Racial harassment is a common occurrence in British universities, finds Equality and Human Rights Commission report published this month.
Good to see that racial harassment has been acknowledged .. read more
The EHRC findings are eye opener as what happens in one setting could very well be happening in other areas as people are not blind to colour in a colour conscious society.
Like racism, racial harassment is not really admitted and subsumed under ‘hate crime’ – government funded hate crime industry is thriving though mostly being ineffective.
There were 288 reported hate crimes in Harrow, between September 2017 and August 2018, according to the latest figures from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) Hate Crime Dashboard, and 648 racist and religious hate crimes in the 12 months to September 2019 according to the Met dashboard.
Harrow once led good practices to address racism and racial harassment in the borough.
Till the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group was hijacked by opportunists who eventually led it to its demise few years after, it remained pro-active in addressing racial harassment, a key concern.
For example, its home office funded racial harassment sub-committee, recognised as best practice by the Scotland Yard, launched several measures to raise racial harassment profile in the borough and dealt with it effectively.
(Photo of the launch of the sub-committee in July 1991 at the civic centre Harrow (L-R) Lord Ferrers, minister of police; Ross Simpson, chair HPCCG; Husain Akhtar, chair Racial Harassment sub-committee; and the host Harrow Mayor late Cllr Don Green)
One of the HPCCG remarkable initiative regarding racial harassment was periodically published declaration ‘Racial Harassment is Anti-Human Rights’ which was signed by hundreds in the borough, including community organisations, politicians, local authorities and businesses.

The opposition Tory group on the Harrow council appears to be less confrontational since councillor Susan Hall stepped down and councillor Paul Osborn became the leader of the group, but there are exceptions.
There have been concerns about the conduct of Tory councillor Anjana Patel, rejected by West Harrow and controversially adopted to the Belmont ward, at the recent cabinet meeting for being aggressive and scoring irrelevant political points.
During the councillor questions time, she asked how safer is Harrow?
Councillor Krishna Suresh, Portfolio Holder for Community Cohesion and Crime, explained, for example,  that the safer Harrow partnership has focused on violent crimes which has made significant difference.
“Harrow is a safer place and our residents are safer” said Cllr Suresh.
He pointed out that the number of police on the street is likely to make more difference.
“I look forward to the reverse of the government cuts on the police number so the number of crime can be brought down” he said.
Cllr Patel moved beyond the scope of her question and said, “If mayor Khan did not spend lot of money on his PR, he would have been able to give us more money”.
Focusing on the Harrow situation, Cllr Suresh tried to share crime specific statistical information  but Cllr Patel kept saying it is the mayor Khan who has not given enough money/police.
Fed up with her outbursts, Leader of the council Cllr Graham Henson, the chair of the meeting, has to stop Cllr Patel and said, “I have not got the time to educate you about the police budget, about the government reduction by millions of £s” and asked her to move on.
Cllr Patel like those she follows on social media seems to have a problem with the London mayor SADIQ KHAN and misses no opportunities to hit him!

In his glossy autumn leaflet, Bob Blackman, Tory MP for Harrow East, has tried to portray his as well as his party’s inclusive image, most probably to counter his apparent divisiveness label.
But readers are not impressed!
The leaflet highlights the selected PM Boris Johnson’s cabinet which Johnson claims reflects “modern Britain”, including diversity (Black, Hindus, Jews and a Muslim) – though many of his cabinet members have unsavoury views , particularly about LGBT.
On the same page Shaun Bailey, Tory candidate for London mayor, has been singled out to fight knife crime in London if elected without contextualising why this crime, for example Tory government cuts and socio-economic deprivation.
The left hand column of the page lists Mind in Harrow forthcoming fundraising events while ignoring  what Mind,  the mental health charity, is complaining about, like: “Pressing risks caused by sub-standard mental health facilities have been completely ignored in today’s funding announcement for NHS hospitals”, said Vicki Nash, head of policy and campaigns Mind, who was responding to the health secretary’s speech at the Tory conference.
In the inside pages Mr Blackman prides himself with speaking at the MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq) conference in Albania –  the National Council for Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is widely considered to be an alias for the MEK, an outside-Iran ‘political cult’ whose leader is still banned by London.
In outlining the performance of the Tory held wards in Harrow East, Mr Blackman mentions the councillors’ hard work to drive out travellers from the parks while in fact these were the police and the council who helped to resolve the situation amicably.
Regarding his ‘inclusive’ socio-political approach, Mr Blackman’s record of voting at the Commons speaks loudly:

• Almost always voted against laws to promote equality and human rights
• Almost always voted against equal gay rights
• Almost always voted against allowing marriage between two people of same sex
• Consistently voted against UK membership of the EU
• Generally voted against a right to remain for EU nationals already in living in the UK
• Generally voted for reducing housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms (which Labour describe as the “bedroom tax”)
• Almost always voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits
• Consistently voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
• Generally voted against measures to prevent climate change

