CRIMINAL JUSTICE IS SUBJECT OF TALK

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Criminal justice is subject of talk

A conference about hate crime and the criminal justice system is being held at the University of Leicester tonight.

Hosted by Leicester Council of Faiths, it takes place in lecture theatre three, in the Ken Edwards Building, University Road, at 7pm.

Speakers include Chino Cabon, of The Race Equality Centre, Neil Chakroborti, a senior lecturer in criminology, Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire and Detective Superintendent David Sandall.

To attend, call 0116 254 6868 or e-mail: info@leicestercouncil offaiths.org.uk

MUSLIM BURIAL COUNCIL OF LEICESTERSHIRE: NEW PREMISES

This afternoon I make my first visit to the new premises of MBCOL: Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire. And very nicely appointed they are too: modern but comfortable, stylish but simple, dignified but welcoming - and with some decent fresh coffee too.

MBCOL has been at this new address in Moat Road, Spinney Hills, for three months. Mind you, I never set foot in their old premises on East Park Road, so make this my first visit to MBCOL, period.

That's my friend and colleague, Suleman Nagdi, Chairman of the Board of MBCOL, outside their offices. The green door that's the farther away of the two leads into a smaller office specifically for those wishing to arrange a funeral. The larger entrance and the area it leads into is general reception, office, kitchen and stairs to the boardroom on the first floor. In the boardroom, MBCOL provides training for different faith groups and community organisations on all aspects of death and bereavement (e.g. how to register a death; managing relationships with General Practitioners, hospitals, cemeteries and crematoria; involvement of police and ambulance services; how to deal with a death at home). This advice, guidance and training is offered free of charge, not just to the Muslim community but also to any and all who wish to avail themselves of it. MBCOL is also involved with innovative projects such as virtual autopsy device pioneered by the University of Leicester, which will be to the benefit of all those communities and families who find intrusive techniques objectionable. 

I'm glad of the opportunity to chat with Suleman about the historical development, present situation and future prospects for MBCOL. We discuss how to help more community groups benefit from the work that MBCOL is doing. MBCOL has already established its credentials for being an open, all-embracing organisation through the publication a year ago of its book, Discovering Though Death: Beliefs and Practices (the launch event for which I blogged here). The book explores death, dying and bereavement from several perspectives: Bahá'í, Buddhist, Chritisn, Hindu, Humanist, Jain, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh. It also contains introductory sections on each of these religions or beliefs (bar Humanist), adapted from the public information leaflets I wrote for Leicester Council of Faiths early on in my post.

VOLUNTEER IS MADE MBE FOR CITY WORK

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Volunteer is made MBE for city work

A community leader was presented with an MBE by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace yesterday.

Hashim Duale, 44, a hard-working volunteer and member of the Somali community on Leicester's St Matthew's estate, was recognised for his work to promote harmonious relations between the city's different communities.

Mr Duale was one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis who left his country during the war and famine of the 1990s.

He said: "There were 43 of us receiving honours and we went up to collect them and had a chat with the Prince, and then he shook our hands to signal the conversation was over and we stepped back.

"I think my conversation was one of the longest because he was very interested in the situation in Somalia.

"He was saddened by the fact people are still dying and there's still war going on. He clearly knew a lot about it.

Mr Duale was accompanied on his trip to the capital by his family.

He said: "I took my children aged seven, 10 and 11 along, as well as my wife. My children were hoping to see the Queen. They were very well behaved."

Mr Duale's volunteer work is aimed at integrating the Somali community in Leicester. He serves on advisory panels for both the Bishop of Leicester and the police.

He is also involved with the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicester, and the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire.

Hashim was a member of Leicester Council of Faiths when I took up my post in the summer of 2007.

Harmony that gives the lie to extremist tag

Here's the "First Person" column in today's Leicester Mercury. Before I got the chance to see the paper today, the text of this article was mailed around by Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations. The author of the article, Luman Ali, is a community volunteer and PhD student.

Harmony that gives the lie to extremist tag

Luman Ali wonders why the city is considered a hotbed of Muslim militancy

Why Leicester? That is the question we are all asking after our city was designated as a hotbed of terrorism and worthy of being singled out for significant attention as part of the Government's new Prevent Strategy. What has Leicester done to warrant such concern and worry?

