Councillor Neil Trafford is killed!!!

I have just returned from abroad and heard the dreadful news that Councillor Neil Trafford, City Councillor for Didsbury Ward in manchester City Council has died, I am deeply shocked and sad at this tragic news, it had such a promising future ahead of him.
I remember at the Conference in Bournemouth this year, being the soul of the Party, he was highly talented, liked, experienced and hard working campaigner and will be missed.

He will be missed by many in the North West, our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues, such a tragic loss.

Muslims have woken up!!!

Gordon Brown has delivered a speech in New York yesterday about interfaith and intolerance, in it he talks about action to isolate extremist groups and stop young people being attracted to these groups.

Firstly there is a real threat from terrorism and extremism, there is no getting away from this. There are some so called Muslims who are getting distorted opinions to justify this evil act. Muslims around the world have seen from scholars from all parts of Islam have seen total condemnation of terrorism and extremism, I am clear that there is no difference amongst mainstream Muslim scholars on this issue. We have seen a sea change in the Muslim community to this threat, no longer are people ignoring this threat and the community is focused on reclaiming the agenda and ensuring that those that promote violence and hatred are not welcome in our community.

I think we have started that debate to convince them that there path is wrong and violence in never justified.

Reflections on the past few days.

I am still finding it hard to believe that Barack Obama is President Elect, the events of last Tuesday still bring a smile to my face and I know the world knows that Change has come. However let me be clear the road ahead will be difficult and sometimes I will disagree with the Obama's presidency and when that happens I will speak out - you can be certain of that!!!

Life in Rochdale is okay, we are currently campaigning against plans by the local Council to give developers green space in Rochdale's oldest Park called Springfield Park to build a driving range, this decision is immoral and does nothing to promote healthy living for working class people who struggle to pay for golf classes and deserve free open green space for citizens and their families.

I am taking a lot of political hits from people within Rochdale, politicians, media and others for campaigning to save this park - in years to come future generations will judge us on what we do to preserve our green spaces and I hope our Council thinkls again

Fusion Awards announces finalists - I'm nominated for man of the year!!!

UNSUNG heroes who have contributed to their communities in the north west will be recognised at the Fusion Awards 2008 this weekend.

The finalist have been announced for the sold-out event which will take place this Saturday at the Premier Suite, Ewood Park, Blackburn.

As well as the awards ceremony, entertainment will also be provided. This will include a catwalk show featuring some of the north’s top designers and performances from top comedienne Shazia Mirza and Bollywood dance group Imagine Asian.

The finalists are as follows:

Community group of the year

Youth in Action (Preston), a voluntary group set up by and for young people. Helping younger people to focus on studying and personal development, Youth in Action has 10 young board members and works with over 100 young people in the inner-city Frenchwood and Avenham areas of Preston.

Building Bridges Pendle (Nelson), producing Community Cohesion Education Programmes for local primary and secondary schools as well as inter-faith seminars, peace vigils, community forums and joint projects between places of worship from different faiths.

Behna Group (Great Harwood), helping advance women’s education through informal training for women aged 20 to 60 in a friendly environment, with all board members using their free time and relying on very little funding

Brookhouse Community Action Team (Blackburn), raising awareness of vital health issues among young people, including designing the first-ever testicular cancer toolkit which will be distributed through Macmillan Cancer Research

Our Independence (Altrincham), a group helping disabled people make new friends, set up by Renu Duggal after she suffered a stroke and lost the use of one side of her body. The group meets weekly and all activities are offered free of charge.

Community Cohesion Award

Omar Khan (Preston), Omar's group works closely with disaffected young people in the Fishwick, Callon and Deepdale wards of Preston, with an emphasis on diversionary activities to keep youth away from gang culture and gun crime. Omar often works in his own free time, and has used his own money when funding has dried up.

Bolton Interfaith Council, whose activities include the discussion and resolution of issues, an ongoing events programme and other awareness-raising activities working towards raising trust and understanding between the faith communities in Bolton.

