ANSWER LIES IN UNITY, NOT "TERRORISTS" OF THE FAR RIGHT

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Answer lies in unity, not "terrorists" of the far right

Last month, we witnessed the brutal murder of a solider as he walked down a street near his home.

Within hours the word "terrorism" was being used to describe the attack and if it transpires this was indeed a politically or religiously-motivated murder then there would be considerable justification for using this term.

The aftermath of Lee Rigby's death also saw a rise in attacks on mosques and Muslims.

If "terrorism" is to be used so quickly to describe the actions of the Woolwich murderers, then surely this term equally applies to these attacks.

Elements of the far right, in their misguided defence of their concept of England, have sought to create fear among other communities – the very definition of terror.

The right-wing media is generally quick to use labels such as "hate preacher" for those few individuals advocating violence in the name of a particular religion, but, so far, most are reluctant to use the term to describe the leaders of the far right.

While the leaders of certain organisations may say they are encouraging peaceful protest, their words influence others to commit acts of violence.

It is not enough, though, to dismiss extremists of all shades as evil and to ignore the underlying issues which motivate their actions. To ignore them is to frustrate them to further acts of hatred.

As a socialist, I perceive these underlying causes in terms of class.Successive neo-liberal governments have sought to devastate the working class.

Some groups have been unfairly subjected to racism and discrimination while others have been completely ignored, or condemned as "workshy shirkers".

We have witnessed our industry disappear and our core values, such as solidarity, replaced with rampant individualism.

Now, especially during this economic crisis, we are all competing for an ever-decreasing slice of the pie.

It is no wonder working class communities turn on each other to compete for jobs, services, dignity and respect.

The answer, though, does not lie in looking to the far right: the answer lies in acknowledging what we all have in common, regardless of race, religion or country of origin.

It is in our shared interest not to fight each other but to fight against the injustices brought upon us by the elites of politics, banking and big business.

As a final point, it is to the credit of trade union, community and faith groups which have sought to heal the divisions in our society by taking steps to bring people together.

It is much more difficult to hate someone if you find you have something in common with them.

Matt Widdowson, Leicester

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

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

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

by Ciaran Fagan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BBC RADIO LEICESTER, THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: MAN OF STEEL

Harry with John Florance at BBC Radio Leicester

A week ago, when I was at BBC Radio Leicester recording Thought for the Day with John Florance. I suggested that he get in my son Harry to fill one of this week's slots, for broadcast shortly before the release of Man of Steel on Friday. John is a fellow comic book fan, so I didn’t have much trouble persuading him, particularly after I referred him to Harry’s blog.

So here we are this afternoon at the station, where Harry is recording his piece, for Jonathan Lampon's breakfast show, Thursday 13 June - and here's how it sounded on the day:

JL: Time now for Thought for the Day; and with his thought for the day, we welcome 13-year old Harry Ballentyne, who blogs on comic books and super heroes.

HB: Good morning.

There’s a lot of excitement gathering about the upcoming Superman movie, Man of Steel., being released tomorrow, on June 14. This is going to be a major film and undoubtedly good for Superman, but what a lot of people don’t realise is: How relevant Superman’s core themes are in our current era.

Cover of Action Comics no. 1 "Superman, Champion of the Oppressed" 

When he first appeared, in 1938’s Action Comics number 1, Superman was quite different from the hero we know today. Before he was taking on powerful super-villains and alien species, Superman was dealing with more recognisably human issues. In fact, in the first issue, Superman deals with exploitative bosses, corrupt politicians and domestic violence, all topics that have returned to the news in big ways recently.

In the new movie, Superman’s father, Jor-El, says: “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will stumble, they will fall; but in time they will join you in the sun.” What this shows is that Superman was sent to save us from all the evil that we create, to teach us to step above all of that, and become good.

That raises the question, do real heroes solve all our problems for us, or do they teach us how to solve them for ourselves? 