Is it the "One Leicester" campaign, which has brought together the various and diverse communities to celebrate our common humanity and our collaborative achievements, exemplified in the joyful festivities held in the city after the English Defence League demonstration? Is it the work done by the faith communities, in groups such as the Council of Faiths and Faith Leaders Forum, to create the means by which all the people of Leicester may live and work together in harmony and flourish in whatever endeavours they choose to pursue?

Is the launch of a recent Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire book, "Discovering through Death – beliefs and practices", which was written with all faith and non-faith communities to examine how death is dealt with by all, an indicator that Leicester is a rampant hotbed of extremism? Moreover, does it worry the Government that representatives from all faith and non-faith groups came together for the launch of this book in an atmosphere of warmth and conviviality?

Is the Government worried about the way in which the various communities of Leicester came together last October to work with the police and local authority to combat the public disorder that was visited upon our great city? Is the Government concerned that the event passed with such minimal disruption that the strategies implemented by the police, local authority and various communities surrounding the event, have been used by other cities as a model of good practice?

If the Government is concerned about what has been noted here then it is pertinent to ask, why exactly have we been cited as a hotbed of extremism? Furthermore, if the inter-faith and community work that has been done in this city, work which has led to us being cited as a reference point for exemplary community work by other European cities, has not been enough to move Leicester away from being a hotbed of extremism, then what more can we do to help foster excellent community relations?

On our part we will continue to work with our partners to consolidate our strong relationship fostered through years of collaborative hard work. We also invite policy makers to view the work in Leicester to see why a church, Hindu Temple, mosque and synagogue stand yards apart in the Highfields area in peace and harmony. Why Leicester as a hotbed of extremism? No, the fact is "why not" Leicester.

Read this article, along with reader comments (and the opportunity to make your own) on the Leicester Mercury website: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Harmony-gives-lie-extremist-tag/story-12766987-detail/story.html

Faith book out

That's the rather non-descript headline for a brief article in today's Leicester Mercury about MBCoL's book launch last Friday.

Faith book out

Discovering Through Death – Beliefs and Practices has been compiled by people from the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jain, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities and was written by Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire.

For more information, visit: www.mbcol.org.uk

MUSLIM BURIAL COUNCIL BOOK LAUNCH

To Parklands Leisure Centre, Oadby, this evening, for the launch of Discovering Through Death: Beliefs and Practices - a new book published by the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire (MBCoL).

I'm greeted outside by three Muslim friends. I ask where the entrance is and one of them tells me, "Follow the straight path!" I reply, "Could anything be more Islamic?" Laughter all round.

Upon entering, I'm greeted warmly by Suleman Nagdi (Chair of MBCoL). As we shake hands, someone takes our photo (I've seen the result: Suleman looks as debonair as ever, I wear the pained expression of someone who's just banged his knee on the edge of a table.)

There's a pile of copies of the book on a talbe near the door and we're invited to take one - for free. Having spend much of my working life in book publishing, it can still come as a shock to be offered a nicely produced book free of charge: I take four.

When formal proceedings get under way, we hear words of welcome from Faisal Issat (Legal Advisor to MBCoL): Suleman Nagdi; Councillor Linda Hartley, Mayor of Oadby & Wigston; Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester; Councillor Manjula Sood, Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths; and Resham Singh Sandhu, High Sherriff of Leicestershire and Chair of the Interfaith Forum for Leicestershire. Guests of honour this evening include Lady Gretton, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire; and His Honour Judge Simon Hammond.

A representative from each of the communities of faith or belief included in the book is called to the stage to say a few words: Minou Cortazzi (Bahá'í); Caroline Brazier (Buddhist); Rev Canon Andrew wingate (Christian); Hamang Bhatt (Hindu); Humanist (Allan Hayes); Rabiah Hannan (Muslim); Tony Nelson (Jewish). That's Tony at the microphone in the photo above. Unfortunately, no one was on hand at this point to represent the Jain or Sikh communities.

