FAITHS AND COMMUNITY UNITE FOR PEACE
BATCA MULTIFAITH PEACE CEREMONY ON 7TH NOVEMBER AT TOOTING BROADWAY
- Faith and civic leaders affirm shared values of friendship and tolerance and call for peace locally and worldwide
Balham and Tooting’s faith and civic leaders gathered on 7th November to affirm the need for peace locally and world-wide at the twelfth annual BATCA Multifaith Peace Ceremony at Tooting Broadway.
Representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths prayed for peace in their own traditions, surrounded by the public who lit candles. Councillor Jane Cooper, the Mayor of Wandsworth and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting until the recent dissolution of Parliament, paid tribute to the friendship and supportive spirit of our local community.
The faith leaders emphasised how much we have in common, and the need to work together to bring about peace in our locality and worldwide. Five pupils of Al Risalah girls’ Muslim secondary school spoke movingly against the wars despoiling our world, and called for all to work together to promote peace and combat the forces trying to divide us.
The event was led by Rev Andrew Davey, vicar of St Augustine’s and Holy Trinity churches, Tooting. The other faith leaders taking part were Bhikku Nagase of the Battersea Buddhist Peace Pagoda, Ali Jaffri of the Idara-e –Jaaferiya mosque, Church Lane, Tooting, Rev Sarah Jackson of St Augustine’s and Holy Trinity churches, and representatives of the Tooting Islamic Centre and the Sikh Khalsa Centre, both in Upper Tooting Road, Tooting. Indrajit Patel spoke on behalf of the Hindu community.
