25 March, 2008

British Muslim achievements recognised at annual awards ceremony

Muslim achievements in Britain were extolled by ministers and political
leaders at the annual ceremony for the latest The Muslim News Awards for
Excellence in London Tuesday.

“These awards celebrate the achievements of British Muslims in all walks
of life. They identify Muslim achievers and highlight the wonderful
contribution that British Muslims make,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

“Equally importantly, they challenge the stereotypes and negative
portrayal of Muslims in many parts of the media. They provide us with
role models we can all be proud of,” the Prime Minister said in a video
message to the annual ceremony.

The awards, the eighth, organised by The Muslim News, bring together
politicians, religious leaders, journalists, community activists along
with representatives from the world of sport, culture, academia, amongst
others, to celebrate the many talents and achievements of Muslim
communities in such diverse areas as arts, sport, education, technology
and business.

“Britain simply wouldn’t be the same without the achievements of Muslim
entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, writers, artists and sportsmen and
women,” said Brown, who was guest of honour at the event in 2005. He
also said he was impressed that the professionalism of the awards that
were organised entirely by volunteers, most of the under 30 and 95 per
cent of them women.

In a keynote speech at the ceremony, Foreign Secretary David Miliband
said the annual was a “showcase” of the key role that British Muslims
play in UK life in a wide range of professions and fields. “By
celebrating the many contributions of those that represent the best of
Britain we can inspire others and also show that we are a nation in
which British Muslims are an integral part of our society in politics,
business and social life,” the Guest of Honour said.

Conservative Leader, David Cameron, sent his best wishes to everyone
attending the annual The Muslim News Awards. “These Awards have gone
from strength to strength over the last eight years. This is testament
both to The Muslim News and the organisers of the awards, and to the
huge contribution which Muslim people make to British society,” he said.

“These awards play a vital role in sending out the message that the
Muslim community in Britain make a highly valuable contribution to
public life in a range of areas,” the Leader of the Liberal Democrats,
Nick Clegg said. The event “serves an excellent role in providing
Muslims across Britain with role models that that can inspire them” and
at the same time “demonstrates that in modern Britain Muslims can, and
do, thrive in the widest possible spectrum of contemporary life,” he
said in his message.

Previous annual cermonies have been attended by such high-profile
figures as former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales since the awards were launched in 2000 to mark the 10th
anniversary of publication as Britain’s leading Muslim newspaper,

The paper’s Editor, Ahmed J Versi, welcomed all the over 800 guests
attending the event and especially all those who were nominated for
tonight’s awards; to the 150,000 The Muslim News readers who took the
time to nominate men, women and young people of excellence and the
independent panel of judges in their painstaking task in shortlisting
and selecting the winners

“Well before we were described as a, ‘problem community’, we at The
Muslim News have always believed that this British Muslim community,
diverse in its composition, with so much promise, has got what it takes
to make a significant and dynamic contribution to the United Kingdom,”
Versi told the ceremony. He also spoke of his newspaper’s 19 years of
efforts aimed at balancing the news agenda, but warned that the
contribution amounts to “no more than a few drops of hope in an ocean
of cynicism.” The past 12 months, the Editor said, was unfortunately
“no different” to the disappointment he had expressed at the start of
his previous speeches, when observing how the Muslim community has
faced “yet another difficult year,” culminating in the “breathtaking
over- reaction of the media to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s thoughtful
observations on the place of the Shari’ah in Britain today.”

Nominations for awards are classified in 15 different categories of
Muslim achievements, ranging from science and engineering to community
development, young person and the arts. This year’s shortlist of
nominees ranged from the Leicester-based Muslim Youthwork Foundation
(MYWF), which integrates Muslim and non-Muslim expertise in youth work,
ArtIslam, a young London-based venture that welcomes artists with an
interest in abstract Islamic art to Alan Johnston BBC journalist, who
was kidnapped in Gaza and held prisoner for 114 days.

Nominations from Britain’s 1.8 million Muslim community are made by
members of the public and the shortlist and winners are decided by an
independent panel of seven distinguished judges.

The judging panel for this year were: LIS HOWELL is Director of
Broadcasting at the Department of Journalism, City University, London;
SABIRA KANJI is the Financial Controller of People 1st, the Sector
Skills Council for the Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism
industries and a non-executive Director of the Skills Council of
Scotland.; MOHAMMED GHAZALI KHAN is a freelance journalist and public
relations consultant working with ethnic and Asian media for the last
twenty years; MARILYN MORNINGTON is a district judge, is Chair of the
Lord Chancellor’s Department Domestic Violence Group, and is a member of
Project Adhikar; AYFER ORHAN is a Councillor in the London Borough of
Enfield and the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate in Hemel
Hempstead; MUHAMMAD UMAR is an author and a novelist whose book, Amina
was applauded in the New Statesman for being ‘surprisingly fresh’ and
for introducing ‘brilliant debuts’ to Nigeria’s recent history.

For the editors:

Full list of the shortlisted people is on our website:
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=3390

For winners names on the day contact the office.

Those media wanting to attend the event, MUST register by Thursday 20
March.

Programme begins at 5.30 with Reception and the awards commences at 6.35pm.

TV footage and still photographs will be provided by The Muslim News.