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'Just read this
Ken' [editor's title]
I was delighted to read the Mayor's response to my
criticism of his recent human rights appointment ('Why are you complaining?', letters, 15 Feb). But the devil is in
the detail:
1. Unfortunately, it does little to quell doubt about the seeming arbitrariness of Yasmin Qureshi's appointment that
the Mayor should cite Lord Tope as her predecessor. Ms Qureshi is not an elected Assembly Member.
2. By saying that cronyism, or its appearance, brings politics into disrepute I am not implying that the Greens
may not themselves find greater reason to sometimes accept appointments. We are currently establishing better
protocols on their acceptance, where we've been given no licence to institute full equality of opportunity.
3. Finally, the Greens do not advocate positive discrimination for Muslims or any other religion. Nor would
I personally argue for it, as I believe that the politics of racial or religious identity contributes less to social cohesion than to divisiveness. Consider what it says about
human rights to suppose that only a Muslim can best defend the rights of other Muslims.
Alas, I suspect that the main lesson of such appointments is that we are neither as democratic nor meritocratic as we
should all like to think. The worry is that some have already stopped trying, for fear of being branded a hypocrite.
That, Ken, is why I am complaining.
Shahrar Ali
Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Brent East
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