Father Phillip Sumner (Oldham). Admired by so many people from all backgrounds, responsible for very successful grass roots inter-faith initiatives in the Oldham area after spending 25 years in the Moss Side area of Manchester where he set up the ‘Young, Gifted and Equal’ programme advocating respect for young people’s ethnic and religious identities.

One Extreme to the Other (Oldham), a ground-breaking play by Mike Harris, performed to over 2,500 pupils in Greater Manchester. Developed by Mossley-based GW Theatre Company in partnership with Oldham Council, the play features a Muslim extremist as well as a white extremist group and is now being commissioned for performances across the UK.

Trish Ferrarin and Judy Smith (Blackburn), chair and secretary of the Revidge Community Association to tackle neighbourhood issues including crime, traffic hot spots and litter and to promote inter-community understanding.

The Community Cohesion Award is sponsored by the Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire Constabulary.

Entrepreneur of the year

Kay Gire (Blackburn), founder, Nirvana Centre for Well-Being. Kay left a career in financial services to specialize in the 5,000-year-old emotional freedom technique; she also publishes the international e-zine Bliss.

Penny Virdee (Preston), Style Rooms, a boutique that really breaks the mould in Asian fashion retail, with hand-picked designer labels, a made-to-measure service and eye-catching interior design. Penny also works hard with local charities including Cancer Concern.
Rukshanda Ibrahim (Bolton), personalisemydummy.com. A mother of four, Rukshanda knew at first-hand that children lose dummies constantly, and came up with a unique product – personalized dummies.

Shabnam Naz Khan (Nelson), Maria’s Cash & Carry and Maria’s Farms. Shabnam was the first Asian woman in the North West to run her own cash-and-carry, deciding that business was her true vocation although she’d studied law. Investing in a farm on the outskirts of Colne and employing local people there, Shabnam recently bought a second farm, and is now rearing 400 cattle in total and looking into halal dairy produce.

Public service award

Hena Begum, East Lancashire Children’s Home. Already having been the first Bangladeshi to join Lancashire Constabulary, Hena switched to working as a residential social worker in Lancashire, where she now champions equality and diversity.

Humayun Shouib, National Probation Service. Lancashire-based Humayun has worked for the Service for 16 years, in which time he has negotiated prayer facilities and halal food provision as well as delivering diversity training and establishing a Black and Asian Staff Networking Group.
Sadiq Patel, Blackburn with Darwen Council for Voluntary Service. Sadiq has been providing a critical link for inter-faith dialogue, with both the CVS and with Blackburn Rovers Football Club.
Sheela Solanki, Preston Women’s Refuge. Sheela, a Youth Offending Team Officer working in Blackpool, is volunteer chair of the management committee at Preston Women’s Refuge, a drop-in centre with a 24-hour staffed helpline.

Sports personality award, sponsored by Nationwide Leasing

Prabha Halai (Bolton), organizer of the Bend It Like Beckham Project in Bolton which promotes women’s football – and its teamwork and health benefits - among women of all ages and abilities in the local South Asian communities. Prabha’s team have gone from strength to strength and now play in local leagues.

Ferrari Faqiri, winner of 23 karate and tae kwon do medals in the last 12 months. Ferrari already holds two world championships in karate and one in tae kwon do, and aims to be an Olympic champion in London in 2012. Ferrari, who was born 10 weeks prematurely and is an asthma sufferer, also trains young people from the local area at his father’s gym.

Ibrahim Shah (Blackburn), 12-year-old winner of the North West Golden Gloves finals in Manchester earlier this year. The Audley Boxing Club member, Blackburn’s first ever Golden Gloves finalist, was chosen to represent England and he fought in the Three Nations Tournament in Sheffield, clinching gold in his England debut.

Maira Malik (Liverpool), nine-year-old karate black belt and ‘success coach’ to other youngsters. This year Maira was named Under-10s Sports Personality of the Year at the British Asian Sports Awards.

