Minutes:
The Mayor made the following acceptance speech:
“I am overwhelmed and feel humbled by the kind words expressed at my appointment as Mayor. I would like to express thanks, appreciation and gratitude to the Leader and Leader of the Opposition for their nominations and to my fellow councillors for electing me as Mayor and the First Citizen of the London Borough of Enfield. I am particularly grateful to my Labour colleagues who have supported me in standing for this position of honour and dignity. I would also like to thank all elected councillors of the borough for their gesture of goodwill towards me, which I would like to reciprocate now and in the future. I would also like to thank the members of the public, invited guests, dignitaries and officers of the Council. I am proud of the fact that I am the first Mayor and was also the first Cabinet Member of Asian origin.
Having been born in India I have also been fortunate to live in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as the UK. Politics has not always been my main passion. I joined politics as a way of seeking justice and equality and in order to redress what I felt to be the grievances of the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, experienced during my three decades as a racial equality Director. I still feel passionately that more should be done to empower the Black and Minority Ethnic Community by giving them more strategic support. My challenge, in the past, has been to demand from the authorities that racial discrimination is addressed which has led to me being regarded as a controversial character. I am therefore glad that the Council’s objectives now include fairness, sustainability and growth which will need to be carefully monitored in relation to the impact on the Black and Minority Ethnic Community within the borough.
I was born in a small village in India called Uchundi where the nearest school for primary education was 3 miles away. As a young boy I used to travel 6 miles a day by foot just to attend school as the opportunity to be educated was very limited. I was the fifth child in my family with six brothers and six sisters. My parents were land owners so were wealthy, although were greatly affected by the partition in India in 1947. I stayed in India with my family until 1953, doing the equivalent of GCSEs and then left to move to East Pakistan, Bangladesh as it is now. It was a challenge for me as a young boy to leave my family in India and to find a good educational opportunity and career in that country. I graduated in Politics, English Literature & Economics in 1959 and two years later gained a Masters in Political Science majoring in Constitutional Law. I also completed a Law degree on a part time basis. In 1969 I gained a Diploma in Public Relations from the British Institute of Public Relations and later achieved full membership. This public relations training has helped me a great deal in dealing with communities of diverse cultures.
My first job was as a social worker with the Diabetic Association in Dhaka, which lasted for nearly a year. I then joined the United States Information Service (USIS) as Branch Chief in 1962 and later joined the American Peace Corps operation in Pakistan as their national coordinator. This lasted until I left Pakistan to take up a 12 month contract with the University of Minnesota, USA to lecture on South East Asia. In 1966 I came to the UK to take up a job with the Pakistan High Commission as Assistant Labour Attaché. During the 1971 Bangladeshi Independence Movement I left the High Commission to take up a job in Oxford as Director of the Community Relations Council. In 1981 I moved to Croydon as Director of the CRC and in 1983 I joined the London Borough of Enfield as its first Director of the Racial Equality Council, where the late Councillor Jackson was especially helpful during his Mayoralty. I left Enfield in 1985 to take up a job in Waltham Forest, where I worked until my retirement in 1998. Following my retirement I became more active in the Voluntary Sector, often being busier than when working on a full time basis! At one stage I was chairing nine different organisations stretching from Oxford, Croydon, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest to Enfield where I was Chair of the Enfield Racial Equality Council, Enfield Bangladesh Welfare Association, North London Asian Care, Director of Enfield Voluntary Action, Ponders End Development Trust and non-executive Director of the NHS Trust.
In terms of achievements I can, on reflection, include the establishment of Cherwell Housing Trust in Oxford, which now has over 2000 units of social housing, along with the Caribbean Resource Centre in Croydon. In Waltham Forest I helped to establish and manage the Waltham Forest Asian Centre and in Enfield have been involved in development of the Racial Equality Council, North London Asian Centre and Enfield Bangladesh Welfare Association.
Turning to my year as Mayor and First Citizen I carry with me the responsibility of enhancing the boroughs image and liaising with various organisations. The guidance handbook for the Mayor says that there are three main roles for the Mayor (1) a symbol of authority and continuity; (2) a symbol of open society; and (3) an expression of social cohesion. I will to adhere to all three of these roles during my term as Mayor. In doing this I will also look to encourage good discipline in the Council Chamber, ensuring a high quality of debate. Personal attacks, aggrandisement or overbearing political onslaught will not, in my opinion, create an environment of healthy debate. Good research and presentation will lead to an excellent standard of debate and would urge my fellow councillors to focus on the standard of debate rather then on attacking the other side. I will also seek to encourage mutual respect amongst and between all elected councillors and will look to allow healthy debate by strictly enforcing the rules enshrined in the Council’s Constitution.
I intend to raise funds for my charity “recognising the community organisations’ contributions to society”. I will encourage all community organisations that do not get any funding, yet provide useful services to the community, to apply as I want to recognise and appreciate their work through my charity.
I will seek to represent all the main religious groups in the borough through the Mayors Chaplaincy this year. The community in Enfield is made up of 53.6% Christian, 16.7% Muslim, 3.5% Hindu and 1.4% Jewish and I intend to promote the religious mix and diversity of our community by enabling the various religious groups to provide blessings at out Council meetings.
Finally I would like to thank my wife and daughter for being my pillars of strength and supporting me in my ambition and career. I would further like to thank my guests and members of the public who have so kindly joined me to share this special day with me. I would also like to thank my aunt Dr Kusum, representatives from the Bangladesh Welfare Association and many personal friends who are with me tonight.
I would also like to inform you that I will not be seeking election as a councillor next year, which means I can look forward to my real retirement after my time as Mayor. Can I thank you for your support over the coming year, which I am greatly looking forward to.
The Mayor received a presentation from the Enfield Bangladesh Welfare Association recognising his achievement in being appointed as the first Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield from Asian origin.