HUNDREDS CELEBRATE PAKISTAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN LEICESTER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Hundreds celebrate Pakistan Independence Day in Leicester

Hundreds of people poured on to the street to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day in Leicester last night.

St Peters Road, in Highfields, was closed by police from about 10pm as revellers gathered and celebrated by dancing, waving flags and sounding hooters.

The road, which was shut from East Park Road to Melbourne Road, re-opened at about midnight.

Inspector Ben Gillard, of Spinney Hills police station, wrote on social networking website Twitter: “Flags and high spirits in the Highfields for Pakistan independence day. All good natured.”

After the road re-opened he added: “Everything good humoured, people polite and friendly. A pleasure to police #credittoLeicester.”

Celebrations are also expected tonight to mark Indian Independence Day.

Festivities normally begin in the Belgrave Road area during the day and the street is often closed by police during the evening as revellers gather waving flags.

In Leicester, the celebrations traditionally involve a street party on Belgrave Road, a party in Cossington Park, and cultural performances at Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre. Thousands of people attend the annual celebrations in the City.

FIRST PERSON: BREAK DOWN BARRIERS FACING OUR COMMUNITY

Habib Akram (on right in photo below) has written the First Person column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Break down barriers facing our community

Habib Akram says Ahmadi Muslims are committed to peace and the UK but face prejudice from many people

Today is an historic milestone for my community - marking 100 years since our establishment in the UK. We have much to celebrate. We are committed to Britain and its prosperity. Our ethos Love for All, Hatred for None underpins our belief and is manifest in a nationwide peace campaign. In addition:

We have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for UK charities.

• We support the annual Poppy Appeal and organise drives to join the Armed Forces as well as blood donation drives throughout Britain.

• We have engaged in widespread interfaith events and celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at each of our mosques across the country.

• We constructed the first purpose-built mosque in London, which opened in 1924, and was used as a bomb shelter during the war.

• We run western Europe's biggest mosque, in Surrey, with capacity for 10,000 worshippers.

• We have translated the Holy Koran into more than 70 languages, including braille. 

Britain has provided a home for thousands of Ahmadi Muslims over the past century. Our duty as Muslims is to be grateful to God and to give thanks to Queen and country for allowing us to practice [sic] our faith freely.

Islam teaches us to be loyal citizens and we believe it is our duty to serve the country, contribute to society and promote peace for all. When we say Islam means peace, we practice [sic] that.

Today will be a day of thanksgiving for us - the day falls during the blessed month of Ramadan.

However, the occasion also serves as a reminder of the acts of terror committed by extremists on my community.

Hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered in Pakistan, where we are not allowed to practice [sic] Islam, and we continue to be persecuted in Indonesia and other countries where an extremist clergy is able to wield influence.

Even in Britain, there have been attempts to foment hatred against us through satellite Asian news channels or by firebrand clerics.

The result of this is that my community remains isolated from other Muslim communities, even in Leicester, and despite speeches and opinion pieces in this paper about the need for community cohesion, no attempt is made to reach out to us.

Invitations for other Muslims to join us at our interfaith events are ignored by all but a few.

So the need to build bridges and remove the barriers of prejudice is greater than ever. If the words that appear in this paper about building communities are not to be mere platitudes, real action needs to be taken now to break down the barriers of ignorance and prejudice.

As loyal citizens, we enter our second century here in the UK with much optimism. We hope to build on our achievements and, God willing, be of even greater benefit to this country.

Dr Habib Akram is president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Leicester

LEICESTER STUDENT'S T-SHIRTS CHALLENGING VIEWS ABOUT MUSLIMS ARE A GLOBAL HIT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester student's t-shirts challenging views about Muslims are a global hit

When medical student Umair Khan started making slogan T-shirts to challenge negative views about Muslims, he did not expect more than a few orders in the UK.

But his idea proved so popular it is now a global business, with orders coming in from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, America, Australia, Canada and across Europe.

The T-shirts have slogans which aim to convey positive messages about Islam, such as "Terrorism Hijacked My Religion", "I'm a Tourist, Not a Terrorist", and "Islam – 0% APR", in reference to the interest-free ideology of Islamic banking.

The demand for the T-shirts has been so great Umair's Design Molvi business, which started as a four-person team in the UK, has opened a second office in Pakistan.

Umair, who is in his final year of a medical degree at the University of Leicester, said he was amazed and pleased at how successful the business had become.

The 23-year-old, who lives in Scraptoft, Leicester, said: "It's such a contemporary topic.

"We are trying to challenge those stereotypes."

Umair, who was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK 11 years ago, said: "When we started, we were just thinking we would sell them in the UK.

"But people started to ask if we could ship to this country, then another and suddenly we were getting orders from all over the world.

"It was a pleasant surprise and very encouraging."

Umair's project was helped with a bursary from Enterprise Inc, which gives students or recent graduates looking to start a business in the East Midlands up to £2,500 in funding and business start-up support.

He is keeping the project in the family, with his brother and co-founder, Ammar, setting up operations in Pakistan and their cousin, Ibrahim, marketing the product.

Volunteers have been brought on board to help with social media and design.

Following the success of the T-shirts, the company has launched a line of hats, bibs and other baby clothes.

Umair said he wanted to add mobile phone covers and accessories within the next year.

Although Umair plans to pursue a career in medicine once he finishes his degree, he said he was keen to keep going with Design Molvi in his own time.

He said: "I am passionate about both. It's just about time management and delegation."

Irene Zempi, a tutor at the University of Leicester's department of criminology, has published research on hate crime towards veiled Muslim women.

She said the T-shirts were an effective way of challenging people's misconceptions.