Man of Steel is released tomorrow, and with the issues that Superman first fought still with us, maybe it’s time for the last son of Krypton to truly shine again.

JL: And that was today's Thought for the Day with 13-year old Harry Ballentyne, who blogs on comic books and also super heroes.

Follow Harry on Twitter: @CrimsonSquire

Read Harry’s blog about the world of comics, with reviews, interviews and news:  Crimson Squire Comics

Harry's Thought for the Day is available on BBC Radio Leicester's iPlayer Radio (from 42 min 46 sec in), till 12 midnight (GMT+1), Wednesday 19 June.

FIRST PERSON: SAY "NO MORE" TO THOSE WHO TRY TO DIVIDE

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

Say "no more" to those who try to divide

Suleman Nagdi ways separation by faith or ethnic background must stop - for the good of us all

The message is simple and must be emphasised loud and clear. NO MORE. No more messages that seek to divide our communities. No more actions that promote hatred, division, prejudice and violence. No more attempts to isolate and scapegoat individuals and organisations for being “different”. No more attacks like the heinous murder of Lee Rigby, committed in cold blood in full horrific view of the passing public.

We must not view this incident as the concern of one community but as a concern for all as we work collectively to safeguard our communities against the evil of violent extremism. No more incidents of hate crime committed against innocent members of a community or faith group for the crimes perpetrated by others. No more racially-motivated murders of innocent elderly people, like 75-year-old grandfather Mohammed Saleem, who was murdered in cold blood in Birmingham. No more senseless attacks on religious places of worship, like the burning down of the Al-Rahmah Islamic centre in Muswell Hill, North London.
No more hurtful and unfounded attacks on our teachers and scholars who have worked for decades to educate communities to become upstanding, law-abiding citizens of Great Britain. No more compartmentalisation of crime where a crime committed by an individual or group from one faith or community is seen as worse than the same crime committed by others from a different faith or community. A crime is a crime, regardless of the identity of the criminal. Any individual or organisation that breaches the law of the land we all share must be dealt with by the full force of the law.

No more being duped by the dastardly motives of individuals and organisations intent on fostering hatred and misunderstanding. 

It is important we all recognise each other’s differences, heritage and rights and respect each other accordingly. We must work collectively against those seeking to disrupt community cohesion and also against those who break the law. No more of all of the above at a time when we are all faced with an economic crisis that is affecting millions of people and seems to continue with no end in sight and where so many, from a diverse range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, are suffering from hardship and poverty.

To see people becoming reliant on food banks is a tragic sight in 21st century Britain. No more should now mean no more. Let us all work together collectively and in harmony to rid our society of all acts of lawlessness in this most challenging of economic climates. 

Suleman Nagdi is a spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations

TURKS IN LEICESTER URGE THEIR PRIME MINISTER TO RESIGN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Turks in Leicester urge their Prime Minster to resign

Protesters staged a rally calling for the resignation of the Turkish prime minister.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the subjects of protests and unrest in Turkey for more than 10 days.

What started as a campaign against the building of a shopping centre in an Istanbul park has evolved into a wider call for people power.

Burcu Erdogan, 23, of Beaumont Leys, said she organised the event at Leicester's Clock Tower to show unity with the protesters in her homeland.

She said: "About 30 people came along and we had a really good response from the public.

"We want to show our support for the people in Turkey who are trying to call for freedom in their country."

The protests began in Istanbul and have spread across the country. Four people are reported to have died.

FAITH AWARENESS SUMMER VISITS: ISLAM INFORMATION CENTRE

Some of the group at the Islam Information Centre this evening

The Faith Awareness series of summer visits to places of worship and other faith-related sites in Leicester continues this evening at the Islam Information Centre, Highfield Street. As well being contracted to work 20 hours a week for Leicester Council of Faiths, I now do a day and a half a week with Faith Awareness, the inter-faith programme of Christians Aware.