Soon after her selection as the Tory parliamentary candidate for Harrow West, Dr Anwara Ali visited Harrow mosque and said in her video clip that she had a great time offering her prayers and chatting to worshippers.
Later defending Boris Johnson ‘letter-box’ reference to Muslim women and calls for the Tories to launch an independent inquiry into alleged Islamophobia in the party, Dr Ali said the PM Boris Johnson whose forefathers are Muslim (but is he?), has apologised for the clumsy use of metaphors and that the Tory party is not islamophobic, it is Labours propaganda to smear them.
However, concerns about Tory party attitudes are widespread.
There was a “significant spike” in Islamophobic incidents after Boris Johnson compared women in burkhas to “letterboxes” in his Daily Telegraph column last year – a near four-fold increase (375 per cent).
Mohammed Amin, who served as chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum quit the party after 36 years, following the announcement that Boris Johnson will become Prime Minister.
Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi, past co-chair of the Tory party, led calls to launch a “full independent inquiry” into Islamophobia in the party.
Writing for the Guardian, she said: “I’ve been warning my party of its ‘Muslim problem’ for far too long,” and said that elite indifference to the issue meant the Tories were stuck with a political strategy that amounted little more than “fuck the Muslims”.
Sajid Javid, the then home secretary contesting to replace Theresa May in Downing Street, urged his rivals to agree to a probe into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
A number of Tory party members have been suspended for posting or endorsing Islamophobic material online.
In the local context, Harrow East Tory MP’s divisive conduct has been a matter of great concern. Not only this but Harrow East Tories also seem selecting and nurturing Tory representatives who look much more interested in supporting Indian politics. There is no Muslim Tory councillor in Harrow.
As a Tory candidate, Dr Anwara Ali does not say how she would be challenging the Tory party divisiveness which has serious implications for groups of people!

Momentum backed Aghileh Djafari-Marbini (photo with Corbtn) and Brent councillor Krupesh Hirani have been shortlisted and will be on the One Member One Vote ballot where the party members will decide who will be the Labour candidate representing Brent and Harrow.
Aghileh Djafari-Marbini, a socialist, mum, school governor, NHS worker and resident of North West London for the last 20 years, believes that Londoners need an Assembly that fights the inequalities and injustices in their city and works for all.
She recalls seventy-two fellow citizens burned to death in Grenfell Tower and over 87,000 children in London are homeless, and says that the savage Tory cuts have decimated our youth services and damaged our town centres.
“Now more than ever London needs a City Hall with a socialist vision and the energy to engage people across the city” she says.
Labour is going through the selection process because Navin Shah, the sitting assembly member with over 20,000 majority, has decided to step down.  Navin Shah has retained the seat since 2008 when he defeated Tory member Bob Blackman, now controversial MP for Harrow East (Navin Shah came very close to defeat him at the last general election).
Brent councillor and a council cabinet portfolio holder Krupesh Hirani, university graduate in politics, has good experience in the political sector where he held a number of posts.
During the Operation Black Vote Shadowing Scheme Mr Hirani was mentored by David Lammy MP. He seems to have good grip on a variety of socio-political matters, relevant to a wider society.
Though Mr Hirani is seen more at certain cultural activities, he says he believes in representing all. Mr Hirani informs that he has spent his working life with organisations that support disabled people.
Mr Hirani is proud of the local area and said: “I have been educated through the Brent state school system and am passionate about the area”.
Two Harrow councillors, both previous Harrow mayors, failed to reach the final stage of the selection process.
Tory candidate for the seat is karate champion Molly Irene Samuel-Leport MBE from outside Brent or Harrow.

Tories have selected the sitting MP Bob Blackman to stand for Harrow East again despite he being labelled as a divisive opportunist.
There are widespread concerns that Mr Blackman is not really interested in Harrow.
Majority of Harrow residents voted to remain in Europe but Mr Blackman is not representing them, instead he pleads for Brexit and asserts that it will help more business opportunities with India, in line with his strategy to access Indian background voters.
Not only this but he also colluded with Boris Johnson who unlawfully suspended the parliament in order to get away with a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.
Many local politicians have taken stand against the closure of walk-in medical services by the Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) but Mr Blackman has failed to raise the issue.
Since Theresa May took over as home secretary in 2010, Harrow has lost over 173 police officers. Added to this, people are concerned at the increase in knife crime in Harrow and government’s failure to provide the resources to deal with this issue – the government has cut the Harrow youth offending team’s funding by £409,130 since2010 (66 percent cuts) – Mr Blackman has not intervened.
In Harrow, 46 of 50 schools have suffered £27.2M cuts to per pupil funding between 2015 & 2019 which on average is £286 per pupil loss but ignoring this, Mr Blackman keeps misleading that the government has increased education funding.
Residents say they have not received any convincing answers from Mr Blackman regarding what he has done for Harrow or how he is helpfully working with the Harrow council.
Harrow has a rich diversity of cultures and religions and deplores any divisiveness.

