Victory for Sadiq Khan Highlights Tolerant Face of London

London, 29 Rajab 1437/07 May 2016 (MINA) – The historic moment — Sadiq Khan is the first directly elected Muslim mayor of an important western city — is being scrutinised around the world, particularly in European countries struggling to integrate Muslim communities.

The win reaffirms London’s multicultural image at a time of rising populist fervour in Europe and the US. Europe’s anti-immigration parties have made inroads in recent months, fuelled by rising public fears following the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris by ISIS, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) reported, quoting ft.com.

In the US, the rightwing Drudge Report website greeted Mr Khan’s early lead at the ballots with the scare headline “First Muslim Mayor of Londonistan”.

Mr Khan’s ascent has also made headlines across France and Germany, with Le Monde noting that he described his religion as “part of my identity”.

In a reflection of the international as well as city-wide nature of the job, Mr Khan was congratulated on his apparent victory by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Mr de Blasio tweeted: “Sending congratulations to London’s new Mayor and fellow affordable housing advocate, @SadiqKhan. Look forward to working together!”

Ms Hidalgo wrote: “Congratulations to @SadiqKhan, elected Mayor of London! Convinced that his humanism & his progressivism will benefit the Londoners!”

The son of a Pakistani bus driver and his seamstress wife, Mr Khan was one of eight children raised in public housing in south London. His Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, is an Eton-educated billionaire’s son who seemed drawn from the English ruling class of a previous era.

Mr Khan, a fast-talking affable politician with a facility for straddling ideological divides, takes the reins of a capital city where roughly one in eight residents identify as Muslims.

However notable his rise, Mr Khan’s new power will be far more modest than those of municipal leaders elsewhere. In the US, mayors in cities such as New York and Chicago command multibillion-dollar budgets and small armies of municipal workers.

By contrast, the London mayor, elected by voters only since 2000, has limited powers over police, transport and housing.

Throughout the recent campaign, Mr Khan made no secret of his Muslim faith. He does not drink and when he was joining the Privy Council, an honorary body which advises the Queen, he asked to be sworn in using a copy of the Koran rather than a Bible.

“Hey @ZacGoldsmith. There’s no need to keep pointing at me & shouting ‘he’s a Muslim’. I put it on my own leaflets,” he tweeted at his Conservative rival.

But he has also spoken of having multiple identities that coexist. “I am a Londoner, I am European, I am British, I am English, I am of Islamic faith, of Asian origin, of Pakistani heritage, a dad, a husband,” he said on the campaign trail.

I am a Londoner, I am European, I am British, I am English, I am of Islamic faith, of Asian origin, of Pakistani heritage, a dad, a husband
– Sadiq Khan

“We do not just tolerate each other in London; we respect each other,” he has also said.

Mr Khan sought to negate criticism that he had shown poor judgment by appearing in public with people who had expressed extremist views by saying he would be “the British Muslim who will take the fight to the extremists”.

Attempts to stop British children being radicalised was “not working”, he added, and he hoped he would have a better understanding of how to combat radicalisation because he was a moderate Muslim who knew the community from the inside.

He said he had received abuse and death threats from conservative and extremist Muslims after he voted in favour of gay marriage in parliament.

Even after being accused of employing Islamophobic tactics, Mr Goldsmith repeatedly pointed to occasions when Mr Khan had “shared a platform” with extremists, which he claimed gave them legitimacy.

Mr Khan and the Labour party dismissed this as a racist tactic designed to appeal to voters who harboured anti-Muslim prejudice.

The attempts appeared to backfire. Mr Khan’s lead in the polls apparently grew as the attacks intensified. A newspaper article written by Mr Goldsmith carried a picture of the mangled wreckage of a London bus blown up by Islamist terrorists in 2005. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)