I was last here less than a week ago, helping out with a group of Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary on a visit arranged in association with The Mighty Creatives. The children had cameras, digital voice recorders and all kinds of art materials, to capture their experiences and impressions visiting not only here, but also the Jain Centre, Leicester Cathedral and BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir. Back in the classroom they'll be producing material for a display entitled "Faith in Neighbours" that will be on show in Curve during An Indian Summer later this month.

I'm glad to say that we have the biggest turnout so far for these Monday evening visits, with an even dozen of us at the start. Had any more arrived, the group would have had to be renamed "Christians Galore"!

Each of the three floors in the Centre has themed rooms. The ground floor and reception area is "Discover Islam". On the first floor are two rooms, "Status of Women" and "Islamic World of Science". In the last of these, we watch a short DVD feature, Library of Secrets, starring Sir Ben Kingsley, which reveals some of the contributions that Islam has made to some of the most essential aspects of the modern world. We're introduced to illustrious figures from the Golden Age of Muslim civilization (roughly coinciding with what is still called the Dark Ages in European history) who pushed back the frontiers of theory and practice in matters such as

• astronomy (Meriam al-Astrulabi, 10th century CE)
• mathematics (Al Kindi, c 801-873 CE)
• manned flight (Abbas Ibn Firnas, 810-887 CE)
• mechanics (Al-Jazari, 1136-1206 CE)
• optics (Ibn al-Haytham, AKA Alhazen, 965-1040 CE)
• surgery (Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi 956-1013 CE).

This is very well made, à la Harry Potter: accessible, enjoyable and interesting for children and adults alike.

I remember when I first heard about characters such as these and their achievements, the glories of the Golden Age of Muslim civilization and how much that magnificent culture has bequeathed to our modern world. That was in 1979, when I was 19 years old. I was astonished at what I learned then and questioned why I hadn't known any of this before. How could I have gone through a liberal educational process, the finest that the Scottish system - long the envy of much of the rest of the world - had to offer, yet been taught nothing about this? Did my teachers even know about these things? Did those who had taught them? I felt like I uncovered these hidden truths, which are now gaining ground as common knowledge, through the writings of William Sears and George Townshend, little known apologists for what was a little known faith in my late teenage years. Sometimes it felt like being a detective or lifting the lid on a conspiracy theory as I found out more and more. It's good that institutions such as the Islam Information Centre exist today to redress the balance and close some of these yawning gaps in our knowledge.

Kamran Qayyuam & Abu Bakar

Kamran Qayyum and Abu Bakar are our guides through the rooms. They're supported by Daud Sameja (Joint Coordinator of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group), who gives a short introductory talk and fields the Q&A at the end. In the photo above, Kamran and Abu are seen with a display of copies of the Qur’án in different languages. To the left of the picture are translations of the Qur’án in Albanian, Chinese, French and German; to the right, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu translations. This in "The Noble Qur’án" room, one of the two themed rooms on the top floor. The other is dedicated to a display on "The Prophets of God (Peace Be Upon Them)".

After we've toured the themed rooms, we return to the reception area, where some food is laid on for us. We end with a relaxed Q&A and I present Kamran with a copy of Meeting Muslims, the latest in a series of books on encounters with people of different faiths published by Christians Aware. I checked beforehand that they didn't already have a copy of this. They didn't, surprisingly, since it was done with the help of several friends in Leicester (including Daud) and is published by an inter-faith organization based a mere stone's throw away. I'm glad to be able to rectify that omission this evening.

I get the remaining members of the group to pose for a photo at the front of the building. As we're leaving, I encourage our Muslim friends to join us on the visit to Neve Shalom - Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation's synagogue - next Monday evening. I hope that some of them will be able to take us up on the offer.

