HUMAN RIGHTS MUST ENCOMPASS ALL COMMUNITIES

Suleman Nagdi's First Person column from today's Leicester Mercury:

Human rights must encompass all communities 

Intentions need to be clarified before a UK Bill of Rights is created, says Suleman Nagdi 

The Government is seeking to change our centuries old political tradition by changing our unwritten constitution into a American-style Bill of Rights. Such a proposal has a few creases which need to be ironed out. In a democratic society, justice demands a proper and measured response in strict accordance with rules of law which have been established over time and following centuries of experience and formulation. 

Our laws should afford every citizen trust and confidence in the system. Security is of paramount importance to preserve our rule of law and the fabric of our society. It is also essential to uphold civil liberties regardless of the circumstances and the crime in question, as this is the hallmark of our society. One does not exclude the other, and both are necessary for the future success of Britain. 

A proposed Bill of Rights seeks to rectify some of the perceived shortcomings within the Human Rights Act in order to repeal it. The main "interference" Prime Minister David Cameron wants freedom from is the prohibition on deporting foreign nationals to countries where there is a real risk they will be tortured. 

Numerous UN Conventions and the European Convention have been drafted to create a set of minimum standards by which all human beings can expect to be treated. Their right to life and freedom from torture is a basic and fundamental right which all nations agreed would be protected. We must contextualise a potential UK Bill of Rights within the framework of wider International Human Rights law so that the provisions which were established over six decades ago are not breached. 

A UK Bill of Rights must also tackle the inherent weakness of the Race Relations Act of 1976 which only gives protection to Jews and Sikhs as racial groups while excluding others, including Muslims, Hindus and other faiths from its definition. This policy is wholly inadequate and leaves groups such as British Muslims vulnerable to religious hate crimes, which are on the rise. This policy is even more obtuse in light of the fact that the governmental, media and other sources continuously refer to Muslims as a distinctive community.The rights and welfare of all British citizens, regardless of their beliefs, ethnicity, colour or gender must be considered. 

A Bill of Rights can provide a unifying force in a diverse society, but it will not do so if it ignores the contribution of many countries, and most cultures, to the human rights values recognised throughout the world today and turns its back on the international Human Rights treaties which virtually every modern Bill of Rights is based on. Furthermore, a UK Bill of Rights must be all encompassing applying universally to all four component countries of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales so as to ensure universal consistency.

Suleman Nagdi is spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations.

WE ALL GET FATTER DURING DIWALI!

From today's Leicester Mercury:

We all get fatter during Diwali! 

Each week, we speak to an expert in their particular field. this weekend, we talk to mother of two Tejerani Dasi, of Ellistown, about how her family celebrates the Hindu Festival of Light 

The big countdown 

Diwali preparations begin a few weeks before the festival. Mum starts to make all the delicious deep fried snacks, called nasto – including special pastries with nuts in, sev (crisp, thin vermicelli), ghanthia (golden brown dough), chakri (crunchy spirals) and, of course, sweets.
Years ago she would sit down with other women in the community and make foods together. 

Hard to resist 

My favourites are the sweets, burfi, coconut milk, the moon-shaped pastries. Everyone always gets fatter during Diwali. 

Time for families 

I love this time of year because it is all about family and friends, and giving presents. It's very social time. 

Often you can go months without seeing people and at Diwali everybody gets together.
We call in on neighbours and give gifts and catch up with what's happening, swap recipes. It's a very happy, loving time. 

Switching on 

Today, for the lights switch-on, we will go down to the Belgrave Road and will be there for the chanting of the holy name and take Prasad (sanctified food) to give away to people.
We have something like 3,000 packs of mixed fruits and little sweets. You get to meet the whole of Leicester, and probably the whole of the Midlands, there. 

Taking turns 

As I'm married, I spend part of the celebration with my husband's family and the second day with my parents. 

We take it in turns every year. My in-laws have people coming from Tamworth and Birmingham, it's a real big bash. Three generations sitting around the table and eating lots of food, everyone chatting and being noisy because they won't have seen each other for ages. 

Golden rule 

The tradition is that a husband should buy his wife gold but I'm not really into gold – it's too yellow. I don't do the whole gold thing. 

Such a buzz 

Diwali means lots of sweets, happy faces, presents, having a day off – but it's always cold. The girls have all these pretty saris underneath a winter coat and scarves. 

I remember as a child we would have a cold nose and be absolutely freezing but still having the most fantastic time with the celebrations. I relish that we get to listen to the hundreds of people chanting the holy name, and watching the dancing. There is a real buzz about it. 

