UK Mayor Patel Starts Council Meets w/Vedic Chants

[Guest guest]

Mayor Patel for Hindu chants, not carols

"Since he became mayor in May this year - Preston is a Labour-run

council - Patel is reported to have replaced the traditional

Christian blessing at the start of each council meeting with Hindu

prayers."

IANS

Thursday, December 01, 2005 00:52 IST

 

LONDON: Bhikhu Patel, an Indian-origin mayor of the town of Preston

in Lancashire, has raised hackles in the area by replacing the

traditional Christmas carol in the council with an evening of Asian

and Afro-Caribbean music.

 

For several years, the mayor of Preston has celebrated Christmas with

a traditional carol concert at the local town hall, but Patel's move

this year to instead have an Asian and Afro-Caribbean evening has

been condemned as "politically correct stupidity".

 

Councillor Ken Hudson, leader of the opposition Conservative party in

the city council, remarked this week that the decision to have a

multicultural event instead of Christmas was "bloody ridiculous".

 

"It feels like they have cancelled part of Christmas. I am

devastated. Preston is a multicultural city, which means respecting

festivals important to Christians as well as other ethnic

minorities," Hudson told the media.

 

The Christmas service, which is held in the council chamber, has been

organised annually by the mayor's office since 1998. It usually

attracts around 100 people, mainly friends and family of the

council's elected members and civil servants.

 

According to Patel, the Christmas concert had to be cancelled because

a choir could not be found to sing at the event. But he admitted that

he thought a multicultural event more appropriate and that he would

have struggled to persuade his family to attend a carol concert.

 

"I want a multicultural peace and harmony event. It will be a

culturally cohesive, more inclusive event. I do not think carol

singing is suitable for my mayoral year. "Despite the fact that they

celebrate Christmas, I couldn't get my friends and family to go to a

carol concert," he told the Daily Mail.

 

Instead of singing carols, people will be entertained by Afro-

Caribbean singer Katie McClelland and Asian musicians at the event on

Jan 7.

 

Around 15 per cent of Preston's 250,000-strong population is made up

of ethnic minorities.

Hudson said: "Regardless of religion, the mayor is supposed to

represent the people of Preston.

The mayor should not push his own religion down people's throats at

the expense of others in the community he is supposed to be serving."

 

Since he became mayor in May this year - Preston is a Labour-run

council - Patel is reported to have replaced the traditional

Christian blessing at the start of each council meeting with Hindu

prayers.

 

He has also been criticised for requesting that the taxpayer fund a

trip for an 11-strong delegation, including members of his own

family, to his home village - Navsari in Gujarat.

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=12133