Northern Ireland to Help Ease Sikh-Muslim Tensions in Britain

March 30, 2008

Author: Dipankar De Sarkar

Source: Thaindian News

Wire Service: IANS

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/northern-ireland-to-help-ease-sikh-muslim-tensions-in-britain_10032721.html

Sikh and Muslim leaders in Britain are to be taken to Northern Ireland - a province that is just emerging from decades of sectarian violence - to help ease religious tensions said to be rooted in events surrounding India’s independence. Faith Matters, a charity run by Fiyaz Mughal, a Liberal Democrat councillor in east London, has been given 30,000 pounds by the Department of Communities and Local Government in order to address simmering Sikh-Muslim tensions, according to media reports.

“No work has really been done between Sikhs and Muslims. The tensions have a religious and national base. The gripes and frictions are not on a large scale, but gangs continue to be (formed) along ethnic lines,” said Mughal.

“Faith plays a role in the tensions, along with drugs, turf (wars), young people not having opportunities, talk of forced conversion and (resentment) about resources and cash given to the Muslim community. We want to debunk some of these myths,” Mughal told a community newspaper in London.