Educating children 

We have two daughters, Dhamesvari, four, and Narayani, who is 15 months old. We wrap them up really warm and go out to Belgrave Road. 

With Dhamesvari, prior to going to the festival we will role play the stories of the Gods at home, so she knows Rama and Sita and she is really loving it. I think it is important to educate the younger ones. Rama had some amazing qualities which, as human beings, we should strive towards. 

Keep it spiritual 

Not everybody does big expensive presents. I love to keep it quite spiritual instead of rushing around. I don't do the whole "let's go out and buy lots of presents". 

We prefer to make our own as then you are putting the effort into it, and thinking about the people you are giving the present to. 

At the moment my daughter is making diva lamps for her teachers, we are baking biscuits for friends and we make sure we have enough to give to everyone. 

Diwali is such a social time, you end up going to people's houses you may not have seen for a year. 

Seeing fireworks 

On Diwali Day, we will have morning worship at home. We make food for the lord and offer it at our temple in the house. Before we had the children, we would go to temple. But with young children, it is easier to worship at home, read a little bit with the children, then we will be ready to go over to lunch with the family. Then we go to Belgrave Road and meet up with friends and then to Cossington Park to see the fireworks. 

Sense of peace 

The pace of life has become so fast we are just rushing around all over the place. At the temple, there's a sense of community and peace. 

Back to the city 

We have done the whole "escape to the country" but we are moving back to the city. Once you have children, I think you need to be with your friends and family and Dhamesvari has just started a new school. 

Christmas time 

At Christmas, we will give small presents, it doesn't have to be very expensive. Last year, all Dhamesvari wanted was a pencil case so that's what she got and she loved it. 

Cow worship 

The day after Diwali Day members of the Hare Krishna temple will go to Gorse Hill City Farm for Govardhan Puja. We worship the cow on this holy day, which is the first day of the new year.

In the photo above: Tejarani Dasi with daughters Dhamesvari, 4, and Narayani, 15 months. Picture: Matt Short 

POLICE INVESTIGATE HATE MAIL CAMPAIGN AGAINST MUSLIMS

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Police investigate hate mail campaign against Muslims

Police are investigating a hate mail campaign in which racist material has been posted to Muslim community groups. 

The threatening letter and a series of offensive drawings specifically ridiculing Islam were sent to at least nine organisations, chiefly in the Highfields and Spinney Hills area of Leicester. 

The final line of the letter contains the sinister message: "You will expect to receive a box from Pandora and a bright sun shall light up your organisation." 

The sender claims to be a representative of the infamous race-hate organisation the Ku Klux Klan. 

The material was also sent to the Leicester Mercury's headquarters.
Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "We are working closely with the police to help them find the person responsible for this hate mail. 

"We have passed on all the information that we can, and we sincerely hope the police catch the perpetrators of this crime, which has caused deep upset."
Mr Nagdi said the targeted groups were all members of the federation, which is an umbrella body for mosques and other Muslim groups in the city and county.
Detective Inspector Rob Widdowson said: "Early indications are that the letters have been sent by one person. 

"We recognise the seriousness of these offences and are committed to identifying the offender." 

He said it was important that recipients of the documents handled them as little as possible to give police a better chance of obtaining forensic evidence. 

"If people identify what they believe to be an offensive letter, please put it to one side and contact us immediately." 

Inspector Bill Knopp is commander of Spinney Hill Park police station, which covers the area of the city where many of the affected organisations are based. 

He said: "We are taking this investigation very seriously in recognition of the impact these letters and drawings have had on those who received them." 

Police are keeping an open mind on what offences have been committed by those behind the hate mail. 

It is most likely that the charge, if brought, would be the offence of malicious communications, which can be punished with a prison sentence of up to six months. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det Con Widdowson on 0116 222 2222, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or send information via the police's website.

SUKKOT INVITES US TO THINK OF THOSE FOR WHOM TRANSIENT LIVING IS IS THE NORM

This is Howard Cooper's Face to faith column in today's Guardian:

Sukkot invites us to think of those for whom transient living is the norm

Inviting guests into one's home is a habitual part of Jewish social living that receives a special emphasis at this time of year 

How much insecurity can you bear in your life? How much awareness of the randomness, the sheer contingency and unpredictability of life? How much do we want to be reminded of the fragility of our bodies, our minds, our social structures, the innate vulnerability grafted into the carefully constructed fabric of our daily lives? 

Religious traditions can seem to offer some respite from the unsettling reality of inhabiting bodies that gradually fail us, and societies where our sense of wellbeing is dependent on social, political and financial forces outside any individual's control. Religions attempt to create a meaningful world for believers to inhabit. They seek to keep existential terror at bay – the terrifying fear that life has no inherent meaning; that it is, in Thomas Hobbes's words, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"; and that we avoid this fate more by luck than our own good judgment. 