Doctor Anwara Ali defected from Labour to Tories some years back, has been selected as the Tory prospective parliamentary candidate for Harrow West.
Brought up and educated in Tower Hamlets, Dr Ali MBE, a businesswoman, was a councillor and a Mayoral candidate in the borough.
She is said to be passionate about the NHS, women’s right to choose, and halting the use of West Harrow open spaces.
Being from the Bangladesh community, probably she has been promoted by the Conservatives Friends of Bangladesh, seemingly the only Muslim political group that has actively supported Boris Johnson and Harrow East MP Bob Blackman.
Dr Ali selection seems to be quite strategic as Tory party has been facing calls to investigate Islamophobia  in the party, Bob Blackman has “shown a consistent record of endorsing Islamophobia” and Harrow Conservatives have no Muslim councillors.
Harrow West sitting MP Gareth Thomas has seen a notional swing in favour of the Tory Party’s Dr Rachel Joyce of 5.7% in the election. After a small 1.1% swing to the Tories in 2015, it swung back heavily to Labour in 2017 by almost 11%, with their largest majority since they first gained the seat in 1997 of over 13,000.
Dr Ali might not be able to beat the majority, but expectations are that her Harrow West presence could help to gain certain votes for Tories in Harrow East, a highly marginal seat.
Tories have selected the sitting MP Bob Blackman to stand for Harrow East again despite he being labelled as a divisive opportunist, not really interested in Harrow.
Harrow has a rich diversity of cultures and religions and deplores any divisiveness.

Pamela Fitzpatrick, Labour’s candidate for Harrow East, welcomes the scheme that will benefit estimated 3,351 households in Harrow East.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell announced that Labour will introduce 2.5 million interest free loans for the purchase of electric cars and has released estimated figures showing how many households in each constituency could benefit from the policy.
The interest-free loans will require participation in a mass trial of Vehicle-2-Grid technology which will allow electric cars to store excess energy from the national grid and the UK to transition to renewable energy.
The scheme will also boost the British automobile industry and support the UK’s transition away from petrol and diesel cars which will also be beneficial in terms of the climate as well as for those people who want to convert their carbon-fuel powered car into an electric vehicle that is sustainable.
“This is an excellent scheme that will help ensure that normal people have access to the Electric Car Revolution not just the elite” said Pamela Fitzpatrick.
“Clean transport should be available to everyone. We estimate that 3,351 households in Harrow East could benefit from this policy” she added.

Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful, the Supreme Court has ruled.  Gina Miller, who led the successful Supreme Court challenge against #prorogation says “even the Prime Minister” is bound by the rule of law.
The verdict: “The decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”
There is widespread demand for the prime minister to resign and be legally responsible for his unlawful advise to the Queen and stopping the democratic process at the Commons.
Bob Blackman, conservative MP for Harrow East, as well as some Harrow Tory councillors (Cllrs Susan Hall & Anjana Patel tweets & retweets) publicly supported the Prime Minister’s decision.

Despite public outcry, Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has announced to end walk-in services in Harrow as Javina Seghal, chief executive of Harrow CCG, declares Pinn Medical Centre will also become appointment-only.
This follows similar change to the Alexandra Avenue Health Centre last year and Belmont Health Centre will be facing it in November.
Widely used walk-in centres allowed treatment of illnesses and injuries, without an appointment, where patients can’t get GP appointment promptly.
Harrow CCG tries to defend its decisions which adversely impact on public health care saying it is in red and that decisions have been made after ‘consultation’ (with who?) – but many question the quality of its management and the thriving governing body.
The Health and Wellbeing Board, chaired by the leader of the Harrow council and well represented by the Harrow CCG, is supposed to hold the CCG to account but is ineffective in doing so, resulting in heavy-handed cuts in many aspects of the health care services and provisions.
GPs, including in Harrow,  are urged against referring patients to hospital specialists and consultants, and some outpatient appointments will be axed, as part of a controversial programme of NHS to be introduced in London, resulting in rationing knee replacement, knee arthroscopy (keyhole surgery), interventional treatments for back pain, varicose vein procedures, shoulder decompression and cataract surgery.
Thirty three  procedures covered under PPwT policy for which hospitals have to make individual funding request to the CCG.
Previously was the impingement upon patient rights where the Harrow CCG has instructed GPs not to prescribe the items which the NHS England had said should be prescribed if the patents do not wish to buy. And the list can go on!