The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Dr Toby Howarth and Mohammed Rafiq Sehgal, President of the Council for Mosques, have issued the following joint statement:
“We as Bradfordians, as brothers and sisters in humanity, reaffirm our right as human beings to choose what we believe and how we live in Bradford, our home.
“We stand in solidarity with Bradfordians who exercise this freedom to follow their conscience, and we reject any kind of hatred or violence as a result of their choice. We stand together against any violence that comes from hatred and ignorance of each other’s life choices.
“Recently Bradfordians rejected the hate of the EDL, and today we continue to reject intolerance.
“Bradford includes people who have chosen to convert in different ways: from no faith to faith, from one faith to a different faith or from faith to no faith. While we value our own beliefs and convictions, and we are aware of the pain that these choices can cause, we nevertheless affirm that freedom of belief is both a legal right and a God-given liberty.
“Bradford has a proud history of welcoming and providing a home to people from across the world and with many different beliefs and cultures. Today we stand as people of different faiths and convictions to say that we reject hate and violence, and that we encourage people to live out their choices freely and responsibly.”
_________
The Rt Rev Dr Toby Howarth, Bishop of Bradford, added: “Freedom of religion, including freedom to practise and to change our religion, is a precious gift as well as a basic human right. We cannot allow that freedom to be attacked or subverted in this city which is home to people of many different faiths as well as those who are not religious. We need to be clear that hate crime, including religious hate crime, whoever does it and whoever it is done to, has no place in our city."
Mohammed Rafiq Sehgal, President of the Council for Mosques, speaking after consultation with senior Islamic Scholars, commented: “Choice of a religion is a private and personal matter. Any person choosing to follow a particular faith should be allowed to do that without fearing harassment, intimidation and violence.”