ITV FILMS RALLY FOR ABDUL IN VICTORIA PARK

Friends of Abdul at the rally in Victoria Park. Photo by Ambrose Musiyiwa, publishing as Civic Leicester (used with permission)

At Victoria Park this morning, for an open-air protest against the impending deportation to Afghanistan of Abdul Ghafar Rajabali. The rally, organised by Abdul's friends in Leicester City of Sanctuary, takes place on the five-a-side pitches, where Abdul would turn out on a Sunday morning for FC Kolektivo Victoria. His team mates are here supporting it too.

One of his friends places a call to Abdul in IRC Morton Hall, where he's been held, so that he might hear some of our support for him this morning. She's shocked to hear that Abduk has already been removed from the detention centre and is on his way to Gatwick, where he'll be put into a holding area to await his flight to Afghanistan. He's not scheduled to leave till after midnight on Wednesday 22nd. This doesn't mean that all is lost; his friends will keep working for his release till the last possible moment.

A film crew from ITV records the event today. A report was broadcast this afternoon and can be seen on YouTube.

I should say that I'm here in a personal capacity, rather than representing Leicester Council of Faiths. However I'm here, I'm glad to be able to give whatever support I can.

For more information about the ongoing campaign to keep Abdul in the UK and to see what you can do to help, even at this late stage, visit the Facebook page.

TIRATH YATRA WALK 2013, STAGE 7: SHREE HINDU TEMPLE & COMMUNITY CENTRE

Stage seven of the Tirath Yatra Sponsored Walk with Leicester Friends of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: Shree Hindu Temple & Community Centre, St Barnabas Road. The goal is to visit 16 Hindu places of worship (mandirs) in Leicester on foot in a single day.

Tirath Yatra (Hindi: तीर्थयात्रा) is a journey undertaken as a pilgrimage.

Rangoli patterns in coloured chalk at one of the entrances to Shree Hindu Temple & Community Centre

In their own literature and website, Shree Hindu Temple is described as the first Hindu place of worship to be opened (in 1969), not only in Leicester, but in the United Kingdom. How does that square with the claims made for Radha Krishna Temple on Cromford Street (the previous stage on our yatra) I wonder? That's a conundrum I promised myself to solve when we were here last year on the Holi Yatra Walk. You might want to have a peek at Shree Hindu Temple's YouTube channel while you're at it.

Rangoli patterns in coloured chalk at one of the entrances to Shree Hindu Temple & Community Centre

We have a bit of a sit down for half an hour or so here, enjoying cold drinks and nibbles in a marquee in the car park before setting off to our next destination, just a few minutes walk away: Mandir Baba Balak Nath Ji, on Uppingham Road.

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!

LEICESTER CATHEDRAL PREPARES FOR QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE

Leicester Cathedral is making a major contribution to local celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee over this extended holiday weekend. The Diamond Jubilee began in earnest with the Queen's visit to Leicester on Tuesday 8 March. She spent much of that day in and around the Cathedral, so there are many mementoes of that day on show here, comprising the foundation of the Cathedral's activities over the next few days.

The display above commemorates the visit of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cambridge to the Cathedral. It's a collage, made up of a myriad tiny pictures of scenes from the visit and portraits of Leicester people, taken on the day. You can see how it works on the video I made with Beverley Farrand giving a short tour of the Cathedral, pointing out things related to the royal visit and the Diamond Jubilee, which I've posted on the Council of Faiths YouTube Channel.

One of the most interesting things I see today is the Corona, made from willow branches by Sue Pyecroft. Sue is an artist, puppeteer, teacher and theatre designer. She's an Artistic Director with Bamboozle Theatre. The Corona is suspended over the spot where the royal visitors sat during the Cathedral service on 8 March. It's so light and ethereal that it appears to float there, unsupported. The Corona will be on display at least until the end of Jubilee Week.

And here's Julie Ann Heath, Chaplain at the Cathedral (and member of Leicester Council of Faiths), arranging flowers near the Cathedral entrance. The arrangement (she tells me) is inspired by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit - the gift that keeps on giving.

CARNIVAL OF STARS

Carnival of Stars, a collection of young Christian singers and musicians who perform songs of celebration and praise in varying combinations and a variety of styles, is appearing at the Clock Tower this afternoon.

They put on this same show yesterday evening at DMU Campus Centre as part of a two-day campaign, sharing their Good News. They attract a sizeable receptive crowd here, many of whom stay for a big chunk of the performance, which lasts the better part of three hours. Among the smaller groups performing today, drawn from Carnival of Stars wider line-up, are the Life Ladies (photo below).

