Warsi calls on all faiths to celebrate Christmas

LONDON: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has called on ethnic minorities, especially Pakistanis, to help their children learn English and encourage them celebrate Christmas with the mainstream society for their better integration into the society.
On the eve of delivering a major speech to the Young Foundation hosted by Operation Black Vote, Warsi told ‘The News’ about the need to unlock the potential of Britain’s ethnic minority communities.
Citing statistics which show the British economy misses out £8.6 billion a year through failure to unlock the potential of its ethnic communities, she described Britain’s diversity as its secret weapon.
She said the government needs to focus on the need to address discrimination in British society which includes the scourge of anti-Muslim hatred.
She said in order to improve integration into British society, she will make changes to get rid of classroom assistants used to help children who cannot speak English. She said this hinders the growth of children and the proliferation of multilingual forms available for non-English speakers at hospitals, welfare offices and elsewhere only encourages people not to bother to learn English. She referred to the statistics which show that more than 800,000 schoolchildren – one in eight – do not speak English as their mother tongue. Some 240 different languages are spoken in England’s schools including Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali and Polish. Some schools have more than 50 languages spoken.
Separately, in an interview with ‘The Mail’ on Sunday, Warsi called on Muslims to celebrate Christmas, insisting there is no contradiction between being a devout Muslim and celebrating Christmas. She recalled how she and her four sisters persuaded their father, Safdar, and mother, Hafeeza, to celebrate Christmas.
She said her father said Muslims didn’t celebrate Christmas but one of Warsi’s sisters told her father: “December 25 is the birthday of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He is really important.”
The paper said when Cameron asked Warsi to move to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), she stood her ground and made brave demands and got what she wanted - a new title, that of Senior Minister of State, the retention of her Cabinet seat; and the additional role of Minister for Faith and Communities, Whitehall jargon for Race Relations Minister.
Warsi said: “A small minority of Pakistani, Afghani and Bangladeshi men think Asian women are second-class citizens and white girls are third-class citizens.”
‘The Mail’ on Sunday commended her stance on integration of ethnic minorities as “brave, creditable and straightforwardly good”.
Its editorial said: “Her suggestions would be wise whoever made them, but the fact that a British Muslim of Asian ancestry has said these things is important and heartening. The idea that Muslims should celebrate Christmas is a particularly happy one – as it happens, the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary is recorded in the Koran. If we were less embarrassed about our own faith and culture, many of our newer citizens might well find it easier, not harder, to fit in.”