Business


From mill to Mayor


29/ 4/2005

For the first time in history Manchester wil have an Asian and a Muslim as its first citizen - Steve Hammond reports


IT was the end of the night shift. A weary Mohammed Afzal Khan trudged home from the mill. He looked back at its tall chimney pointing out of the valley bottom and vowed he would not end his life labouring at the loom.
That was 31-years-ago. This month the 47-year-old Cheetham Hill Councillor will become the first Asian, and the first Muslim, to be declared Lord Mayor of Manchester.
It is a remarkable achievement, a tribute to his sometimes lonely effort to make his way in the world and, it should be said, to Manchester, a city noted for its tolerance of other cultures and its big-hearted ability to absorb them.
Afzal's Dick Whittington-style journey to becoming the first citizen of Britain's second greatest city started in the village of Jhelum in Pakistan where he was born the son of a former junior officer in the British Indian army.
As a young boy he was 'adopted' by his uncle who had made the move to the north west as part of the first wave of Asian immigration to the UK. Thus 12-year-old Afzal found himself in deepest Lancashire - and he struggled.
"I could hardly speak any English. I started my education at Mansfield High School in Brierfield but being new, and with my language difficulties, I could not achieve much and left without any qualifications," he said.
The first Asian immigrants were encouraged to the north to man the textile mills - low paid and low status employment many white workers, by the 1960s and 70s, though 'beneath them'.
Afzal went into textiles as a labourer and graduated to becoming a weaver but something was stirring.
"It really was a life-changing moment when I looked back at that mill. I just said to myself - 'no, I'm not staying there',"
By this time he was not alone on his life journey. At 19 he had married his 17-year-old cousin, Shkeel Kayani - "it means beautiful crown," explains a smiling Afzal.
He took O levels in his spare time. Moved to Cheetham Hill and studied for A levels at the local Abraham Moss College where his long involvement with public life began. He became president of the students union and founded Asian and Muslim groups.
"Some misguided people think Muslim men always put themselves first. Well it was the other way round with me," Afzal explains. "I worked so that my wife could become qualified as a dentists, a long five-year course. She now has her own practice in the NHS and is a city magistrate. I was a bus driver, a youth worker and finally joined the police force."
Short sightedly his police bosses refused his request to take leave and study for a law degree.
"So I said keep your job. My superintendent said I was foolish to leave. It was a good, well paid job. But I did and eventually because a partner in a Cheetham Hill solicitors practice. I met him then and reminded him of his advice. He laughed and conceded I had been right."
Afzal was now on the way to being a wealthy man. But again he changed his life.
"I never felt money was the main thing. I was drawn more and more to public service and, given my background, I was drawn naturally to the Labour Party because of its tradition of fighting for social justice and helping the disadvantaged."
He became a councillor in 2000 and has successfully held his seat against considerable Liberal Democrat challenges since.
Like most of the party's councillors in the city he is not classic New Labour and has spoken out against 'the war' that has cost Labour almost all its council seats in wards where the Asian vote is a significant factor.
Religion has always been the grounding for his political and social outlook.
"Contrary to how it is sometimes seen, Islam is a very generous religion. It gives the individual the freedom to do what they want in the name of helping mankind.
"I don't see it as a proscriptive religion at all in fact it is very open and pluralistic, quite happy to tolerate the existence of other creeds. Remember Islam was build by Mohammed in Medina where he defended the right of other faiths and cultures to exist."
And it will be this spirit that will motivate his year in office. Lord Mayors have a chaplain, usually of their own religious persuasion, but Afzal is intending to appoint a team of chaplains representing the various religions in the city. This ecumenical approach will also be a feature of his inaugural ceremony at Manchester Cathedral.
"I think its is wonderful to have this honour bestowed upon me - Lord Mayor of this great vibrant city. That I can embrace Manchester and Manchester can embrace me exposes the lie of the racists, it rpoves that different races, religions and cultures can happily co-exists. This is my message."


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