I love Manchester, my home city: a terrific, vibrant place with communities from around the world living in harmony side by side.
Through my various roles as an international peace activist, novelist, trustee of We Stand Together and co-chair of Faith Network 4 Manchester, promoting community cohesion, challenging hatred and celebrating diversity is part and parcel of my everyday life.
For me, it all begins at home. We should challenge any racist, xenophobic and sexist remarks made by those near and dear to us.
To remain silent is a form of collusion. Forming friendships with people from other backgrounds makes a positive difference to our lives, enriching us and helping to break down barriers.
Having good relationships with our neighbours is a must. My Hindu neighbour is very dear to me. My former German neighbour had keys to our house. We ate, worked and cooked together.
I am dismayed at how Trump has normalised racism and sexism.
As a Muslim woman who has lived in the UK since the age of 9, I am distressed at the current rise in Islamophobic hate crimes.
I am also horrified at how my faith has been hijacked by the extremists and the cycle of violence with people killed in places of worship; whether in a mosque in Christchurch or a church in Sri Lanka.
I am dismayed at the constant demonisation of Muslims, including in the social media. I am fed up with the victimisation of Muslim women wearing the scarf. For me, it has become an equality issue. Don’t we all have the right to dress how we want to?
As an author, I use my literary platform to celebrate our differences and raise awareness about the need to get out of our own boxes. I use my stories and novel, Revolt about mixed race marriage, to build cultural bridges.
In Germany I promote intercultural dialogue through my story, A Pair of Jeans, studied as a literary text in schools. I remind my students that there are extremists in all faith communities with their own political ideologies and agendas.
For example, Christian Klu Klux Klan in the USA have been killing black people for centuries. Buddhist monks have been killing the Rohinga Muslims. In the UK, we have had the far right extremists like Jo Cox’s killer. In Norway, a far right extremist killed 77 people. I use our peace banners with these slogans: #WeStandTogether and #SpreadHoneyNotHate everywhere.
The Manchester Arena attack radically changed my life. On a mission to tackle divisions and connect Muslims and non-Muslims of all ages and backgrounds, I woke up one morning with an idea of setting up an arts festival. It resulted in MACFEST, Muslim Arts and Culture Festival.
In November 2018 we successfully delivered 50 events over 10 days across the city of Manchester in iconic venues such as the Whitworth Gallery, British Muslim Heritage Centre, Manchester and Science Museums, Central Library and Gaskell House. Manchester College and eight schools took part and hosted ‘MACFEST Days’, celebrating Muslim heritage with cultural and art activities.
MACFEST broke barriers and provided excellent opportunities to celebrate local talent and for diverse communities to come together under one roof to watch a film, listen to poetry, admire a painting, or watch musical performances.
Hugely successful, MACFEST recently won an award under the title of ‘Leading Lights of the Year’. Next year, during January, MACFEST will again show that #WeStandTogether through its activities.
For more information on MACFEST, see www.macfest.org.uk.
