MIDLANDS VOICE
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Priti Champions Indian Diaspora
Sunetra Senior
Priti Patel, MP, and promoter of commercial, diplomatic and cultural ties between Britain and India in the BritishIndian community, commended the contribution of Hindus and Indians to the UK during her visit to Leicester's BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir for Diwali 2014. The diaspora champion was joined by Leicester East's Conservative Prospective Parliamentary candidate, Kishan Devani and also met with some of the community's leaders and volunteers: 'Leicester always puts on a fantastic celebration for Diwali and I was delighted to be
Priti Patel at the Mandir
able to visit this year' stated Priti. 'Hindus and Indians in the Midlands have a rich heritage we can be proud of and have made an enormous con-
tribution to British society (…) The Mandir in Leicester attracts Hindus from across the Midlands and I wish everyone a Happy Diwali.'
Rochdale taxi firm boss in 'race choice' U-turn The boss of a taxi firm has reversed his decision to allow customers to choose the race of their driver after 50 Asian cabbies walked out in protest. Their strike was in response to Stephen Campbell, who runs Car 2000 in Heywood, Rochdale, saying he would accommodate
requests for white drivers. The unhappy Asian drivers gathered in Heywood last Friday night to protest. Mr Campbell now says drivers closest to the customer will be allocated, and hopes this "puts everything to bed". He told BBC Radio Manchester: "For a small minority of people,
they're not going to get what they ask for. I just hope they're happy with what they do get." Car 2000 took over the now-defunct Eagle Taxis after the Rochdale grooming scandal. Two of the latter's drivers were among nine men jailed in May 2012 for running the child sexual exploitation ring.
Police hunt robber after gold chain is snatched from Dudley shop worker Police have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to after a £2,000 gold chain was snatched from the neck of a staff member at a Black Country off-licence last month. The robbery took place at the ‘7 til late’ Convenience Store in Bush Road, Netherton, Dudley, at around 11am on Friday, September 5. He then ran out of the shop and got into the passenger side of a stolen grey Seat Leon with two other men on board.
CCTV image of the man wanted by police
A CCTV image of the robber, taken from a camera inside the shop, has now been released by police in a bid to trace the
robber. DC Pat Lewis, from the Investigation Team at Brierley Hill Police, said: “The vehicle used was stolen and was later found burnt out in Weavers Rise, Netherton. Our enquiries are currently on-going but we would like anyone who recognises the man to contact us on 101 or call Crimestoppers confidentially on 0800 555 111.” The suspect is described as being Asian, aged 20 to 30, about 5ft 5ins, stocky with short hair and a goatee beard.
Solicitor’s career on hold until a kidney donor can be found The ambitions of a young woman to establish a career as a solicitor have been put on hold. Instead of studying, Atika Amodo, pictured, has to spend four hours, three evenings a week in hospital having dialysis after being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Earlier this year, the 25-year-old had a kidney transplant which failed and she is now desperate to find another donor. Atika, from Rushey Mead, began feeling unwell about four years ago. She said: “I felt unwell and my joints were swollen and sore. Two weeks after seeing a doctor tests showed my kidney function was quite low and I was told I had
chronic kidney disease. It was a huge shock. I was immediately put on medication which eased the symptoms. But one of the problems was that this included steroids and my face started getting bigger and I was putting on weight.” Atika’s kidneys were failing so badly she had to start dialysis. At first, this was peritoneal dialysis which she was able to do at home, but following an infection she had to change to hemodialysis which has to be administered in hospital. At the end of May, Atika had a kidney transplant under an “exchange” scheme, whereby her mother donated one of her kidneys to a patient and in
return Atika received a kidney from another donor. Now Atika has no idea when she might be able to have another kidney transplant. In Leicestershire, there are currently about 450 patients on dialysis. Anyone considering being a live donor should call the transplant co-ordinator at Leicester’s hospitals on 0300 303 1573.
