A COMMUNITY event saw leaders from Reading and Wokingham boroughs come together to mark the festive season.
The Reading Pakistan Community Centre was the venue for the celebration of the town’s diversity.
The annual event included speeches, and a meal.
The Iman of the South Street mosque, welcomed guests with a reflection on the shared reverence of Jesus and Mary in Islam and Christianity.
Dr Ejaz Elahi said that the event would be more sombre this year due to the situation in Gaza.
The mayor of Reading, Cllr Tony Page, was among the attendees.
“Within Reading we have diversity and from that diversity comes a great deal of strength,” he said.
“It’s something we as a community have worked on for many years, I’ve played my part and many others in this room have as well.”
Cllr Jason Brock, the leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “I thank the people that have come here to this lunch, it’s a really important statement of community cohesion in Reading.
“It’s so important, because community centres are not just buildings, they are activities that happen within them, and events like this bring people together in celebration but also moments of sombre reflection.
“I’m grateful to everyone who has organised it.”
Matt Rodda the Labour MP for Reading East said: “I thank the Reading Pakistani Community for their support for tolerance and diversity in our local town, and their thoughtfulness at this time.
“And I’d like to wish you all a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and seasons greetings in whatever way you are celebrating this time of year.”
The Rt Revd Olivia Graham, the Bishop of Reading, said she was the first female speaker at the gathering. Reflecting on references in the Quran of Jesus and Mary, she said: “It reminds us of the shared foundations which we have as Abrahamic faiths.”
Among those present were Reading councillors Amjad Tarar and Wendy Griffith (both Labour, Battle), Mohammed Ayub and Karen Rowland (both Labour, Abbey) and Rob White (Green, Park) the leader of the opposition.
Also present were electoral rivals Hanif Khan and Cllr Rachel Eden (Labour, Whitley), who are both competing to be the Labour candidate for the new Earley and Woodley constituency.
The event was attended by representatives from Earley as well, including councillors Clive Jones (Liberal Democrats, Hawkedon) a parliamentary candidate for Wokingham, Shahid Younis (Conservative, Bulmershe & Whitegates) and Tahir Maher, a Liberal Democrat representative for Maiden Erlegh on Earley Town Council.
Former Reading councillors Gul Khan and Daya Pal Singh were also spotted at the meal, as was Kamran Saddiq, the chairman of the Reading Private Hire Association.