Keynote speaker this evening is His Honour Judge Howard Morrison CBE QC. He is a judge at the Internaional Criminal Court in The Hague, where he currently sits on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia considering the case of Radovan Karadžić, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnians Muslims  and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.

Judge Morrison expresses his hope that this new book (fro which he wrote the foreword) will not only be a source of accurate and up to date information, but will also be a catalyst for thought and relationships that will make us think about how we live out the rest of our years.

Following Judge Morrison's brief but thought-provoking address, Suleman Nagdi proposes a vote of thanks. then, as the last formal part of the evening, Faisal Issat made a presentation to Richard Welburn, Head of Bereavement Services at Leicester City Council. Richard is due to retire in October and MBCoL wished to mark this with a gift and some words of tribute.

I think that this event is a landmark in inter faith relations, not just for Leicester, but nationally. Definitely one for the history books. My only reservation is that there's no mention (either from any of the speakers or in the book itself) of the fact that significant portions of the book's content are the work of Leicester Council of Faiths. Sections in the book which serve as an introduction to each of the eight faith communities which are members of the Council of Faiths (single paragraphs in unified style, covering such topics as Definitions; Origins; Beliefs; Scripture; Worship, Prayer and Meditation; Spiritualityl Lifestyle; Community; and Festival) are reproduced, word-for-word, from the set of public information brochures that we published in 2008. The Muslim Burial Council bought the right to use these texts from us for an agreed (small) fee and, while they then had the rights to limited used of the texts, we did ask for a credit as the originator of the material. I'm not going to be the dog in the manger at this special and very positive occasion, but I was saddened that we didn't get any mention for this contribution to the book. Even if it were done from the platform, it would have been nice to have heard it said in such distinguished company. Still, I won;t let anything take the shine off such a good occasion.

THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE - WHY ASIAN LEADER SPOKE OUT ON IMMIGRATION

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Thinking the unthinkable - why Asian leader spoke out on immigration

Immigrants, eh? Coming over here, taking our jobs... it's time the Government did something. That was the general gist. It's hardly newsworthy now; the kind of opinion you can hear being bandied across pub tables every night of the week.

Sometimes, though, it's not what's been said, but who has said it.You don't expect a banker to have a go at bonuses and you don't expect an Asian community leader to question the wisdom of Britain's immigration policy.

Yet last week, in the pages of this newspaper, Suleman Nagdi – spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations, chairman of the Muslim Burial Council, Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire, MBE – did just that.

It felt like a watershed moment; an immigrant – Mr Nagdi arrived in Britain in 1976 – calling for tighter immigration controls.

To some, it was an example of towering hypocrisy; an ill-judged comment by someone who should know better, that could only blow wind into the sails of the far-right.

"People have said, 'It's okay for Suleman. He's here, he's got himself a good life. Now he wants to stop other people doing it'," says Mr Nagdi.

"The other side of it is, 'I agree with you. We don't have the resources here at this moment to deal with these people'."

Mr Nagdi made his original remarks after being asked to comment on a survey which found 39 per cent of British Asians – compared with 34 per cent of whites and 21 per cent of blacks – wanted all immigration into the UK to be stopped permanently.

Those figures were greeted with raised eyebrows, but they weren't altogether surprising, says John Benyon, a professor of political studies at the University of Leicester.

We tie the label "immigrant" to all new arrivals.

Yet what do Somali refugees have in common with Eastern Europeans or Indians who came here from Uganda and Kenya in the 1970s?

The answer, Prof Benyon points out, is not a great deal – beyond the desire to build themselves better lives.

He says: "A lot of generalisations about immigrants are made without any attempt to distinguish between the different motivations of people for wanting to come here. Some are economic migrants, some come here for security."

Mr Nagdi finesses his comments of last week, but he doesn't row back from them.

Mukesh Naker, a spokesman for Leicester pressure group British Hindu Voice, said similar things in that story. He, though, has not responded to our requests for an interview.

So, fair play to Mr Nagdi.

"I'm just being practical," he says. "Look at the situation we now find ourselves in. We are in the grip of a worldwide economic recession.

More people are losing their jobs.

"We need to look at the demands made on housing and education.

There are far-reaching consequences if you have large numbers of people coming in.