I video four songs and upload them to the Council of Faiths YouTube channel. Check out our Carnival of Stars playlist there. This has been done with the permission of Pastor Emmanuel-Iseaka of the Amazing Grace Parish, whom I spoke to at the event.

Spot the woman doing "the invisible walk" in the photo at the top.

IDAHO DAY AT PHOENIX SQUARE

Today is Idaho Day: International Day Against Homophobia, an occasion given the imprimatur of the United Nations. I'm at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre with a display for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) in a "marketplace" style exhibition to mark the occasion. 

Other organisations taking part today here:

• Blaby District Community Safety Partnership
• Citizens' Eye Community News Agency
• Leicestershire Police's Stamp It Out! campaign
• Leicestershire Together Stop and Tell campaign
• Trade Sexual Health
• Victim Support

It's a small scale, low key affair and is all over in three hours. But it brings this important day to the attention of regular and occasional users of Phoenix Square's cafe bar and it contributes to the considerable cumulative online coverage of Idaho Day. John Coster of Citizens' Eye filmed an interview with me about REDP's participation in Idaho Day. You can see this on YouTube. John also submitted this video interview to CNN iReport.

There can never be enough opportunities or occasions to highlight an issue like this. Most of the people on the stalls are weil-kent faces, but a few are new to me - and I always think that's a good thing in itself.

More than once today I heard voices lamenting the small turnout, both in terms of organisations displaying and of visitors. And more than once I heard John Coster respond with an apposite Chinese proverb: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now." I might be well advised to apply that to a few other things going on in my life these days!

HOLI YATRA WALK 2012, STAGE 6: SHREE HINDU TEMPLE & COMMUNITY CENTRE

Sixth stage on the Holi Yatra Sponsored Walk with Leicester Friends of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: Shree Hindu Temple & CommunityCentre, St Barnabas Road. The goal is to visit 15 Hindu places of worship in Leicester on foot today. Six down ...

Holi (Hindi: होली) is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus, also known as the Festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal and in countries with large populations from India or of Indian descent who follow Hinduism.

Yatra (Sanskrit: यात्रा, "journey", "procession"), in Hinduism and other Indian religions, means pilgrimage to holy places and is generally undertaken in groups. One who goes on a yatra is known as a yatri. It is desirable, but not obligatory, for a Hindu to go on a yatra. One can go on a yatra for a variety of reasons, including festivals, to perform rituals for one's ancestors, or to obtain good karma. To traditional Hindus, the journey itself is as important as the destination, and the hardships of travel serve as an act of devotion in themselves. Visiting a sacred place is believed by the pilgrim to purify the self and bring one closer to the divine. (Thanks to Wikipedia for these definitions.)

After leaving Radha Krishna Temple in Cromford Street (stage five) and becoming separated from the rest of the party due to over-zealous tweeting, I take a number of wrong turnings before realising exactly where I should be heading. I think the group has already become used to me being at the back – but not this far back! Or maybe they thought I’d had enough and given up and gone home – not yet though! I’m determined to stay the course; well, more of the course than I’ve stayed so far.

On this solo part of the Yatra (does that increase its merit for me? or does losing touch with the group decrease it?) I take comfort in the virtual company of my frequent and reliable companions Fraser Cain (publisher of Universe Today) and Dr Pamela Gay (a professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville). I'm working my way through the back catalogue of Astronomy Cast, a podcast which describes itself as a "weekly facts-based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know." I downloaded these en masse a while back and have been mainlining them, sometimes three or more per day for ages now. The first podcast dates from 10 September 2006 and I make a point of listening to every single one, all the way through - even if it goes way over my head (and it often does, believe me).

Each specifically themed podcast alternates with one addressing questions sent in by listeners, so there are a lot of podcasts to get through. While en route to Shree Hindu Temple, I listen to episode 140 (1 June 2009) on the subject of quantum entanglement. This is precisely the sort of occasion Astronomy Cast was meant for.

I think I'll reach the next stage only to see the little yellow rucksacks disappearing into the distance - if I'm lucky. More likely, I'll reach it after they've left and will be struggling to get a steer on their next destination. But my luck is in: I arrive at Shree Hindu Temple not only to find that the group has spent all the time so far in the worship hall, but also that I've arrived just in time for lunch! And just before eating, I get the call I've been waiting for from Suleman Nagdi at the Federation of Muslim Organisations, in case there's been any misunderstanding about our group walking through Highfields with placards held high. He says he hasn't heard anything in the hour or so since I left my message, but he'll keep his ear to the ground and take care of any rumours that he might hear.

