One United Leicestershire
In 2020 Leicester Council of Faiths held a Unity declaration launch event. Following messages and actions of individuals and groups that use faith and ethnicity and political views of people as tools to sow seeds of division which impact ordinary people. We have seen attacks on minority communities in Europe and elsewhere, which often cause tensions and anxiety among the diverse communities in Leicester and Leicestershire. We condemn these attacks and oppose those that aimed to cause division.
In order to underline our commitment to human rights, cohesion, peace and respect for each other, the Leicester Council of Faiths has adopted a Unity declaration. Faith leaders and organisations from across Leicester and Leicestershire were invited to show their support by signing up to this declaration and with over 80 signatories from faith and public leaders, already we are indeed showing that Leicester and Leicestershire are united in supporting our diverse communities to live, learn and work together.
UNITY DECLARATION
DECLARATION OF “ONE UNITED LEICESTERSHIRE“
Recently we experienced messages and actions of individuals and groups that used faith and ethnicity and political views of people as tools to sow seeds of division which impacts ordinary people, including children in schools. We also live in a world that has a lot of turmoil, hatred, racism and oppression against minorities, which sometimes cause tensions and anxiety among the diverse communities in Leicester and Leicestershire.
We the undersigned as faith representatives, organisations, community centres, elected representatives, institutions and groups make this declaration as members of the Leicester and Leicestershire family.
We oppose all forms of action that aims to promote division and pit one community against the other.
We stand united in opposition to all forms of hatred and discrimination. We oppose any statements or action that claims an area is exclusive to any one faith or ethnic or class of communities.
We respect the democratic will of people and acknowledge that whilst people have differences in political opinions we should remain united in our commitment to work and live alongside each other in harmony.
We support basic human rights for all and oppose the action and words of people in positions of power or influence here and abroad that denigrate, discriminate and oppress minorities.
We will build and support the building of friendships with diverse people.
We will double our efforts to work and live alongside each other in peace and harmony and support organisations, including educational institutions and individuals that actively work to do this.
All of us, be it individuals, families, leaders and representatives of faith centres and non-faith institutions and leaders of civic and public bodies have common human values that bond us together as one human family.
In supporting this declaration of unity we are taking collective responsibility and are committed to make Leicester and Leicestershire a more united and stronger family of diverse communities, a ‘ONE UNITED LEICESTERSHIRE’.
NAME ORGANISATION/ FAITH/ INTEREST
Rt Hon Jon Ashworth MP Leicester South MP
Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP Leicester West MP
Hon Claudia Webbe MP Leicester East MP
Dev Sharma Leicestershire Youth MP (Member of Youth Parliament)
Lord Willy Bach Police & Crime Commissioner, Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland
Simon Cole Chief Constable, Leicestershire Police
Professor Nishan Canagarajah President & Vice-Chancellor University of Leicester
Fayyaz Suleman Chairman, Leicester Council of Faiths
Resham Singh Sandhu Life Member of LCOF
Suleman Nagdi Life Member of LCOF
Father John Lally Vice Chairman – LCOF & Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic) Parish & Our Lady of Good Counsel Church
Narendra Waghela Treasurer LCOF & BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir Member
Minou Courtazzi Assist, Sec LCOF & The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of Leicester
Father Paskal Clement Leicester Anglican Diocese Representative
