New Delhi
27 March 2007
"A Britain without Muslims would be unthinkable -- a very different,
less vibrant, culturally poorer and significantly less economically successful place,"
British High Commissioner to New Delhi Sir Michael Arthur said.
"So I feel proud that with many communities we can also legitimately claim to be a
country of one British people whatever an individuals's race, religion or culture. We
have shared values and we are a nation in which British Muslims, and those of other
faiths, are an integral and vital part of our society," he said after inaugurating a photo
exhibition by Peter Sanders at the Experimental Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre.
The "Art of Integration Exhibition: Islam in Britain's Green and Pleasant Land" is
organised by the British High Commission and South Asian Council for Minorities.
On the occasion Sir Arthur said, "In 2005 the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
sponsored Peter Sanders to take a collection of photographs depicting Muslim life in
Britain. This resulted in The Art of Integration Exhibition: Islam in Britain's Green and
Pleasant Lands. This is a unique exhibition by Peter Sanders, who is a Muslim convert
and interestingly converted to Islam following a spiritual search to India in the 1970s."
He noted certain facts that illustrate how deeply Muslims are part of the fabric of UK
society. The 2001 census found there were approximately 1.6 million Muslims in Britain,
making Muslims the largest religious minority in Britain. Almost half of British Muslims
were born in the UK. Britain now has four Muslim MPs, five Muslim members of the
House of Lords, one Muslim Member of European Parliament and over 200 Muslim
municipal councillors.
"Modern Britain is generally comfortable with being tolerant of different groups, but at the
same time we need to provide a sense of common purpose and identity for everyone to
feel part of one society. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other faiths have
a perfect right to their own identity and religion .... This is what Britain is about ....
However, to overcome unnecessary misunderstandings and distrust requires work on all
sides. In modern Britain, these misunderstandings are being addressed and
discarded," he added.
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