Kent Equality Cohesion Council

Tag: Mr Mohammed Aslam

  • Inter Faith Celebrations Remember Community Champion

    Inter Faith Celebrations Remember Community Champion

    Kent Equality Cohesion Council organised an Inter Faith community event on Thursday 17th November 2022 which saw local partners, faith leaders and community members attend. The event took place at the Kent Adult Education Centre in Gravesham and marked National Inter Faith Week.

    The event was also an opportunity to commemorate the life of Mr Mohammed Aslam, one of the founders of the Gravesend and Dartford Muslim Association, a local community champion and avid interfaith supporter who passed away in June this year.

    Mr Aslam was a key figure in fostering long standing and fruitful partnerships with Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara and multiple local Churches, working to promote interfaith connections. As such, KECC, supported by Mr Aslam’s family felt that Interfaith Week served as the ideal time to reflect and commemorate the life of an individual of saw faith as a means of connecting people rather than separating them.

    Dignitaries and faith leaders alike spoke at the event around themes of unity and solidarity, celebrating Mr Aslam and Inter Faith Work in Gravesham. These included Deputy Lieutenant of Kent Dr Bagawara Vasudaven, Mayor of Gravesham Cllr Peter Scollard, Adam Holloway MP, Bishop Greg Kitsell Chair of the North Kent Interfaith Network, Reverend Michael Payne from St Aidan’s Church, Bilal Farooq Chair of the Gravesham and Dartford Muslim Association, Bal Cheema and Jagdev Virdee MBE from the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara.

    Community partners who also spoke at the event included former Headteacher Rosemary Dymond DL, Michelle Bramble Chair of the North Kent Caribbean Network, Farook Girach long-time friend of Mr Aslam as well as Carol Gosal of Rethink Mental Health. They were joined by former Kent Police District Commander for Gravesend and Dartford Phillip Painter and Akeel Kedoo former treasurer of the Gravesend and Dartford Muslim Association.

    At the end of the proceedings, Mr Aslam’s son Cllr Ejaz Aslam spoke to everyone gathered and expressed his deep thanks for commemorating his father in such a way, a way that reflects the diverse communities of the area and the message of interfaith that his father always promoted.

    Gurvinder Sandher MBE DL the CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council who hosted the event commented, “I believe that National Interfaith Week was the perfect setting to not only remember a local pillar of the community but also talk about religious tolerance and everything that brings us together through faith. Mr Aslam for one, was an individual who stood for everyone, he championed their right practice their faith freely and see the tenants in each religion that brought us together. He supported the local Gurdwara and Churches and fundraised for various relief campaigns and causes regardless of faith. He was truly selfless and generous and I am proud that we were able to honour him in such a manner.”

  • Passing of Great Local Champion Mr Mohammed Aslam

    Passing of Great Local Champion Mr Mohammed Aslam

    Local community champion Mr Mohammed Aslam sadly passed away on Sunday 5th June 2022 after long bout of ill health. He was one of the founders of the Gravesend and Dartford Muslim Association and the Kent Muslim Welfare Association based in Medway.

    Mr Aslam was recognised not just in Kent but around the country for his dedication and service to diverse communities spanning over 50 years. He was widely respected and recognised for his selfless servitude to the community and an instrumental figure not only establishing the Gravesend and Dartford Muslim Association but also supporting the opening of the newly acquired burial space for members of the Muslim community in Thames View Crematorium and Cemetery.

    Having arrived in this country from Lahore in Pakistan in the April of 1968, he settled in Gravesend. Like many immigrants of that era, he initially worked in construction and then in the paper mills locally. Alongside this, Mr Aslam working with others members in the Muslim community set about establishing a base for the fledgling Muslim population in the borough. From these small seeds emerged the Gravesend and Dartford Muslim Association. He was one of the driving forces behind the Islamic classes which started in the borough and then the development of the current Mosque in Albion Terrace.

    Parallel to this Mr Aslam was a key figure in promoting positive community relations locally and fostered long standing partnerships with the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara and multiple local Churches, working on promoting interfaith activity. This was something that was very close to his heart as most recently Mr Aslam worked with local faith groups to fundraise for oxy-meters and oxygen concentrators to be sent to India in the midst of its worst wave of Covid 19 infection in May 2021.

    In addition to his interfaith work, Mr Aslam was always on hand to provide advice and support to key local community partners including Kent Police over many years.

    Gurvinder Sandher, CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council commented, “During the course of my career I have been incredibly fortunate to work with real community champion and heroes. Mr Aslam was one such champion, who not only worked tirelessly and diligently throughout his time serving the community, but also did it humbly and utterly selflessly. He genuinely worked towards to the betterment of the community he served without any guise or ulterior agenda, never once asking for recognition or award. A pillar of the community in the truest sense, Mr Aslam was a warm and welcoming figure, qualities that reflected in the way he worked together with other communities, cultivating unity and religious tolerance. Mr Aslam will be greatly missed and his absence will be keenly felt locally. I for one pay tribute to the vital work he did within the heart of the community and for the outstanding individual he was.”