Britain's first Muslim MP shares his incredible story from poverty to millionaire businessman
IN the pages of Mohammad Sarwar’s autobiography is an extraordinary story of how the impossible can be made possible.
It is a compelling tale of a man elected as Britain’s first Muslim MP, who rose from the poverty of Pakistan to become a multi-millionaire and who emerged the victor in countless losing battles.
Sarwar said: “I wanted to put my life on record. There are legions of others – mostly from politics and the media – who have given their view of what happened in my life. Now it’s my turn to set the record straight.
“It is also an account of modern history because I have been lucky enough to get the chance to walk in history’s footsteps.”
Starting tomorrow, the Daily Record will be s erialising Sarwar’s book in three fascinating extracts.
Sarwar describes the pattern of his life as “two steps forward, three steps back” – but there has been more success than failure. In 1976, he arrived in Glasgow and worked his way up to his own rat-infested corner shop which, through hard graft, he turned into a cash-and-carry business with a turnover of 200 million a year.
But he insists that with power and money comes responsibility to help those less fortunate.
In the battles he has taken on, he has found himself out of favour with his own community and the political establishments of Britain and Pakistan.
His campaign for nomination as a Labour candidate for Govan in 1997 was overshadowed by
allegations of bribery after he was the focus of a News of the World sting.
But Sarwar was cleared of paying a 5000 bribe to Badar Islam, a rival candidate in the 1997 general election, in an attempt to persuade him to swear a false affidavit claiming there was a conspiracy against him.
In his book, Sarwar quotes political activist Jimmy Reid who believed the establishment just didn’t want a Muslim in its “white gentlemen’s club”.
Reid said: “I can’t get rid of this feeling that for some, he is a Paki too big for his boots and doesn’t know his place, and that ain’t Westminster which is still a gentlemen’s club. A white gentlemen’s club.”
Sarwar’s toughest and saddest task as an MP was his crucial role in bringing to justice the killers of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald.
He said: “That would prove to be my greatest test as an MP and without doubt my greatest heartbreak.”
In 2004, Kriss, 15, was dragged from a street in the heart of Sarwar’s constituency by an Asian gang, taken on a terrifying 200-mile drive, beaten, stabbed and burned to death.
While two of the killers were caught and sentenced, the remaining three – Imran Shahid, known as Baldy, Zeeshan Shahid and Faisal Mustaq – fled to Pakistan which has no extradition treaty with Britain.
Sarwar said: “Everyone advised me I shouldn’t go after them, knowing their reputation as dangerous thugs. I felt strongly that Kriss was my constituent and I cared about every constituent like they were my own son or daughter.”
His success followed a two-year struggle against the bureaucracy of Pakistan and the Home Office, who didn’t want the criminals pursued – fearing it would scupper ongoing negotiations for an extradition treaty.
But Sarwar refused to give up and the three were caught and returned to Scotland where, in 2006, they were sentenced to life for the murder.
In his 13-year political career, he opposed Blair’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and almost came to blows with then Scottish Secretary John Reid in the fight to save Govan’s shipyards.
Sarwar, MSP Gordon Jackson and union convener Jamie Webster were tireless in their efforts to keep the shipyards open after they lost out on a major ferry contract under the Labour government.
About 800 jobs were secured in 2000 after the yards won an order to build two Ministry of Defence vessels.
Although Reid had stood steadfastly in the corner of the yards, Sarwar argued that not enough was being done.
He said: “I told Reid that if Blair and his government were responsible for the closure of Govan shipyards they would have achieved something that the Tories, including Thatcher, had never managed.
“He went ballistic. I had the thought that we had avoided exchanging blows but only just.”
The book, co-written with journalist Bob Wylie, also covers how, when still a councillor, he fell out of favour with his own community when he travelled to Pakistan to rescue two young
sisters who had been forced by their father to marry two older men.
Rifat Haq, who was 20, had been forced to marry her 27-year-old cousin and her 13-year-old sister Nazia was made to wed another cousin, aged 40, two weeks after their arrival in Pakistan in June 1995.
Sarwar said: “I discussed the issue with members of the Pakistani community and they advised against me becoming involved in a family’s private affairs, saying it would damage my reputation – especially with the conservative element in the community.”
But Sarwar did get involved, travelling to Pakistan and bringing the girls and their mother back to Glasgow.
What ensued was a mud-slinging campaign, with the girls’ father Abdul Haq claiming that Sarwar had abducted them from Pakistan and that he was to sue for defamation.
By Haq’s side were political enemies of Sarwar, happily exploiting the situation for political gain.
The defamation case was thrown out but Sarwar was condemned by many in the Asian community, who felt he had overstepped the mark in interfering with a forced marriage.
But Sarwar said: “Many of those who were against what I did 10 years ago now tell me I did the right thing.”
In the subsequent years, Sarwar has become a vociferous campaigner against the horrors of forced marriage and honour killings.
After standing down from British politics in 2010, Sarwar returned to the Punjab of his birth and gave up his British citizenship to become the region’s governor in 2013.
His campaigns for women’s rights and religious freedoms of minorities, such as Christians, have seen him regularly targeted with death threats.
He has spoken out against corruption, inequality, poverty, land grabbing, acid throwing and rape – and the lack of justice for victims of such cruelties.