Man of the year

Canon Chris Chivers (Blackburn Cathedral), who has been at the forefront of inter-faith dialogue and initiatives in the area, especially projects helping build bridges between Muslims and Christians.

Muhammed Matadar, a Blackburn-based Premiership official who began as a referee in local community leagues 12 years ago and has now refereed for the Champions League and the UEFA Cup amongst others. Muhammed continues to assist local leagues, including organizing charity tournaments, despite his busy schedule.

Muhammed Shafiq, Rochdale-based head of the Ramadhan Foundation, who has been vocal in helping debunk media misconceptions around Islam and who has spoken widely on issues affecting first-generation British Muslims.

Woman of the year

Feeraz Begum, Brierfield-based founder of Caring Today, a support group for parents of children with disabilities. Herself the mother of a child with multiple disabilities, Feeraz set out to challenge some of the notions about disabilities within the South Asian communities. Caring

Today now has seven full-time staff and 16 sessional workers.

Mussurut Zia, a Blackburn woman who has spent the last 10 years working for community cohesion in her role with Lancashire Constabulary, tirelessly campaigning for women’s rights and against domestic violence, forced marriage and honour killings. Mussurut has written training materials on these subjects for the police, the CPS and voluntary sector organizations.

Fatima Patel, Tay Jiva and Monica Bhagchandani, three Bolton women who set up Ethical Entertainment, an organization involved in community celebrations. The group has strong connections with the Fortalice women’s refuge, for whom they have helped forge meaningful links with women in the South Asian communities.

An Education Achievement Award, sponsored by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), will also be awarded on the night.

Fusion Awards 2008 has been supported by No Limits, Lancashire Constabulary, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Nationwide Vehicle Leasing, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and Asian Image

Israel and war crimes in Gaza

I totally condemns the Israeli aggression and oppression being carried out in Gaza, with over 70 people dead, many children and innocent people there is a quiet silence from the international community which is deeply flawed and worrying.

There can be no justification for the continue oppression and discriminate killing that is carried out and I urge the international community to speak against this evil and ensure that the voices of innocent Palestinians are not silenced.

Israel has engaged in war crimes, what purpose is served by killing women and children? The Israeli’s must recognise that there continued occupation of Palestinian land is the sole reason why there is instability in the region.

I am horrified and saddened by the deaths of many innocent people including women and children in Gaza, it is once again clear that Israel is engaged in committing war crimes and we strongly condemn these actions – we send our deepest condolences and prayers to those that are suffering in Gaza.

I further urges the international community not to remain silent and condemn these crimes and urge the Israelis to stop their occupation and continued oppression of the Palestinian people.

We must all stand up against this evil, whatever our faith or background.”

Rochdale's Labour candidate panders to the BNP

I am clear that the role of the Mosque has substantially changed over the past decade. With more 2nd generation youngsters wanting to hear and learn Islam in English. We have consistently believed that the Mosques must wake up this challenge, understanding and speaking English is now an essential part of the Imam role. This also means that Young people should make every effort to understand their mother tongue and work hard to build a wider understanding of both cultures and languages.

This sort of politics breeds division and allows those on the far right to take advantage, the central principal is that the running of the Mosques are an internal matter for the Muslim community, how would readers feel if Muslims were dictating to Christians or Jews how to run their pray sessions or Churches and Synagogues.

Politicians of all parties have a duty to ensure that they do not jump on every bandwagon that passes through, the challenges for the Mosques are very clear and I do believe we are seeing change happening on the ground.

The legacy of this Government is one of the Iraq War, long term detention, discriminating anti terror laws and losing of personal data, it is interesting that Mr. Danczuk is not willing to talk about the wider important issues facing our country.

No matter what people do, they will never be able to change Islam!!!!