"I'm not talking about a total ban on immigration. I'm talking about more control over immigration."

The far-right is always looking to scapegoat certain groups for social and economic problems, he argues. If we don't take the issue of immigration seriously, then we run the risk of playing into their hands.

It's a point, but does the Leicester of today look so very different to one Mr Nagdi moved into in the 1970s?

We had a three-day week back then, an oil crisis, a recession and the National Front were on the march.

Yet Mr Nagdi, like so many others who had little luggage and a lot of ambition, made a go of things. He worked hard, he set up his own business and, along with many others, he helped reinvigorate this city's spluttering economy.

"There are some major success stories relating to minority communities," says Mr Nagdi, seemingly trampling on his own argument. "If you look at Leicester, some of the richest people in this city are from minority communities. They have contributed to the wealth of this city."

The Asian immigrant success story has been told so often it teeters on the brink of cliche.

Manjula Sood, Leicester's first Indian lady mayor and first woman chairman of the city's council of faiths, came to Leicester on December 18, 1970.

Home, back in India, had been a 25-room house with servants. She swapped that for a one-bedroom place in Highfields with no carpets or central heating.

Manjula wanted to go back to India, but her grandfather told her to stick it out with her new husband. She did, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"This city gave me the support to bring up my children and live with dignity," says Manjula.

It is a debt Manjula has undoubtedly paid back with interest – just as today's new arrivals will do, she believes.

When Manjula sees Eastern Europeans cleaning cars, opening shops and working on building sites for the minimum wage, she sees the same determination to succeed she saw in Indian immigrants 30 and 40 years ago.

Lazy people don't cross continents. If someone leaves their country, they do it because they want to build themselves a better life.

Given time, they too will be part of Leicester's establishment, says Manjula. You can't pull the shutters down on immigration. Try to do that and society stagnates.

That's not to say she doesn't understand people's concerns, particularly in the Indian community.

People mortgaged their lives to buy into the British dream, and now, they can see it evaporating before their eyes.

Is it any wonder if people have concerns about new arrivals, she asks. The recent English Defence League rally brought back unhappy memories for lots of people.

There is a fear that minority communities could bear the brunt of any backlash if immigration concerns are not addressed.

"I can stand on a rooftop saying I'm British, but others don't see me as that. It's not what I say, it's what others think," says Mr Nagdi.

There is a fear in the Asian community, says Manjula, that they "could be the first targeted if anything goes wrong".

"Go into the communities and you will find this is the talk at the moment."

Such concerns are perfectly understandable, says Prof Benyon. People who come to a country for a better life are often less likely to take that life for granted.

There is another factor at work, too, he says.

"Immigrants are often fiercely proud and loyal of their new country, much more so sometimes than people who have been here for generations," says Prof Benyon.

As far as Mr Nagdi is concerned, he's not saying the unsayable. We have to talk about such things, he believes.

"Immigration is a debate we all should be having," he says. "I'm the first one to say I don't have all the answers.

"If you had asked me about this 20 years ago, my answer may have been different. I think more about being a British citizen than an Asian citizen. My focus has changed."

Just to set the record straight: this article describes Cllr Manjula Sood as "first woman chairman of the city's council of faiths". The first woman Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths was actually Minou Cortazzi (2007-9).

BBC RADIO 4'S ANALYSIS VISITS LEICESTER

A brief exchange with the Lord Mayor of Leicester (Cllr Colin Hall) on Twitter today alerts me to some unexpected media coverage for the city and its faith communities:

LeicesterMayorWelcomed BBC Radio 4 to #Leicester Town Hall today - interviewed on work of faith groups + others to promote community cohesion in city.

counciloffaiths@LeicesterMayor Now that sounds interesting! Do you know which programme & when it will go out?

LeicesterMayor@counciloffaiths The Radio 4 programme is called Analysis - should be broadcast around mid-March. Will post details here when I get them.

If you're not familiar with Analysis, here's how it's described on the programme's website:

Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.