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 1st November 2014
Leicester's first Sikh school finally opens “A dream come true” that’s how the opening of Leicester’s first Sikh free school has been described. Falcons Primary, in Gipsy Lane, opened Monday. The school was supposed to open in September for the beginning of the academic year but had its funding withdrawn from the Department for Education (DfE) at the last minute following a “breakdown in relationships”. Inderjit Singh Panesar, chair of trustees behind the new school said: “The opening is a dream come true for parents and the local community. Our aim is to provide the highest quality education supported by universal values and
Keith Vaz, Inderjit Panesar, Jasbir Mann and Harminder Jagdev
virtues which are underpinned by our Sikh faith ethos.” Mr Panesar thanked Leicester East MP Keith Vaz and Councillor Vi Dempster, assistant city mayor for schools, for their support over the past few weeks, along with the DfE. The school has opened to reception
and year one children and over time will grow to 420 pupils on roll. It has opened under the Government’s free schools programme and will provide education for children from all backgrounds with at least 50 per cent of places available for non-Sikh children.
Five deny Ikram Ullah Khan murder in Sparkbrook Five men have appeared in court and denied murdering a Birmingham fatherof-four who was stabbed in the neck last July. Khalid Jan, Umar Zazai, Sardar Khattak, Mujahid Chambili and Mirwais Chambili all pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ikram Ullah Khan when they appeared at the city’s crown court. Jan, 23, Zazai, 25, Khattak, 34, Mujahid
Chambili, 23, and 18-yearold Mirwais Chambili are likely to face trial in January next year. Jan, of Ombersley Road, Sparkbrook; Zazai, of no fixed address; Khattak, of Foxwell Road, Bordesley Green; Mujahid Chambili and Mirwais Chambili, both of Adria Road, Sparkhill, were all remanded in custody. Two other men charged with killing Mr
Khan have yet to enter a plea. Mr Khan, 28, died after being injured during disorder which broke out in the Grantham Road and Farm Road area of Sparkbrook on July 2 this year. It was initially thought the victim, known locally as Ikram Elahi, had been shot but postmortem tests found his death was the result of a stab wound.
Woman fleeces granny out of £4,200 after being given a roof over her head A granddaughter callously stole £4,200 savings from her grandma, who had kindly allowed her to stay at her home, a court heard. Nusaybah Al-Mansouri wept as she was sentenced to seven months detention. James Varley, prosecuting, said: “The victim may have disabilities but she’s not stupid and when she saw her bank statement she realised money was missing. As a retired pensioner, it was money she couldn’t manage without.
The defendant fleeced her grandmother’s bank account by using a number of stolen cheques, between February 8 and March 12.” Sentencing last Friday Judge Ebraham Mooncey said: “These offences were committed in breach of your grandmother’s trust. Out of the goodness of her heart she’d let you stay with her. Far from being grateful, you took £4,200. The pre-sentence report says there’s little scope for the probation to work with
you.” Justin McClintock, mitigating, said: “She’s acutely aware of the impact of her offences upon her grandmother. Until forming a relationship with her ex-boyfriend she had no convictions. Unfortunately he introduced her to class A drugs and a rapid and worrying deterioration followed. Her offending can be traced to that unfortunate change of events and drugs were a catalyst in all her offending.”
Teacher admits Syria terror offences A chemistry teacher has pleaded guilty to two Syria-related terror offences. Jamshed Javeed, pictured, of Levenshulme in Manchester, accepted he intended to travel to Syria to join rebels fighting against the government. Javeed admitted two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terror acts. He was remanded in custody after the Woolwich Crown Court hearing and will be sentenced in December. The teacher is said to have become rapidly radicalised from living an ordinary Western lifestyle to becoming someone determined to fight in the Middle East, having changed his appearance
and behaviour from August 2013. Det Chief Supt Tony Mole of North West Counter Terror Unit commented: "What this case tells us is that the earlier we can be told about someone's intentions to join a group like this the better. Ideally, we would
like to stop people well before they get to this stage. Anyone who goes out to fight with Isis could potentially be a serious danger to communities if they return. By the time you have been trained, had experience, built up future friendships and fully engaged with that terrorist rhetoric, you potentially become a dangerous individual so we take a robust approach to people that wish to engage with terrorist organisations,” he said. At the time of his arrest, Javeed said he felt the British government was not doing enough to help the situation in Syria and that his actions were "honourable".