The week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), which started this week, offers a plangent perspective on the questions that surround the personal and collective need for security, and our fragmentary awareness that genuine security may not be achieved through attachment to the material world. The central symbol – the temporary shelter, the sukkah, constructed next to one's home, where one eats and sometimes sleeps for the duration of the festival – is an antidote to religious certainty. 

Made of organic materials, branches and leaves, its roof must be such that one can see through to the stars at night: as one looks up, and out, there is a dawning realisation of the impermanence of all we build and hold dear. We recall the origin of these "booths" in the mythic narrative of the Israelites' 40-year journey through the wilderness towards a distant "promised land". The biblical story describes the temporary homes the people built – sometimes for months, sometimes for years – and their education into the reality of following the peripatetic divine force that always moved on them in ways they could never predict or control. 

This annual festival is a reminder that permanence and certainty are antithetical to a spiritual sensibility. The great German-Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, scribbling a new theology on postcards in first world war trenches, saw the festival of Sukkot symbolising something vital for his diasporic people and something with a universal resonance: it "serves to remind the people that no matter how solid the house of today may seem, it is but a tent which permits only a pause in the long wanderings through the wilderness of centuries". 

In sensitising us to our transience, the festival invites us to think of those for whom transient living is the norm, not merely an annual religious ritual. The invitation of guests, strangers, "outsiders", into one's home is a habitual part of Jewish social living that receives a special emphasis at this time of the year. Hospitality as an everyday virtue takes on a deeper religious significance. My own synagogue is making itself available this winter, along with local churches, as a host venue for Homeless Action in Barnet, offering a cooked meal, a warm place to sleep, washing and toilet facilities, fresh clothes, conversation and breakfast for the area's homeless. 

Our guests will help us understand what George Steiner has called "an arduous truth" that emerges from the mystery of Jewish resilience – "that human beings must learn to be each other's guests on this small planet".

Howard Cooper is a rabbi and psychotherapist, and the author of The Alphabet of Paradiser: An A-Z of Spirituality for Everyday Life

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,932)

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

1. United States 1,003
2. United Kingdom 561
3. Russia 141
4. France 74
5. Latvia 54
6. Germany 42
7. Hong Kong 18
8. Netherlands 16
9. Romania 12
10. Canada 11

This week's total: 1,932 (last week's: 1,819). 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" (whenever that is), "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.

TEMPLE'S LADIES COLLECT £1,500

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Temple's ladies collect £1,500

Worshippers from a Hindu temple have donated more than £1,500 towards a children's cancer unit.

Members of Limbach Sakhi Mandal ladies group have been collecting cash through offerings at Shri Ram Mandir, in Hildyard Road, Leicester.

They have presented the money to Leicester Royal Infirmary's Our Space charity, which is looking to expand the children's cancer ward.Group spokesman Vijyaben Sharma said: "We are so proud to be able to give to a local cancer charity."

Hospital spokesman Robert Myers said: "We really are extremely grateful for the generosity of the members."

HUNT FOR OUR OLDEST BIBLE

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Hunt for our oldest Bible 

The search is on for the area's oldest Bible. 

Too mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, Leicester Christadelphians are holding a Bible exhibition – and they are offering a £20 book token to whoever brings along the oldest copy. 

Exhibits will include a Wycliffe Bible, named after Leicestershire theologian John Wycliffe, who oversaw the first English translation of the Bible, completed in 1382. 

A free Bible is on offer to the first 20 people who visit the exhibition and request a copy. 

The free exhibition is at 4 Market Place, Leicester, from October 17 to October 21, between 10.30am and 5pm.

HAPPINESS IS VITAL IN MANSFIELD

To Mansfield this afternoon, where the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) has been invited to take part in "Happiness Is Vital", an event organised by disability nottinghamshire. An assortment of local VCS groups and public sector officers working with people who have HIV/Aids are getting together to consider their present circumstances and future prospects. There are four workshops on offer, facilitated by the people described below in their own pen portraits (including myself):

HIV and Human Rights

Julie Musonda

Julie works for Leicestershire AIDS Support Services (LASS) as Social Enterprise and Development Worker. LASS is an independent voluntary organisation that was set up to provide a range of services for people in the city of Leicester, Leciestershire and Rutland, affected by HIV/Aids. Julie also founded the self help user led organisation LhivE, positive people helping one another empower each other to live their life to its fulfilment.