This edition of Analysis, entitled "Muscular Liberalism", was broadcast on Monday 14 March 2011 with a repeat on Sunday 20 March 2011. Here's a summary of the programme content:

The prime minister has proposed a new "muscular liberalism", aimed at better integrating Britain's Muslims. It aims to counter the alienation that has led to a few young British Muslim men being prepared to mount terrorist attacks. David Walker asks what the new policy will mean on the ground, and how easily it can be reconciled with government plans for more local diversity and faith schools.

As well as featuring a contribution from Cllr Hall, the programme includes an interview with Suleman Nagdi, speaking about the Federation of Muslim Organisations and the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire. Here's a transcript of the section of the porgramme featuring Cllr Hall:

Leicester’s majority, as elsewhere, is neither Muslim nor Christian
but largely non-believing, secular and, usually, silent. Integration
might require putting less emphasis on religious faith. The Lord
Mayor of the city, Councillor Colin Hall, wants to get religion out of public life and has dispensed with prayers before council meetings.

HALL: In the area which I represent in New Parks, the proportion of the population who identify actively with the faith groups is actually quite low.

WALKER: So you would say most Leicester people are secular? 

HALL: I think they don’t identify with or actively practice a particular faith. 

WALKER: But if you look at sort of policy, particularly policy under
the previous Labour government, policy under the present government, faith schools have been pushed. I mean how do we interpret that? 

HALL: Under the previous government, the last two prime ministers
felt that faith was important to them and they were perhaps a bit more susceptible than the party as a whole or the country as a whole to the arguments that some of the faith groups were putting forward.

And here's the part with Suleman Nagdi:

Influential figures in the Muslim community may be more interested in securing greater recognition for their faith and its practice in Britain than allowing young people to get together freely. In Leicester, Suleman Nagdi has published guidelines for the local NHS on what to do when Muslim patients die. They include avoiding contact between the dead body and menstruating women doctors and nurses. 

NAGDI: I run something called the Muslim Burial Council of
Leicestershire. We signed the first historic document in Europe
allowing a section of the community to bury their deceased within 24 hours or over Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays. We are working
with the health service, we are working right across the board. 

WALKER: Sorry to interrupt, but what happens if that work of
negotiation isn’t being done within the community? Who should act
then? 

NAGDI: I think that’s a challenge for my own community. They need to reflect and they need to create visionaries from within their own community. We can no longer become armchair critics and complain that we do not have certain services provided to us by local authority if we do not articulate what we need. And also the articulation does not necessarily result in you getting what you want. There has to be a compromise. Sometimes there are ridiculous claims made by certain sections of my community and other community. And that, I’m sorry, is just unacceptable and we need to learn to be more mature to understand that we are privileged to live in this country, we are grateful for being given a home in this country, and we are working within the framework of the law of this country, and the law of this country is supreme.

Listen to this edition of Analysis on the programme's website.

Read a transcript of this edition of Analysis.

Follow Analysis on Facebook.

Subscribe to podcasts of Analysis.

Follow Analysis on Twitter.

FOCUS GROUP ON BEREAVEMENT SERVICES

Saffron Hill Cemetery

At the Cathedral Centre, St Martins, this evening, for a different sort of meeting of Leicester Council of Faiths - well, certainly different from any I've attended during my time working for them. A focus group session involving members of the full Council of Faiths and invited guests (mainly representatives of the Muslim Burial Council for Leicestershire). We meet at the Cathedral Centre, for a presentation and discussion on Leicester City Council's Bereavement Services. Bereavement Services is undergoing its first formal review since 2003.

The presentation is led by Richard Welburn, Head of Parks and Green Spaces, Leicester City Council (with four City Councillors in attendance). Bereavement Services is part of the City Council's Parks and Green Spaces Service. It provides for burial, cremation, grounds maintenance of cemeteries and administration. It employs 25 staff and runs four cemeteries and one crematorium.

We're introduced to the historical background, facts and figures and legislative requirements currently affecting provision of bereavement services and the operational procedures determining how these services are delivered. There are four cemeteries in Leicester today:

• Welford Road (est 1849) which is included in the Register of Historic Landscape and is closed for new burials;
• Belgrave (est 1881) which is closed for new burials;
• Gilroes (est 1902) which is the location of Leicester's crematorium;
• Saffron Hill (est 1931) which is included in the Register of Historic Landscape, the Chapel Lodge and Gates of which are grade II listed.

