Renowned Bangladesh-born British politicians have called upon the young Bangladeshis to get involved in the mainstream politics in UK.
The young leaders of British-Bangladeshi community made the call saying that “the representation of Bangladeshi-origin youths in the British parliament doesn't reflect the proportions of Bangladeshis to the entire UK population.”
They came up with the invitation while attending a programme titled “Meet Your Future MPs” at the Atrium in East London on Thursday, a press release said.
The event was organised celebrating the achievements of five British-Bangladeshi prospective parliamentary candidates, who have been nominated by their parties from five different constituencies to represent their local residents at the general election of 2015.
Conducted by Urmi Majhar, the programme was addressed by Rushanara Ali, British Labour Party MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Tulip Siddiq, Labour candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, Barrister Anwar Babul Miah, Labour candidate for Welwyn Hatfield, Rupa Haq, Labour's Candidate in Ealing Central and Acton, Mina Rahman Conservative Party's Candidate for Barking.
Five British Bangladeshi politicians shared their stories and encouraged the local Bangladeshi youths to engage in mainstream politics.
They said only one MP from the British Bangladeshi community in the British Parliament is not enough, as there are qualified people for vying to go to House of Commons.
They said there is growing expectation of seeing more Bangladeshi british in the house of commons since Rushnara Ali's debut as an MP from British Bangladeshi community since 2010. They marked without Baroness Pola Manzila Uddin, no other bangladeshi could go represent in the house of Lords.
Chairman of PRiDEAS Wazed Hossain Selim hoped for more participation from the the younger generation of British Bangladeshi in the general election in Britain to be held in the next 2015.
Among others Bangladesh Caterers' Association president Pasha Khandakar, Oldham Councillor Abdul Jabbar and Celebrity chef Rais Ali were also present.
In the second part of the programme, moderated by Talha Ahmed, Baroness Thornton, Anne Main MP, former MP Phil Banyan and Neil Jameson, Executive Director of Citizen talked on the role of political parties in the election of the MPs from UK Ethnic Minority community.
Baroness Pola Manzila Uddin urged the political parties to prioritise choosing more candidate from Ethnic Minority communities.
More than 500 British Bangladeshis from various cities in Britain attended the programme that included professionals from the private and public sectors, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, academic specialists, community activists and media personalities.
PRiDEA was established in 2009 as a non-profit local organisation to promote ideas that would help bring positive changes to our society, aims to make ideas a reality by engaging diverse communities in dialogue.
In the last four years, PRiDEA has delivered some prominent initiatives such as ‘Meet the Councillors’, ‘Brightest 50’, ‘Brightest 100’, ‘Muslim Connex’, ‘Healthy Eating Festival’ and many more successful programmes which have involved politicians, professionals from the private and public sectors, entrepreneurs, community activists, and more.
