An email sent by Town Hall leaders urged all Muslim and non-Muslim councillors to meet new arrangements during committee meetings marking the month of Ramadan, Muslim fasting period, reports the East London Advertiser.
Tower Hamlets council’s Lib Dem group leader, Stephanie Eaton, has condemned the move as ‘divisive’ as it favours and ‘imposes’ rules of one religious group over others.
Council leader Luthfur Rahman and his deputy Siraj Islam requested to keep meetings to a minimum and the all other councillors resist eating until the breaking of the fast at sunset during Ramadan, to accommodate for fasting councillors.
It is the first time that a this request has been made, and Council leaders have urged the rest of Town Hall to reduce the business agenda to have only seven scheduled meeting for the entire month. Some have been told not to arrange any more meetings and asked to find ways of dropping some of the scheduled seven.
Eating arrangements have angered Councillor Eaton and the rest of her party, which includes two Muslims, since normally refreshments and a few sandwiches are made available during evening meetings, which will now be replaced with ready-made Iftar (food) packs. However, during Ramadan councillors have been requested by the council’s head of democratic services John Williams to “not partake of any refreshments until after the Iftar refreshments are served.”
In response Councillor Eaton said:
“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.”
However, proponents of this Ramadan arrangement felt that their request was justified as complaints from some councillors that non-Muslims had been eating their Iftar packs were made. The Council states:
“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…All that’s being asked for is courtesy to be shown to the sensitivities around some councillors eating during council meetings whilst 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.”
