Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP, Dr Dan Poulter, has met with Leaders from Ipswich’s Muslim Community at the Mosque in Central Ipswich to talk about Brexit, Kashmir, and other issues affecting Suffolk’s Muslim community.
Following prayers last Friday, for which over 400 worshippers from across Ipswich and Central and Eastern Suffolk had gathered, Dr Poulter was delighted to meet with Muslim community leaders, a great many of whom live in North Ipswich, to talk about Brexit, concerns about escalating tension in Kashmir, and local issues as well as to share the strong sense of community shared by all within Suffolk’s growing Muslim community.
Visiting the Mosque, Dr Poulter said “I was delighted to have been invited to visit the Mosque by Abdul Motlib and to meet so many representatives from across the Muslim community in Suffolk. It’s clear to me that there is a great sense of community spirit and friendship within the community.”
“Many of the community leaders are local business people and the uncertainty created by Brexit being unresolved is not good for business. So we talked about the need to get Brexit done, healing rifts across our communities, and also about the importance of getting back to the day to day business which affects each and every one of us – tackling crime and investing in our health and education services.
“Many of our local Muslim community also have friends and relatives who live in Kashmir, and like me, are concerned about the escalating violence in the region since the Indian Government imposed direct rule from Delhi. This is clearly a complex issue but now I am better informed of the feelings of our local Muslim community, I shall be better placed to raise these issues in Parliament and to ask the Government to be more proactive in helping to bring calm to the situation in Kashmir.”
The Ipswich Mosque hosts up to 700 of the Muslim community for worship each and every Friday and will shorty be hosting an open day for everyone in Suffolk who wants to learn more about Islam and our local Muslim community.