http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp? nodeId=132683&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132377&contentPK=1284 3233
'IT IS ESSENTIAL WE STAND UNITED AGAINST TERRORISM' BY CIARAN FAGAN 16:30 - 16 July 2005 Community leaders urged people across Leicester to unite against terrorism by supporting a major peace rally today. Leicester people and community leaders from across the religious and political spectrum have thrown their weight behind today's peace rally in Victoria Park. Crowds were due to gather around the war memorial, in Peace Way, in the park, at around 2.30pm. Faith community leaders, politicians and children will deliver peace messages from a stage in the park. The Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, the chairman of the Leicestershire Faith Leaders Forum, said: "I welcome this opportunity for all the faith leaders within our community to stand together to pray for peace and say that terror has no place in our society." Resham Singh Sandhu, chairman of Leicester Council of Faiths, said: "The terrorist threat does not apply to one community, it affects us all and it is the responsibility of all to help eradicate this evil from our community altogether. "This rally shows the people of this country that we are unified." Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, which has pulled together today's gathering in just a few days, said: "The rally provides us with an opportunity to show Leicester united as one city, one community against terror." Ramanbhai Barber, president of the Shree Sanatan Mandir Hindu temple in Belgrave, said: "This is a time for prayers and the main message to come out of this rally is that we are all standing together." Leicestershire's chief constable, Matt Baggott, whose officers have helped organise the event, said: "Each one of us has a responsibility of helping to make our communities safe. We must stand together." Earlier in the day, Moulana Shahid Raza, head imam at Leicester Central Mosque, was among Britain's leading 22 Muslims who met in London to condemn the bombings that killed at least 54 people on July 7. The leaders and scholars branded the bombings ''utterly criminal, totally reprehensible, and absolutely un-Islamic''. A statement read at the meeting said: ''The tragedy of July 7 demands that all of us, both in public life and in civil and religious society, confront together the problems of Islamophobia, racism, unemployment, economic depravation and social exclusion - factors that may be alienating some of our children and driving them towards the path of anger and desperation. ''Islam prohibits both anger and desperation. Anger and desperation are haram (forbidden) and may lead to some people being targeted by people with a sinister and violent agenda. ''There is, therefore, a great deal of positive work to be done with everyone in our own and the wider community in order to channel the energy and talent of our youth, particularly into constructive avenues, serving God and society for the common good. The youth need understanding, not bashing.'' -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