"Design Molvi is a very innovative way to tackle Islamophobia," she said.

"It is refreshing and encouraging to see students addressing anti-Muslim prejudice in such an intelligent manner.

"This idea is inspiring and, hopefully, it will contribute into dispelling myths surrounding Islam and Muslims."

www.designmolvi.com

PEACE WALK PROTEST AT FACTORY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Peace walk" protest at factory

Peace campaigners staged a demonstration yesterday outside a factory which makes parts for unmanned military drones.

The protest, by people on a 90-mile "peace walk", took place outside the Thales factory, in Scudamore Road, Braunstone Frith, Leicester.

Participant Penny Walker, of Leicester CND, said: "The walk is to mark the Drones Week of Action, to campaign against the use of unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The Leicester Thales factory makes electronics for the Watchkeeper drone, and that is why we held a demonstration outside."

The walkers, who come from around the country, were met by the Red Leicester Choir outside the factory yesterday afternoon.

They were due to set off again this morning from the Gandhi statue, in Belgrave Road, Leicester.

The 90-mile walk started near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, on Saturday, and passed through Hinckley on the way to Leicester yesterday.

It will continue towards RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where the march will finish on Saturday.

Another participant, Maya Evans, of Hastings, said: "During a visit to Afghanistan last December, I met a 19-year-old whose brother-in-law – a trainee police officer with a wife and one-year-old son – was killed in a drone strike."

She said the idea of the march was to get people talking about drones in the places which the walkers pass through.

Ms Evans added: "We are walking in solidarity with those killed or harmed by drones."The walk coincided with a 20,000-strong protest in Pakistan, led by former cricket international and politician Imran Khan.

Drones are unmanned aircraft equipped with weapons and cameras.No-one from Thales was available for comment yesterday.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,713)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 739
2. United States 463
3. Russia 264
4. India 81
5. France 64
6. Germany 50
7. South Korea 20
8. Belgium 11
9. Pakistan 11
10. Australia 10

This week's total: 1,713 (last week: 1,935). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,295)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 762
2. United States 234
3. Russia 110
4. India 54
5. Germany 50
6. Singapore 22
7. France 19
8. Canada 15
9. Pakistan 15
10. Australia 14

This week's total: 1,295 (last week: 1,208). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at them.

Christmas Aaya

High profile launch today for a multicultural, multi-faith Christmas single. The article and photo feature our very own Concillor Manjula Sood, Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths (third from left in the photo above) and Resham Singh Sandhu (second from right).

People of all faiths are coming together to launch the first Asian Christmas song, with all profits going to the victims of the Pakistan floods.

"Christmas Aaya" – Christmas is Here – is being played by radio stations across the world and is already in The Voice of Asia top ten. Record-breaking drummer King G Mall, who produced the single and appears as Father Christmas in the video, says he is aiming for a Christmas number one.

‘‘We all celebrate Christmas to some degree and I love bringing everyone together for a good cause.

"On the single we sing in both English and Punjabi and this is the first song with a video shot in four countries – UK, Holland, Canada and India."

The Curve theatre in Leicester is holding a spectacular launch party Friday December 17, hosted by Simon Ward of BBC East Midlands Today. The night features Bollywood dancers, bhangra and a fashion show with leaders of many faiths attending.

"They include Resham Singh Sandhu MBE, chair of the Sikh Welfare Cultural Society UK, Reverend Javid Iqbal, chair of the Diosesan Forum for Ethnic Minority Anglicans in Leicester, who says he is “honoured to be part of the event as it’s bringing the faith communities together and raising much needed funding to help the flood victims of Pakistan to rebuild their lives.”.

Suleman Nagdi MBE of the Federation of Muslim Organisation also pledges his support, stating that, “As a Muslim, I am extremely honoured to be part of the Christmas Aaya event as it shows how communities can work together for the mutual respect and advancement of good community relations in Leicestershire.” Also present will be councillor Manjula Sood, former Lord Mayor and chair of the Leicester Council of Faiths, Mussarat Iqbal, chair of Life Skill Project International and Pat Weller, Chief Executive of the Curve said, “We at the curve support both the local and the wider community and we are behind this fundraising event.”

The launch is supported by Curve and Pukaar News.

King G. Mall says, "It’s hardcore Bhangra based on traditional Punjabi folk music but we include a banjo and you can’t help smiling and dancing! Tourists joined in when we were filming at London Bridge and now they’re in the film, along with people from the streets of Leicester."

King G. Mall twice appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest assembled gathering of dhol players (Punjabi drummers.) Earlier this year he released "Aao Ji", the first bhangra release to feature both Asian and non-Asian artists, which received massive online attention with over two hundred and fifty thousand hits.

Artists from Canada, the UK, India, Holland and Pakistan feature in the new single, including Naomi Zaman, Sahib Sekhon, Sana Parvez Naeem John from Leicester and 12-year-old Londoner Nish.

"People say, 'What’s the crazy guy up to now?' I’m aiming to bring people of all cultures together for a good cause and to celebrate Christmas as one!"

Read the article in context on the website of Pukaar News:
http://www.pukaarnews.com/Pages/NsCaaya.html

Leicester's support for Pakistan flood victims

Today's edition of BBC Radio 4's "The World This Weekend" has an item on how Leicester is helping raise money for those affected by the floods in Pakistan. The feature includes an interview with Manzoor Mogul, Chair of the Muslim Forum of Leicester and long-standing member of Leicester Council of Faiths. You can hear this edition of "The World This Weekend" on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days by clicking the link below. The Leicester feature starts twelve minutes into the broadcast and lasts five and a half minutes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00thmvj/The_World_This_Weekend_29_08_2010/