Our hosts serve us a very welcome vegetarian meal, give us a lovely glossy colour booklet about the temple and the various celebrations that take place there. Shree Hindu Temple describes itself as the first Hindu place of worship to be opened (in 1969), not only in Leicester, but in the United Kingdom. I wonder how that squares with the claims made for Radha Krishna Temple on Cromford Street, the previous stage on our yatra. Certainly, they're very different buildings. Another mystery I'd like to resolve sometime. Oh, and have a look at Shree Hindu Temple's YouTube channel.

I leave some fliers and A4 posters for the upcoming REDP event Choice Unlimited (after asking permission, of course). I also leave information about the Council of Faiths next open meeting, a panel presentation entitled "God in my faith" coming up during the week.

Then we set off for our next port of call: Mandir Baba Balak Nath Ji on Uppingham Road. I fall in at the back of the group again. This isn't some false display of humility on my part; I really am this slow, compared to the rest of them. Thankfully, there's always someone who hangs back to chat.

LEICESTER SPEAKS 2011 PRE-LAUNCH EVENT

Pre-launch event for Leicester Speaks today. We’ve taken over one side of Gallowtree Gate in the city centre, setting up our stalls from 0800. We’re on display to the public (officially) from 0930 till 1530. There are 23 organisations on display (including us). Most are from the Voluntary and Community Sector, but there’s also a good show of support from Leicester City Council.

• Afro Innovation Group
• B-inspired
• Brahma Kumaris
• Curve
• Human Excellence
• LAMP Direct
• Leicester Adults Skills and Learning Service
• Leicester City Council Community Services
• Leicester City Council Young People’s Council
• Leicester Secular Society
• Leicester Speaks
• LeicestHERday Trust
• Leicestershire Aids Support Service
• Multi-Access Centres
• Network for Change
• NHS Leicester City
• Pakistani Youth & Community Centre
• Recovery Resource Charity
• Shama Women’s Centre
• Silver Star
• touchRainbow
• Voluntary Action LeicesterShire

It's lovely weather, the sun shines all day and there's hardly a cloud in the sky. There's a warm, inviting and positive vibe up and down the stall. No one attempts to keep a tally of how many people take an interest, but it'd be safe to say that several hundred people stop and chat on at least one of the exhibits, and pick up flyers, freebies etc.

Our stall is right in front of Dorothy Perkins. I think it would be fair to say that it was constantly busy, with a small number of people enquiring at it or lifting our leaflets, cards, stickers or key fobs. Have to be careful though - when they ask how much the key fobs are and we tell them they're free, they're tempted to take half a dozen!


Two members of the public ask me, why no mention of Pagans and Quakers? Why aren't they shown on our logo and our literature as members of the diverse faith communities of Leicester? These questions in particular are asked virtually every time we make an appearance in public.


Based on our experience last year, I'd say that the challenge for the Council of Faiths involvement in Leicester Speaks this20112 is threefold, namely:

• content
• engagement
• venues

In terms of content, last year we staged a series of "daily dialogues" across four days, public meetings in a variety of venues, involving an individual from one of our member faith communities in conversation with an individual from another, discussing the topic, "What does our community bring to Leicester?" This was intended to bring together communities who are not normally seen in dialogue with each other in the city or elsewhere. So we had a Jain / Sikh dialogue to start with (in Leicester Adult Education College), a Bahá'í / Christian dialogue (in the Welcome Centre), a Buddhist / Muslim dialogue (also in the Welcome Centre), and finally a Hindu / Jewish dialogue (in the Screen Room at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre). This last one was recorded and an excerpt was posted on YouTube. As good as I think this was (and I do think it was good), we can't just repeat it this year. I'm open to ideas and suggestions, faithful reader.


In terms of engagement, we're never able to draw on large numbers of people from our member faith communities for events such as this. It's difficult to get support for one reason or another; that's usually the hardest task when arranging our participation in such activities. it was difficult just drumming up enough numbers to help our at this one today. Even those member communities who do support in strength (from an internal point of view) tend to be those which are small in number to start with, so even if we get a large percentage of those groups turning out, it's not necessarily impressive to an outsider. I tried to take account of this for our involvement in Leicester Speaks last year, with deliberately small scale meetings, that would work well with small numbers. but it would be a good thing to be able to expand the numbers from the faith communities involved this year.


In terms of venues, I'd love to find a way to get out into the wider community. All the meetings we staged last year were in the city centre. Perhaps including other venues is the key to greater numbers participating too. Since Leicester Speaks runs for eight days in total, perhaps each of our member faith communities can host a day at a venue of their choice.