This is the fourth of six Faith Awareness visits planned for Monday evenings in May and June, the others being

• Jain Centre, Oxford Street (13 May)
• All Saints Church, Kerrysdale Avenue (20 May)
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane (3 June)
• Neve Shalom Progressive Synagogue, Avenue Road (17 June)
• Guru Amar Das Gurdwara, Clarendon Park Road (24 June)

I may not be ale to attend every visit personally, but I hope to arrange for a blog post on each of them. Watch this space!

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (2,903)

Here are the top ten countries from which the blog has received visits in the past week.

1. United Kingdom 689
2. United States 611
3. Germany 547
4. Russia 449
5. France 202
6. India 56
7. Turkey 50
8. Ukraine 45
9. China 30
10. Spain 24

This week's total: 2,903 (last week: 2,032). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

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.

CREATIVE COFFEE LEICESTER, 5 JUNE 2013

It's the fortnightly meeting of Creative Coffee Leicester this morning at Phoenix. After having had speakers or "table experts" several sessions on the trot, today is a bit of an Old Skool turn, with loose and relaxed conversation among a smaller number.

Stacey Beazer & Cynthia Rodriguez

As is always the case at these meetings, there are a few first timers, among them Stacey Beazer of Dance Select Agency. I'm pleasantly surprised to discover that Stacey and I have something in common: we both have experience of working at the Watershed Youth Centre. I used to work there for ReMit (Leicester City Council's education service for adults with long-term mental health issues) and Stacey works there now (part time) for the City Council's Young People's Services. These two agencies of Leicester City Council shared that space in a somewhat uneasy and unequal relationship for several years, till ReMit shipped out to Leicester Adult Education College in Wellington Street. We may have crossed over in our working time at the Watershed, but neither of us can recall meeting each other there.

As well as chatting with Stacey, I catch up with Cynthia Rodriguez, of Cynthiaescribe. Over the past few months, Cynthia has become one of the stalwarts of these fortnightly gatherings.

SANDFIELD CLOSE PRIMARY PUPILS VISIT ISLAM INFORMATION CENTRE

This afternoon I'm at the Islam Information Centre, Highfield Street, helping out with a visit of Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary.

This is the last of four visits in two days to local places of worship, arranged in association with The Mighty Creatives (a charity based in Leicester's LCB Depot, working across the East Midlands to champion young people's creativity and innovation).

The group is kitted out with cameras of different kinds (for stills and video), digital voice recorders and good old fashioned paper, pens, pencils and crayons. Artwork that the children produce as an outcome of their visits will be on display under the title, "Faith in Neighbours" in the Mezzanine at Curve as part of An Indian Summer later this month.

Each of the three floors in the Centre has themed rooms. The ground floor and reception area is "Discover Islam". On the first floor are two rooms, "Status of Women" and "Islamic World of Science". In Science room, we watch a short multi-award winning DVD feature, Library of Secrets, starring Sir Ben Kingsley, which reveals some of the contributions that Islam has made to essential aspects of our modern world. This is very well made, à la Harry Potter: accessible, enjoyable and interesting for children and adults alike.

Our guides today are Kamran Qayyum and Abu Bakar. In the photo below, they're standing with a display of copies of the Qur’án in different languages. To the left of the picture are translations of the Qur’án in Albanian, Chinese, French and German; to the right, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu translations. I took this photo last week, when visiting with the chldren from Sandfield Close Primary, but it's such a good one that I make no apology for using it again. This is taken in "The Noble Qur’án" room, one of the two themed rooms on the top floor. The other is dedicated to a display on "The Prophets of God (Peace Be Upon Them)".

Kamran Qayyuam & Abu Bakar

I've met Abu and Kamran separately before but this is the first time I've seen them work together. I have to say that they make an effective double act. They have a great rapport with the children and generate a good deal of fun and laughter during their presentation. The kids clearly enjoy their short visit here and it's hard to get them back on the coach when it's time to leave.

