EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 27

November 2001

  Race Riots Will Not Damage Inter-Faith Relations  
  Fwad Bhatti is a member of the Inter-faith Council of Blackburn with Darwen. In August he joined a delegation who visited Corrymeela in Northern Ireland. The aim of the visit was to look at how a community has been able to live in reconciliation
 
Assalaamu-alaikum (Peace be upon you).

Following the recent ‘race’ riots in northern towns and the current focus on segregation (whether in education or housing), various organisations and agencies are channelling some of their re s o u rces on bringing young people from diff e rent backgrounds together. It is hoped that these young people who o t h e rwise might not get the opportunity to know each other, can spend time together which should lay the foundation for future harmony.

Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Council supported by the Council’s Regeneration Department, took the bold step of taking 24 local youngsters (supervised by the Borough’s Youth Service) to Corrymeela in Northern Ireland. Situated in a picturesque part of the country near Ballycastle, Corrymeela is a place w h e re Catholics and Protestants can reconcile their d i ff e rences in a peaceful healing environment. Away f rom the politicians and paramilitaries, ordinary people particularly families can reflect on the ‘ troubles’ that have affected their lives and try to understand the extreme divisions that prevent them from living together.

Northern Ireland is only hours away from us in Lancashire but there are many parallels with Oldham, Burnley and Bradford. As Interfaith Development Officer, I am aware of many divisions in the Borough, white and asian, muslim and non-muslim, Indian heritage and Pakistani heritage and of course the ‘class’ divide which is in all communities p a rticularly noticeable amongst whites. Corrymeelawere also keen to build links with non-white and non-Christian communities in the UK because N o rt h e rn Ireland is almost always associated with sectarian issues, the underlying racism experienced by minorities rarely receives media coverage. So with good intentions all round the project came into being. The group of young people (male and female) mainly consisted of those of Indian Gujarati heritage but also Pakistani heritage and whites from different backgrounds. It was my intention for the young people to possibly learn about issues around division in a diff e rent context and situation but also to enjoy themselves by participating in various outdoor activities as well.

The warm ‘Irish’ welcome by Corrymeela staff , volunteers and visitors (from different parts of the world) will be long remembered by those that experienced it. Every step was taken to ensure our g roup really felt at home there. The morning sessions w e re based around workshops looking at similarities between Nort h e rn Ireland and Blackburn, racism and identity. The guest speakers, young people from both catholic and protestant backgrounds spoke frankly and honestly about growing up in Northern Ireland , the problems (and hopes) of ‘mixed’ relationships and the historical traditions based on ‘us’ and ‘them’. A member of the Hong Kong Chinese community (the l a rgest minority) talked to us about the hatred he had experienced for being a catholic as well as asian. There was plenty of time for fun and games as young people and adults engaged in archery, abseiling, coasteering, football as well as less strenuous activities like walking along the beach enjoying the unspoilt scenery.

One whole day was allocated to a tour of Belfast, starting with a drive down the Shankhill Road. The Irish tricolour and the Union Jack are the dominant symbols, markers so you know exactly which community you are in. The various paramilitary g roups also make you aware of their presence with their flags and graffiti. No wall seemed to be untouched. The graffiti and the famous murals depict paramilitary activities but also historical events that give you some background to the feelings of the two opposed communities. A colonial legacy with many complexities it is not quite as simple as ‘Catholic’ and ‘ P rotestant’. Physical (as well as the ‘mental’) barriers keep one community apart from the other, Belfast is like a patchwork of ‘green’ and ‘orange’. Police stations are more like fort resses with their rocket-proof walls. A helicopter hovered above us all day. Belfast city centre is on the face of it just like any cosmopolitan city centre in Europe with it’s historical buildings and modern shopping centres but our mixed group did receive some ‘funny looks’ from locals.

Mrs Madhubala Pandya, the Interfaith Council’s Vice-Chair and Rev Dale Barton, Interfaith Council member also accompanied myself on this residential . The place for worship at Corrymeela is called the ‘ C roi’ meaning heart and one evening we off e re d muslim, hindu and christian prayers in the presence of other groups staying at Corrymeela. It was the first time many had witnessed a multi-faith cere m o n y. The Corrymeela experience is difficult to put into words but will stay with me for a long time. Having been briefly acquainted with Northern Ireland, I give thanks that our ‘troubles’ in northern England have fortunately not reached the levels as over there and I pray for the people of Northern Ireland so that their young ones can grow up understanding and respecting each other.

For more information about the Corrymeela Community, please call 028 9050 8080 or visit the website: www.corrymeela.org.uk


 
 
Madhu Pandya also shares her thoughts on the visit.

We went to Northern Ireland on the 18th of August for five days. We started our journey early on a Saturday morning. From Belfast we went to Corrmeela

We went to Corrymeela because we had heard that it is a safe-haven for people or g roups who are having any kind of problems. There are trained people there who can help you with all your difficulties.

I am part of the inter-faith project. They thought that if they took young people f rom the youth service to Corrymeela they might be able to sort out their own problems. The group we took were from the Daisyfield are of Blackburn. Ideally, we wanted a mixed group with Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Anglicans, Sheiks and Jews. Unfortnuately, the group at Daisyfield were mainly Gujarati Muslims.

It was important for this young group to go to Northern Ireland, with all the recent problems of riots etc, to try and diffuse that. We hoped that they would gain some understanding within themselves and would come back and talk about their experiences with their friends.

For security reasons we had to be careful about going to Belfast. The only day we went was on a Wednesday. They took us to the different parts of Belfast such as the Shankhill Road. They showed us the areas where the Protestants and the Catholics live and explain how the divisions have been happening.

It was amazing to see the murals on the wall and see how the people felt about the troubles. In the Catholic areas the murals showed that they wanted freedom. In the Protestant area there were Union Jacks on the walls and the trees etc. It was as if they were adamant that they were here to stay.

In Corrymeela it was very open. The young generation did not see that there was any problem. We had two young speakers who said that as far as they were concerned there is no problem, they’ve been to school together and everything is fine. However, when you touched into the history you could see that the problem is very deep rooted.

Corrymeela was a good place itself because it made you relax. I’ve got good memories of it. They were very nice people. I did not know whether they were Protestant or Catholic. It didn’t matter.

When I go back to Northern Ireland I would like to look into the problems more because its not simple. On one of the roads in Northern Ireland they had built a factory purposely to segregate the Protestants from the Catholics. The other things that were very prominent were the big iron gates between the communities that they could close if there was any trouble. My mind went back to the problems we have had in England and the fact that we could see something similar over-here .

 

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