Thanks to those who helped out on the Council of Faiths stall today: Rahat Ahmed, David Clarke, Minou Cortazzi, Rosemarie Fitton, Janette Macdonald, John Moore (not forgetting Harry and Gracie as Scooter Gang!)

CreativeCoffee Club

After participating in the taining event for LASALS staff at the Adult Education College, I get to CreativeCoffee Club (at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre) a bit late this morning, with only half an hour to go. It's always worthwhile no matter what time you turn up and it's good to refresh my networking chops.

I persuade a few of those attending to step in front of my Flip video camera, to speak for a minute or so about CreativeCoffee Club: Jane (who co-ordinates it), Farhanah (a veteran of sorts - though not when compared to me, of course) and Tara, Charlie and Magda (speaking as newcomers). I do a few more shots, but background noise makes them unsuitable for uploading to our YouTube channel.

Magda, whom I've only met once before, said the nicest thing to me. She's from Poland and she'd been trying to tell her friends and relatives back home what Christmas is like in Leicester. Rather than describe it, she has been directing them to the two videos I shot just the other night of the Christmas decorations in Town Hall Square and posted on YouTube :^)

Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh celebrated in Glenfield

To the Parish Council Hall in Glenfield, Leicestershire, this evening, to join city and county Bahá'ís in celebrating the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh, founder and central figure of the Bahá'í Faith. We're not quite sure where we're going and neither is the taxi driver. Having driven the length of Stamford Street once, then turning round at the bottom only to drive all the way back up again,we ask him to stop and let us out so that we can ask directions in one of the shops. After several minutes up hill and down dale, we find the venue, which is set well back from the main road and not terribly well lit or signed. We arrive just as the devotional part of the meeting is ending.

This is the first outing for the Flip video camera and I'm at a bit of a loss what to film at first. I settle on the format of talking heads, interviewing five of the friends here - Aramesh, Jan, Khaze, Mateen, Rita - about this occasion (with some of them, I use the Council of Faiths Bahá'í banner as a backdrop). This seems promising; an adaptable format, in which being rough and ready will look live a virtue (I hope). I might be better at cinema verite than aiming at something more polished. Back at home, I launch a YouTube channel for Leicester Council of Faiths, with these five being the first things uploaded to it.

See these first videos posted to the Council of Faiths YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/counciloffaiths#grid/user/FEA51F841560D18B

Leicester Speaks: Hindu / Jewish dialogue

Fourth and final meeting this morning presented by the Council of Faiths for Leicester Speaks (AKA Local Democracy Week). This one is a Hindu / Jewish dialogue at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre, 1100-1200.

I arrive just at 1050 (ten minutes before kick-off), hot-foot from the final planning / first debriefing meeting of the Steering Group at the Adult  Education College in Wellington Street. When I get there only our two speakers, Ramesh Majithia and Tony Nelson, are in the Phoenix Café Bar, along with Marion Kennedy, who has kept a 100% attendance record at these dialogue meetings (and who also made a such a good contribution from the stage at our launch event in Humberstone Gate on Monday morning).

We’ve been given the use of the Screen Room this morning, the smallest of the actual screening rooms on the ground floor which can hold up to 30 people. Shortly after we move in there and start the meeting, our numbers increase. Minou Cortazzi arrives, then two guys from TouchRainbow Productions to record the event in video and stills, then Manjula Sood (our Chair) arrives to bring our number up to eight.

I must say that I've probably been looking forward to this session more than any of the others this week. That's partly because of the setting but also because I felt like I couldn't predict what direction the dialogue might take. I don't think I'd ever sat through a dialogue meeting between in all the years I've been involved in inter faith work. If you've been keeping up with these entries, faithful reader, you'll have seen that the could be said about every one of these meetings - that the topics covered and direction followed have been unpredictable, but I have felt something different and special about this one, ever since the notion came into my head to plan our contributions along these lines. I'm glad to say that the meeting itself doesn't disappoint.

A few days later, an eight-minute extract from this session is posted on YouTube. This is what I'd have to say is a turning point in this kind of activity for us - and, more the point, for me. The significance of the fact that a meeting can be held with hardly a handful of people present, but for it to be recorded and posted online so that any number of people can see it, at any time. I'm not expecting thousands to watch it, but it does have massive potential. This realisation is what I'd have to call a game-changer - much as I don't like the term, it certainly gets the meaning across. And it shows the benefit of partnership working as I'd never have had the kit or the skills or the daring to do this by myself.

For some reason the sound quality of the recording is poor, but I think it looks terrific. You can find it on the Council of Faiths YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/counciloffaiths#p/f/1/WTcysU3EvXM