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MP defends Muslim wedding walkout | MP defends Muslim wedding walkout |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A government minister has defended his decision to walk out of a Muslim wedding in east London because he was told he must sit apart from his wife. | A government minister has defended his decision to walk out of a Muslim wedding in east London because he was told he must sit apart from his wife. |
Jim Fitzpatrick, food, farming and environment minister, left a ceremony at London Muslim Centre, Whitechapel. | Jim Fitzpatrick, food, farming and environment minister, left a ceremony at London Muslim Centre, Whitechapel. |
The MP for Poplar and Canning Town told the BBC the segregation showed a degree of intolerance in the East End. | The MP for Poplar and Canning Town told the BBC the segregation showed a degree of intolerance in the East End. |
But a spokesman for the centre said the segregation was at the request of the couple getting married. | But a spokesman for the centre said the segregation was at the request of the couple getting married. |
Mr Fitzpatrick, whose constituency is home to a large Muslim community, blamed the tough stance on the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) - an organisation that calls for Sharia law - which is based in the same building. | |
The vast number of my Muslim constituents who've contacted me have expressed sympathy Jim Fitzpatrick MP | The vast number of my Muslim constituents who've contacted me have expressed sympathy Jim Fitzpatrick MP |
He told the BBC's Today: "This is a very exceptional occasion, it's a new occurrence. | He told the BBC's Today: "This is a very exceptional occasion, it's a new occurrence. |
"It perhaps demonstrates that there is a degree of intolerance - certainly exclusion rather than inclusion which we are trying to build in the East End. | |
"Certainly the vast number of my Muslim constituents who've contacted me have expressed sympathy that I was placed in this predicament." | |
Mr Fitzpatrick is the local MP and a family friend of bride Mahbuba Kamali and groom Bodrul Islam. | |
The couple said they decided on a segregated wedding out of respect for some of their elderly relatives. | |
Mrs Kamali said: "It was a private party so if we want to make these requests we are not imposing it and saying we want it to go nationwide and for everyone to be segregated. | |
"If we wanted to we could have had a fancy dress party and ask all our guests to come this way, and I'm sure he would not refuse." | |
'Hijacked politically' | |
Mr Islam said he was "upset and embarrassed" by the incident. | |
"I don't think anyone deserves to have their wedding hijacked for political purposes, or any other purposes," he said. | |
Mohammad Shakir, a spokesman for the centre, said: "Segregated weddings have always been popular in the Muslim community - the London Muslim Centre has facilitated them for over five years. | Mohammad Shakir, a spokesman for the centre, said: "Segregated weddings have always been popular in the Muslim community - the London Muslim Centre has facilitated them for over five years. |
"It is part of the attraction for Muslim families so they can celebrate their happy day in a religious atmosphere. | "It is part of the attraction for Muslim families so they can celebrate their happy day in a religious atmosphere. |
"We have always allowed non-Muslim guests to be seated together without segregation, but this is entirely at the discretion of the families who hire the halls." | "We have always allowed non-Muslim guests to be seated together without segregation, but this is entirely at the discretion of the families who hire the halls." |