Cllr Ashiedu Joel The Redeemed Christian Church of God Representative
Manjula Sood Member of the Hindu Faith Community & Board
Harminder Singh Jagdev Ramgharia Sikh Gurdwara Representative
Leon Charikar Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation Representative
Yasmin Surti Federation of Muslim Organisations Leicestershire Representative
Sulakhan Singh Dard Sikh Faith Chaplain & Member of Sikh Faith Community
Ramanbhai Barber Member of the Hindu Faith Community & Board
Smita Shah The Jain Centre Representative
Harsharan Kaur Mann Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Representative
Julie Harrald LCOF Member (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Ian Vernon The Pagan Federation – East Midlands Representative
Nikunj Bhai Shah Oshwal (Jain) Association of the UK Leicester Representative
Tony Nelson Leicester Hebrew Congregation Representative
Sunil Budheou Shree Jalaram Mandir Representative
Rabbi Shmuli Pink Member of the Jewish Faith Community
Cllr Rashimkant Joshi Member of the Hindu Faith Community
Reverend Levy Gono Member of the Christian Faith Community
Ramesh Bellur Member of the Buddhist Faith Community
Janette Macdonald Member of the Bahai Faith Community
Gajendra Chhatrisha Member of the Jain Centre
Ramesh Mashru Member of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir
Dr. Angela Jagger Member of the LCOF (Anglican Faith)
David Young Member of the LCOF (Roman Catholic Faith)
Marcus Solanki Member of the LCOF (Anglican Faith)
Rosemarie Fitton Member of the LCOF (Multi-faith Harmony Interest)
Elizabeth Wayne Member of the LCOF (Anglican Faith)
Dr.Gurpreet Parmar Member of the LCOF (Sikh Faith)
Pradip Gajjar Member of the LCOF (Hindu Faith)
Abdul Karim Gheewala Chair, Federation of Muslim Organisations Leicestershire & Chair of Masjid Al Falah
Rt Rev Joachim Kreusel Moravian Church
Yusuf Seedat Indian Muslim Association Leicester
Zuber Hassam Oadby Wigston Muslim Association,
Kartar Singh Bring Chair, UK Sikh Healthcare Chaplaincy Group,
Mohammed Fozdar Secretary Usmani Mosque,
Sanjiv Patel Head of Outreach BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir,
Farooq Murad Islamic Foundation,
Dr. Manazir Hasan Markfield Institute
Monsignor John Hadley Dean (Roman Catholic) for Leicester and surrounding parishes
Shockat Adam Patel MEND (Muslim Engagement & Development)
Cllr Vijay Ryatt LCC Councillor
Cllr Sue Waddington LCC Councillor
Cllr Mohammed Dawood LCC Councillor
Mussa Saleh Dedza Welfare Trust & Chasa Muslim Welfare Society of UK
Vibhooti Acharya President – Shree Sanatan Mandir Leicester
Cllr Ross Willmot LCC Councillor & Labour Police Crime Commissioner Candidate
Jaffer Kapasi Dawoodi Bohra Jamat
Bernard Glick Member of the Jewish Faith
Razak Ghumran Chairperson Muslim Khatri Association
Molana Abdurrahim Diwan Lajpuri Founder – Community Radio Seerah 1575AM/MW
Reverend David Clarke Member of the Christian Faith
Cllr Lindsay Broadwell LCC Councillor & Member of the Quaker Community
Lesley Vann Chair – Beltane Spring Fayre Group
Tony Modinos Secretary – Beltane Spring Fayre Group
Ushaben Rajnibhai Mehta President – The Jain Centre
Cllr Deepak Bajaj LCC Councillor
Cllr Mustafa Malik LCC Councillor
Cllr Melisa March LCC Councillor
Cllr Patrick Kitterick LCC Councillor
Abdul Razak Osman Iqra Aid Trust
Sylvia Thomas Member of Brahma Kumaris Leicester
Ali Master Masjid Al-Hussain – MKSI Leicester
Prof. Surinder Sharma Leicester Race Equality Centre
Hajra Makda Global Poverty Relief
Ismail Makda Global Poverty Relief
Bharti Acharya Hon Secretary Shree Sanatan Mandir Leicester
Sanjay Samani Member of the Sathya Sai Centre of Leicester
Zubeda Gangat FMO
Pravinbhai Jagjivan Treasurer Shree Sanatan Mandir Leicester
Bhavin Jivraj Member of Sathya Sai International Organisation UK
Mohammed Jamil Masjid E Bilal
Dr Shahi Mehta Member of Jain Faith Community (Faith Practitioner)
Pramod Thakkar Chairman Jalaram Charitable Trust
Cllr Geoff Whittle LCC Councillor
Sanjay Samani Sathya Sai Centre
Rt Rev Joachim Kreusel Moravian Church
Cllr Kirk Master LCC Councillor
If you or your organisation, would like to be added to the list of supporters, please contact us