We're told about current challenges faced by this service in the city:

• mercury abatement (there's a statutory requirement to reduce the amount of mercury vapour emitted into the atmosphere from fillings in the teeth of those being cremated);
• acquisition or extension of burial land (Gilroes has 3-4 years estimated capacity at current levels, Saffron Hill 5-6 years, less if proposed land extension to Gilroes doesn't proceed);
• memorial safety (a sensitive subject since memorials remain the property of the family of the decease and their upkeep is not the City Council's responsibility);
• systems (much information related to this service is recorded manually, it's costly to transpose large amounts of such records onto computer, large amounts of staff taken up with answering questions about historic burials that can require lengthy, complex and manual searches);
• multi faith provision.

While many of us would probably be interested in some or all of these issues, it's this last one that concerns the Council of Faiths most - obviously. In terms of serving the diverse faith communities of Leicester, the Jewish Torah was opened at Gilroes in 1902; a Muslim Janazgah was at Saffron Hill in 1985, and Hindu, Sikh and Jain facilities were introduced at Gilroes in 1989. The biggest challenge facing the Parks and Green Spaces Service in this topic area now is the provision of additional mourner accommodation at Gilroes.

Parks and Green Spaces identifies the main risk for this review as being "that individual religious groups think independently and pursue self interest." And their solution? "By using the Council of Faiths as an intermediary, rather than meeting with individual focus groups, we hope to mitigate the likelihood of this occurring."

2009's TOP 10: No 1

Holocaust Memorial Day, University of Leicester, Fraser Noble Hall, London Road, Leicester, Tuesday 27 January 2009

Like the Faiths Trail coach tour round some of the city's places of worship (see number 5 in this list of my top ten for 2009), Holocaust Memorial Day has become one of the signature events organised each year by Leicester Council of Faiths. This local commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day is arranged in association with the Schools Development Support Agency, the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council).

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day this year was Stand Up to Hatred. There was a three-member panel: Dr Martin Stern, a member of the Leicester Hebrew Congregation who had been taken into a Nazi concentration camp at the age of five (along with his one-year old sister) and whose story had been published in the Leicester Mercury over the previous week; a lady from the British Traveller community, who wished to be known by her first name only (Lil); and Suleman Nagdi, founder member of the Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire (MBCOL) and Public Relations Officer for the Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) - an infrastructure support body that works with more than 750 Muslim groups in the city and county.

The Muslim Council of Britain had advised Muslims throughout the country to abstain from supporting National Holocaust Memorial day this year as a way of registering their protest at the situation in Gaza. I can't say whether this was universally observed all over Britain. I can say that in light of this national advice, the FMO held an urgent meeting and voted that they should support the events in Leicester and Leicestershire. Abdul Kareem Gheewala, Chair of the FMO, was in attendance at this commemoration of HMD. Suleman Nagdi was asked to speak on the panel at Fraser Noble Hall at just half an hour's notice. I'm not going to try and report or paraphrase what Suleman said when he got the chance to speak. If it's a failure on the writer's part to say, "You had to be there" then on this occasion I'll happily hold my hands up and say, okay, I fail - this time. Usually I take copious notes at such events, but my Moleskine notebook stayed shut on this occasion. Anyone reading this will be aware that Leicester likes to think of itself as somewhere special, somewhere exceptional. It's at moments like this that I believe it.

I asked some of the folk I know from Network for Change to come with me to this event. People whom we'd now describe as having mental health problems were also taken to the camps - and Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates all those who have been (or still are) victims of persecution.

It's a guiding principle of Leicester Council of Faiths that it tends to the religious, spiritual and cultural life of the city. While it expresses sympathy with those who are suffering around the world, for whatever reason and from whatever cause, it doesn't take sides. This evening was a magnificent display of solidarity among the city's faith communities. I'm sure that Suleman would have received a standing ovation at the end of his impromptu speech - were it not for the fact that many of those attending were probably a bit too old and frail to stand.

Read my blog entries for Holocaust Memorial Day 2010, "The Legacy of Hope" and Holocaust Memorial Day 2011, "Untold Stories".