Over the past few weeks we have watched UK Government Ministers talked about the moderate version of Islam, how these groups should stand up and speak and change Islam. We have never seen Islam changing because Allah has protected the Deen and perserved the faith. No matter what humans may do or try they will ultimately fail as Allah is the best of planners.

This does not mean we in the Muslim community do not have any problems, we have an issue with a very small minority of people who wish to kill innocent people indiscrimnately, they claim to be Muslims but the Scholars are clear that Islam does not sanction the killing of innocent people. We have an Islamic duty to take them on and defeat their views and help them reform because how can our faith be hijacked in this way.

I am proud that the work I have contributed to the debate is welcomed by all sides as principled, honest and frank about the challenges we face. As British citizens we have a duty to ensure that we live by the rule of law and that we celebrate our achievements and contributions to British society either politically, socially, economically etc.

Having said this we have seen a supposely Centre Left Government take away individual civil liberties that took hundreds of years to get and many lives were lost fighting for them. The Government has passed legislation that takes away presumption of innocence and the right to a fair and open trial, we have seen over 22, 000 stop and searches done to minority communities under the Anti Terror laws in London, only 23 arrests, we have seen thousands of innocent people arrested, humilated, discrimanated and tarnished without a single apology. This is no way to defeat terrorism.

The biggest recruiting sargeant for terrorists is the double standards in UK foreign policy, the illegal war in Iraq, the blind support for Israeli aggresision against Palestinians and Lebanonese, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Garib scandal, when we see Muslims lands occupied and our people oppressed people go to the extreme. This is not my view but the view of Sir Michael Jay, Former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office who said that by UK going into an illegal war in Iraq the UK was at an increased risk of terrorism.

I have been consistent in my opposition to terrorism and extremism and have also been consistent in opposing the Government on the many issues as described above, I will continue this work regardless.

Veil row: MP is urged to back-track or resign Rochdale Observer

Veil row: MP is urged to back-track or resign

CONTROVERSY ... MP Phil WoolasA MUSLIM youth organisation has called on MP Phil Woolas to withdraw his words or resign over his comments that a classroom assistant should be sacked for wearing a face-concealing niqab veil.

Local government minister Mr Woolas, whose brief includes race relations, stepped into the row surrounding Aishah Azmi who is facing an industrial tribunal after refusing to remove her veil in front of male colleagues.

The move followed complaints that children at Headfield Church of England School, Dewsbury, found her difficult to understand because they could not see her lips move.

AdvertisementMr Woolas – whose Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency includes Milnrow, Newhey and Shaw – caused a stir after telling the Sunday Mirror that the 23-year-old had ‘put herself in a position where she can’t find a job’ and warned that she could be breaking sex discrimination rules.

Mohammed Shafiq, spokesman for the Rochdale-based Ramadhan Foundation, which describes itself as a youth organisation working for peaceful co-existence and dialogue for all communities, is calling for a climb-down from Mr Woolas.

He said: “We are deeply worried at the constant media frenzy against Islam and Muslims in the UK. There is a debate to have on integration and increasing respect for all people in a free society, but this must not be done in this current climate of fear and demonisation.

“It is absurd the government, via Phil Woolas, is passing judgement on individual cases even before the employment tribunal has had the opportunity to pass judgement.

“Ministers must never interfere in the due process of law. For the racial equality minister to make these comments is deeply worrying and patronising. He should withdraw his remarks or he should resign from the government.

“Contrary to belief Muslims are ready for debate, but we cannot allow this obsession with attacking Islam and the way we practise Islam.”

But Mr Woolas remains unrepentant, saying that he was merely exercising his democratic right as a government minister to speak out.

He said: “This was a judgement for the headteacher and she has made it. The woman was offered a compromise of being able to wear the veil in the staff room, but she refused that offer.

“While I have no problem with people wearing what they want, the children’s education is the most important issue at stake.

“Muslim teachers in that school also do not support the wearing of the veil and it’s a big mistake for some people to assume that the Muslim community has a homogenous view.”