Tag Archives: community

California’s Muslim community expressed its horror on Wednesday at the mass shooting that killed at least 14 in San Bernardino, after a local Muslim man was widely identified as a suspect. Syed Farook, a US citizen who worked for the town’s health department, is believed to have been killed in …

An online campaign in Northern Ireland to buy a new car for an Indian mother targeted in a racist attack has raised more than £5000. Subi Philip, a 38-year-old nurse originally from South India, had her car torched in the attack in the early hours of 26 November at her …

He’s held the Leicester East seat for twenty-eight years but that doesn’t mean that Keith Vaz MP is getting complacent – especially since the upcoming general election is going to be the most closely-fought in a generation.

Mr Vaz enlisted the help of his “family friend” Abhishek Bachchan to give his campaign for re-election some ‘Bollywood Magic’ and Bachchan Jr was more than happy to oblige, taking time out from celebrating his wedding anniversary with former Miss World wife Aishwarya.

Leicester’s famous Belgrave Road was brought to a standstill on Sunday as Bachchan’s fans and Mr Vaz’s supporters lined the streets, turning the whole thing into something akin to an election campaign rally in rural Bihar as opposed staid old Britain. 

Whilst Mr Vaz is not too worried about re-election (his majority in 2010 was more than 14,000), he did acknowledge that he wouldn’t stand a chance against Abhishek.

"I am absolutely delighted Abhishek is here in Leicester, I have known him for many years.  I'm glad he's fitted it in, but I would ask him not to stand in Leicester East, as I'd have no chance", he said.

Abhishek, clad in a sharp suit and sunglasses, hailed Mr Vaz for “looking after the interests of the Indian Diaspora community in Britain” – a view held by many within the community.

It was all a bit...well...Bollywood.

Mr Vaz’s Conservative opponent Kishan Devani, understandably enough, wasn’t too happy.

"The people of Leicester will decide who to vote for on questions of policy, not because of Bollywood stars coming to the city.  It's patronising to think that people will be swayed by gimmicks like this instead of policies which will affect their lives.It caused a lot of disruption and for what?", Mr Devani said.

{module Slideshow Abhishek}

Pilgrims descended from all over the world on a small town in Pakistan that is home to one of Sikhism’s holiest sites this week, dipping into holy spring water and solemnly offering prayers. They have come from India, Britain and the Middle East to the Panja Sahib Gurdwara in Hasan …

Politician George Galloway has called on the government to ban a planned ‘Anti-Islamization’ demonstration in Newcastle by what he called “knuckle-dragging thugs”. The firebrand MP for Bradford told the Newcastle Chronicle that he intends to be a part of a counter demonstration against PEGIDA UK, which plans to march through …

Britain’s largest Muslim organization has objected to a letter sent by Communities Minister Eric Pickles urging Muslim leaders to do more to tackle radicalization and extremism in the wake of the recent attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. In the letter, sent to more than 1000 Muslim leaders …

Polygamy is widespread within Britain’s Muslim community and women are being denied basic rights by being trapped in marriages that are not recognized under British law, according to a new study. The study – presented to the House of Lords by the women’s rights campaigner and peer Baroness Cox – …

The Asian community in Rotherham, South Yorkshire were aware that young white girls were being sexually exploited by gangs of Asian men in the city, a community worker claims. There has been widespread shock across the UK to news that nearly 1400 young girls, some as young as 11, were …

Police investigators revealed this weekend that a group of 35 men, women and children found inside a shipping container at a port in Essex are understood to be Sikhs from Afghanistan. The plight of these so-called ‘Afghan Sikhs’ was shocking to many, not least because Sikhs are not commonly associated …

Britain’s largest Sikh organization has dismissed as ‘lies’ claims by Downing Street that a Conservative Party donor who was made a peer this week is a prominent member of the Sikh community. Businessman Ranbir Singh Suri, founder of  London-based Oceanic Jewellery, was named by Prime Minister David Cameron to the …