London councillors argue over Ramadan 'courtesy'

Muslim members complain of iftar packs being stolen and ask others to refrain from eating or drinking in front of those who fast.

LONDON // Non-Muslim councillors on an inner London local authority are furious after they were told they cannot eat or drink in meetings during Ramadan. The move has been branded as "divisive" by the leader of the main opposition group on the council, which covers an area of east London where about 36 per cent of the population are Muslims. Labour-run Tower Hamlets has run into problems before for being overly careful. In recent years, the council has told staff that they must call their annual Christmas meal a "festive lunch" while last year's traditional Nov 5 bonfire night celebrations were replaced by a Bengali folk show.

To mark Ramadan, the supposedly secular council has reduced the number of meetings and told councillors that the usual tea, coffee and sandwiches will not be available during committee meetings. However, iftar packs are being made available for Muslim councillors to eat after sunset, which falls about 7.30pm. Committee meetings usually start at 6.30pm. When meetings continue beyond sunset, council leaders have ordered that a 45-minute adjournment be observed to allow Muslim members to eat and pray.

Stephanie Eaton, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group on the council, said she would be ignoring the rules because they favoured one religious group over others. "The Liberal Democrats have enormous respect for the contribution of all faith groups and cultures to the life of the community," she told the East London Advertiser, a weekly newspaper covering the area. "But we fervently believe that the rules of any one religion should not be imposed upon others. We object to the request that non-Muslim councillors observe the fasting rules for Ramadan.

"This sends out the wrong message to our community. Our community consists of a huge number of different religions, all of which should be valued, and no one religion should be accorded more status or influence than others. "Freedom of belief is an important human right and we Liberal Democrat councillors, Muslim and non-Muslim, agree that this request is inappropriate." Mrs Eaton has written to Lutfur Rahman, recently elected as council leader, and Siraj Islam, his deputy, warning them that the Ramadan rules "will not enhance community cohesion and asking for their reassurance that no faith is given any particular status or priority in the operation or decisions of the council".

The rules were laid out in an e-mail sent to all councillors in the past week and was the first time that non-Muslim councillors had been asked to observe a fast while in the presence of Muslim colleagues, although iftar packs have been made available in previous years. After news of the ban was broadcast by the BBC and picked up by national newspapers, Mr Rahman was forced to back down and, in a statement on Friday, said the e-mail had been sent after complaints from Muslim councillors last year that their non-Muslim colleagues had been eating the iftar packs.

Despite the clear instruction in the e-mail telling all councillors to observe the fast during meetings, he said: "There is absolutely no suggestion that during Ramadan non-Muslim councillors have been asked to refrain from eating or drinking when Muslims are observing the fast. "As normal, water will be provided at council meetings taking place during Ramadan. Tea, coffee, iftar packs and non-iftar snacks will be available in a separate room for all councillors.

"All that's being asked for is courtesy to be shown to the sensitivities around some councillors eating during council meetings while others in the room are fasting. "Non-Muslim councillors have simply been asked to ensure that there is iftar food available for Muslim councillors, because in previous years Muslim councillors wanting to break their fast followings prayers had found that the iftar packs had been eaten."

Racial tensions in Tower Hamlets, where more than half the population are from ethnic minorities and about one-third originate from Bangladesh, have been high for years. @Email:[e-mail]