenting the Interfaith Hour on Ramadan Radio, going out live on 102.5 FM and online at www.eava.com between 1000 and 1100. This is part of the schedule of programmes run by the Federation of Muslim Organisations during the Muslim month of fasting.

The hours in which FMO broadcast during Ramadan are donated by EAVA FM  Multilingual Radio. EAVA FM broadcasts in a variety of community languages including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Ndebele, Punjabi, Shona, Somali and Urdu. English content is definitely a minority interest for the station and its listeners. I've been on EAVA FM once before, in April 2009, when I was a guest on the Andy Cooke Show (which I blogged here). The station is located in the Leicester Business Centre on Ross Walk, which runs parallel to Melton Road. The front of the Leicester Business Centre has been demolished and rebuilt since then, so I spend several minutes going back and forth on Ross Walk, looking for something that isn't there any more. By the time I give up and phone the studio for directions, it turns out I'm so close, someone in the Leicester Business Centre could have leant out of a window and waved me in! Some of the Radio Ramadan programmes are broadcast from the offices of the FMO in Highfields. I was originally told to ge ther, but the equipment at their offices isn't quite good enough to do programmes with a lot of speech content, so the venue was switched to permit a better quality broadcast.

I'm in the studio half an hour before the start of the show, which gives me time to chat with Dee, (Manager at EAVA FM), Ashokhbhai (who is presenting a Hindi programme which finishes just before 1000) and Ismael Bin-Sulaiman (AKA Izzy), producer of the Interfaith Hour. Dee dangles before me the possibility of the Council of Faiths having a weekly hour-long show on the station (dependent on us obtaining sponsorship for it). That's something worth following up. During this conversation, I learn that typical listening figures for the FMO's Ramadan broadcasts are around the 300,000 mark. Most of those listeners access the show online, through the FMO website. The largest concentration of listeners is in  Chicago. Who'd have guessed?

Luman Ali at the the FMO invited me to do this programme a couple of weeks ago. I've been given carte blanche to fill the hour with my choice of content (within reason), so I've put together a programme about how the other seven communities represented on Leicester Council of Faiths approach fasting. I've recorded five short interviews with a Buddhist, a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew and a Sikh, each one of them responding to my questions about how they think about and practise fasting. Following a belt-and-braces approach, I've brought those recordings to the studio in a variety of formats: one CD with the interviews saved as MP3 files; another CD with the interviews saved as data files; a memory stick with MP3 files; my laptop with MP3 and data files; even the handheld digital recorder that I used for the original interviews. I'm not taking any chances! Thankfully, the first of these formats works without any problems.

Each of the interviewees has something interesting and distinctive to say about their religious beliefs and practices on this topic, as well as their personal experience. I invited a Jain friend to contribute too but we couldn't arrange a recording session in the time we had available. Not for the first time, I present the Jain perspective (reading a brief extract from a published source), as well as speaking briefly on my own behalf as a Bahá'í. The recorded interviews are linked by a brief chat between me and Izzy, whom I prompt for a Muslim's response to some of the points raised in the recordings. I think it goes alright, though it's a little rushed toward the end. I fit in everything that I'd wanted to get in, which is good. And thanks to Suleman Nagdi, who sent an SMS to the station, wishing me luck, from a train en route to Manchester.

As I'm leaving the studio, two chaps are setting up for the next programme, which I'm told is a "requests show". What that means in this case is that listeners send in their requests (by email or SMS) for one of the presenters to chant verses from the Qur’án, Hadith or another Islamic source, to heighten the devotional experience during Ramadan. This is one of those moments where I'm grateful for the work I do, and how permits me insights into ways of living that would otherwise not be visible to me.