This morning we were at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane. Yesterday morning we were at the Jain Centre, Oxford Street; yesterday afternoon, Leicester Cathedral. It's been great working with these ten children, whose energy, engagement and enthusiasm has remained at the same high level from first to last. It's also been a pleasure to spend time with Asha Sodha and Raksha Patel, who have accompanied the children. Raksha is a PTA member and volunteer on school activities. Asha is a Teaching Assistant and Secretary of the PTA. She also works as part of Nupur Arts Dance Academy, which took part in the recent Spark Festival and will be involved in An Indian Summer at the end of the month. I've also been glad of the chance to work alongside "G" too. It's hard to pull of that look of wearing a bunnet indoors, but he manages it with style.

I'll be coming back to the Islam Information Centre on Monday evening (10 June) with a group of adult visitors for one of Christians Aware's Faith Awareness summer visits. I'm looking forward to that already!

SANDFIELD CLOSE PRIMARY PUPILS VISIT SWAMINARAYAN MANDIR

This morning I'm at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane, helping out with a visit of Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary. I arrive here hotfoot from BBC Radio Leicester, where I was recording a Thought for the Day earlier this morning (a Bahá'í comment on the upcoming G8 Summit in Northern Ireland).

This is the third of four visits in two days to local places of worship, arranged in association with The Mighty Creatives (a charity based in Leicester's LCB Depot, working across the East Midlands to champion young people's creativity and innovation).

The group is kitted out with cameras of different kinds (for stills and video), digital voice recorders and good old fashioned paper, pens, pencils and crayons. Artwork that the children produce as an outcome of their visits will be on display under the title, "Faith in Neighbours" in the Mezzanine at Curve as part of An Indian Summer later this month.

Our host today, Dipak Kalyan, wastes no time in getting us started on the guided tour. Photography and video recording is not permitted anywhere inside the mandir, so the children get the chance to do more drawing and sketching here than at the other venues.

One interesting topic that comes to the surface this morning is the symbolism of colours. Orange robes on statues of spiritual enlightened figures signify the fire that burns away worldly attachment, for example. We relate this to the bright red jumpers of the children's school uniform. Why is their top red, when other schools have other colours? How does it make Sandfield Close stand out? Does it make them different from other schools which have other colours? Does it make them better than other schools to be red?

A little correspondence that strikes a chord is when Dipak mentions about there being 108 beads on the rosary that devotees use, representing 108 names of God. There's a show on Cartoon Network called Hero 108 that might be said to draw on some themes of spirituality, oneness and the conflict between humankind and nature, which are not out of place with the kind of things we learn in the mandir today.

One of the children asks why we should remove our shoes in the mandir. Dipak starts with the standard answer, about not bringing (literal and metaphorical) dirt from the outside world into a sacred place. then he says that it's also because shoes are normally made of leather, which comes from a dead animal and we shouldn't bring that before the deities. Now, goodness knows how many times I've come into a place of worship and removed my shoes without thinking beyond the first of these reasons, the most obvious (most superficial?) one. It comes as a bit of a shock to realise that I usually wear a leather jacket and have never thought that I should remove it. Nor has anyone ever asked me to remove it in a place of worship either, I should point out. It's an uncomfortable moment of self realisation and as I speak about this, sharing my thoughts and feelings with the group, Bipin leans over and tugs at the shoulder strap of my leather messenger bag. Now that I know, it would be hard to carry on regardless. Later, someone asks about leather belts. I've never seen anyone remove their trouser belt in a place of worship. This reason for removing your shoes (and possibly other leather or suede items) won't apply in every place of worship of course, but still - food for thought I'm sure you'll agree, faithful reader.

This afternoon the group moves on to the Islam Information Centre, Highfield Street. Yesterday morning we were at the Jain Centre, Oxford Street; yesterday afternoon, Leicester Cathedral.

Our friends at BAPS Shri Swaminarayn Mandir were able to squeeze our group in this morning due to a last minute cancellation. Thanks to Narendra and Dipak for doing that.