Stigma and Discrimination

Matthew Gregory

Matthew works for the Terrence Higgins Trust as the Health and Treatment Worker. THT is a national organisation working in the field of HIV and Aids. In Nottingham, they are involved in sexual health and HIV awareness, HIV testing, education, promotion and more.

User Led Organisations

Simon Bernacki

Simon currently works as the User Led Organisation (ULO) Development Officer for Disability Nottinghamshire. He's here to share his knowledge of the ways in which organisations can engage with their members to develop strong, clear visions of what is needed. He has experience of marketing, communications, events, fundraising, grants, project development, volunteers, policy, strategy and brewing a good cuppa! Come along for an informal discussion and to share good practice about any of the points above.

Equality, Diversity and the Equality Act 2010

George M Ballentyne

George works as the Equality and Diversity Officer for Leicester Council of Faiths, one of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP). While George's specialist area has to do with religion and belief, he is well-versed in the many "Protected Characterisitics" described in the Equality Act 2010 and has given seminars, talks and discussions on behalf of REDP across the East Midlands and further afield.

After the workshops, the facilitators sit on a panel, taking questions from the floor. I'm glad I'm able to contribute something about the kind of support that REDP can offer, specifically metnioning the Funding Advice Network that we heard Jonny Gutteridge speak about at our Core Reference Group meeting earlier this week.

In the main hall, there's a marketplace display of various relevant agencies, groups and organisations, including:

• Mansfield Community & Voluntary Service
• North Notts Positive Links Support Network
• Nottinghamshire Advice Network
• Tagadere
• Terrence Higgins Trust

There's plenty of tasty Caribbean food dished up at 1700 and an hour later there's an After Party, with live music from double MOBO award-nominated singer-songwriter, Freddi Kofi. Courtney has been bigging up Freddi all afternoon and I'd love to stay and hear him but, based on my experiences getting here, I don't want to take any chances getting that train back to Leicester.

INTERNATIONAL CHAPLAINCY 20TH ANNIVERSARY

The International Chaplaincy at the University of Leicester has borrowed our exhibition (set of 8 pop-up banners, plus a selection of leaflets, brochures, bookmarks, greetings cards) for the second time in a month to put on display in the Gatehouse on University Road as part of the celebration of their 20th anniversary.

They're holding an "open house" at the Gatehouse, University Road, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Our exhibition will be on show there for those three days. Visitors will be able to see the range of faith communities that we represent and take away information about how to contact us and how to draw on our services.

SUPPORT FOR CAMERON IN LEICESTER OVER FORCED MARRIAGE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Support for Cameron in Leicester over forced marriage

Campaigners have welcomed David Cameron's pledge to give greater protection to women forced to marry against their will.

The Prime Minister said yesterday that forced marriage – as opposed to consensual, arranged marriage – was "little more than slavery".

He announced measures to encourage victims to come forward and said the Government was considering strengthening the law to punish those who coerced children into wedlock.

Meena Kumari, of Safe, a police-backed support group for Leicester's victims of domestic violence, welcomed the publicity for the often hidden issue.

Safe works with police, social services, schools and colleges to identify victims and help them flee abusive homes and rebuild their lives.

Ms Kumari said: "The fact the Prime Minister is talking openly about forced marriage is great. People have shied away from this issue.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of cases we're dealing with, but I don't think that is because it's a growing problem."The greater awareness is helping and people are no longer prepared to tolerate being treated this way."

But she urged caution about making arranging a forced marriage a criminal offence.

"Some of the people we have supported might not have come forward if they thought their parents or other close relatives could end up in prison," she said.

Leicestershire police started recording forced marriage cases in 2004 and over the next four-and-a-half years was alerted to 34.

In the following 18 months, to April last year, it received 101 reports.

The figures have continued to climb since, said Det Sgt Kev Wright, of the specialist domestic violence team.

He said: "As with domestic violence, the increased number of reports is seen as a positive."

Aneeta Prem, founder and president of Freedom, a charity which supports victims, said: "It may come as a surprise to many that forcing someone into marriage is not already a criminal offence. We are delighted the Prime Minister is taking a lead on this issue."

Mr Cameron also announced that those who breached court orders designed to protect victims once they had moved away from their families could face a harsher penalty than the current maximum two-year prison sentence.

The Prime Minister announced a series of measures to reduce immigration, including requiring people who wish to settle in the UK to have good command of English and evidence that they have the finance to support themselves.

In response to these measures, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "At a time when abuses in the immigration system, including bogus colleges, remain prevalent, it would be a better use of resources to focus on improving administration in the UK Border Agency."

Contact Safe on 0800 022 3353.

www.safedvs.co.uk