GG2 award for Mistry

"London’s amazing diversity would defeat terrorism,” Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, told the audience of 1,500, including many religious leaders, politicians, corporate chiefs, and celebrities gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel on September 13 to celebrate the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards 2005, notes a report forwarded by Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) treasurer Paurush Jila to Parsiana. As chief guest at the gala cele­bra­­tory dinner, Blair announced his conviction that only by different communities working together could the menace of terrorism be vanquished: "They would hate an evening like this …They would hate all the different races coming together; the intermingling, the laughter. They hated London. They hated Britain and they hated me. We will defeat them. They will not win.”

The Asian Media and Marketing Group, the organizers of the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards, is Britain’s largest Asian publishing house. The awards include personalities from various fields of endeavor. The winners of the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards were adjudged by a panel consisting of Barry Gardiner, minister for competitiveness and MP for Brent North, Allan Leighton, chairman of the Royal Mail, Peter Preston former editor of The Guardian, Sir Anwar Pervez, chairman of Bestway Holding and actor Sanjeev Bhaskar. The function was attended by several ministers, MPs, members of the House of Lords, stars from film, television, stage and the media and community leaders. The event had attracted record sponsorship from corporates like Pepsico, Selfridges, Glaxo Smith Kline, The Daily Mail and others, notes Jila.

"A special award was also given to a man who is the face of the global Parsi community. Dorab Mistry has led the small but hugely influential Parsi community with flair and distinction and was presented with a GG2 Community Leadership award,” notes the report. President of the ZTFE Mistry chaired the successful Eighth World Zoroastrian Congress in London in June 2005 when the supporting arrangements for trips to the British Museum for a special display of Zoroastrian artifacts, Cambridge University, the British Library, the London University’s School of African and Oriental Studies, etc were evidence of the successful network established by ZTFE in the UK.

Mistry (ext L) receiving award from Blair; Solanki applauding

Among the 15 recipients at this seventh annual event was one of the country’s few Muslim women head teachers, Bushra Nasir who took the Teacher of the Year Award for the way she has raised academic achievement in New­ham. Other personalities to win awards were Meera Syal and Floella Benjamin.

Kalpesh Solanki, managing editor of the Asian Media and Marketing Group, said: "The evening and the awards are a powerful statement of what it means to be British – and different. The awards not only recognize talent and hard work but celebrate difference. They recognize that there are people of inspiration from all communities and that they enrich us all and add immeasurably to the dynamism, vitality and wealth of our nation.”

In his keynote address, he said that Asians had always recognized a brotherhood that cuts across religious lines and that this spirit should not be lost — despite recent events. "Asians have lived together for generations and generations. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs… our history is intertwined living in the same land for a thousand years,” he said.

In a message of congratulations on the occasion, British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated, "I am proud to be associated with these awards, especially this year when we have been starkly reminded that communities in the UK have more that unite us than divide us.

"This has also been the year that the Government launched its first race and cohesion strategy, ‘Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society.’ At its heart are two simple messages: that no one should suffer disadvantage solely because of their race and secondly that communities should have respect and understanding for each other and share experiences. These awards will not only help to strengthen this strategy but will also help to promote it by showing the benefits that diversity brings to us all.”