Last year, he resigned from the post, feeling he could effect little change within the constraints of the role. He is now looking towards parliament as a leader in former cricketer Imran Khan’s reformist PTI party.
My Remarkable Journey is published by Birlinn, priced 20.
All proceeds from sales will go to Sarwar’s charity, the Ucare foundation, who work to build hospitals, schools and other projects in Pakistan.
Serail 1:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...-muslim-mp-shares-7176929#6pEoLFpcBMyOGZ3f.97
Serail 2: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...-dignity-murdered-7183081#lgJ2PV1c2iCGrxLG.97
Serail 3: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...eteran-politician-7189500#Z8OkQb4qIOsCUD81.97
IN the pages of Mohammad Sarwar’s autobiography is an extraordinary story of how the impossible can be made possible.
It is a compelling tale of a man elected as Britain’s first Muslim MP, who rose from the poverty of Pakistan to become a multi-millionaire and who emerged the victor in countless losing battles.
Sarwar said: “I wanted to put my life on record. There are legions of others – mostly from politics and the media – who have given their view of what happened in my life. Now it’s my turn to set the record straight.
“It is also an account of modern history because I have been lucky enough to get the chance to walk in history’s footsteps.”
Starting tomorrow, the Daily Record will be s erialising Sarwar’s book in three fascinating extracts.
Sarwar describes the pattern of his life as “two steps forward, three steps back” – but there has been more success than failure. In 1976, he arrived in Glasgow and worked his way up to his own rat-infested corner shop which, through hard graft, he turned into a cash-and-carry business with a turnover of 200 million a year.
But he insists that with power and money comes responsibility to help those less fortunate.
In the battles he has taken on, he has found himself out of favour with his own community and the political establishments of Britain and Pakistan.
His campaign for nomination as a Labour candidate for Govan in 1997 was overshadowed by
allegations of bribery after he was the focus of a News of the World sting.
But Sarwar was cleared of paying a 5000 bribe to Badar Islam, a rival candidate in the 1997 general election, in an attempt to persuade him to swear a false affidavit claiming there was a conspiracy against him.
In his book, Sarwar quotes political activist Jimmy Reid who believed the establishment just didn’t want a Muslim in its “white gentlemen’s club”.
Reid said: “I can’t get rid of this feeling that for some, he is a Paki too big for his boots and doesn’t know his place, and that ain’t Westminster which is still a gentlemen’s club. A white gentlemen’s club.”
Sarwar’s toughest and saddest task as an MP was his crucial role in bringing to justice the killers of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald.
He said: “That would prove to be my greatest test as an MP and without doubt my greatest heartbreak.”
In 2004, Kriss, 15, was dragged from a street in the heart of Sarwar’s constituency by an Asian gang, taken on a terrifying 200-mile drive, beaten, stabbed and burned to death.
While two of the killers were caught and sentenced, the remaining three – Imran Shahid, known as Baldy, Zeeshan Shahid and Faisal Mustaq – fled to Pakistan which has no extradition treaty with Britain.
Sarwar said: “Everyone advised me I shouldn’t go after them, knowing their reputation as dangerous thugs. I felt strongly that Kriss was my constituent and I cared about every constituent like they were my own son or daughter.”
His success followed a two-year struggle against the bureaucracy of Pakistan and the Home Office, who didn’t want the criminals pursued – fearing it would scupper ongoing negotiations for an extradition treaty.
But Sarwar refused to give up and the three were caught and returned to Scotland where, in 2006, they were sentenced to life for the murder.
In his 13-year political career, he opposed Blair’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and almost came to blows with then Scottish Secretary John Reid in the fight to save Govan’s shipyards.
Sarwar, MSP Gordon Jackson and union convener Jamie Webster were tireless in their efforts to keep the shipyards open after they lost out on a major ferry contract under the Labour government.
About 800 jobs were secured in 2000 after the yards won an order to build two Ministry of Defence vessels.
Although Reid had stood steadfastly in the corner of the yards, Sarwar argued that not enough was being done.
He said: “I told Reid that if Blair and his government were responsible for the closure of Govan shipyards they would have achieved something that the Tories, including Thatcher, had never managed.
“He went ballistic. I had the thought that we had avoided exchanging blows but only just.”
The book, co-written with journalist Bob Wylie, also covers how, when still a councillor, he fell out of favour with his own community when he travelled to Pakistan to rescue two young
sisters who had been forced by their father to marry two older men.
Rifat Haq, who was 20, had been forced to marry her 27-year-old cousin and her 13-year-old sister Nazia was made to wed another cousin, aged 40, two weeks after their arrival in Pakistan in June 1995.
Sarwar said: “I discussed the issue with members of the Pakistani community and they advised against me becoming involved in a family’s private affairs, saying it would damage my reputation – especially with the conservative element in the community.”
But Sarwar did get involved, travelling to Pakistan and bringing the girls and their mother back to Glasgow.
What ensued was a mud-slinging campaign, with the girls’ father Abdul Haq claiming that Sarwar had abducted them from Pakistan and that he was to sue for defamation.
By Haq’s side were political enemies of Sarwar, happily exploiting the situation for political gain.
The defamation case was thrown out but Sarwar was condemned by many in the Asian community, who felt he had overstepped the mark in interfering with a forced marriage.
But Sarwar said: “Many of those who were against what I did 10 years ago now tell me I did the right thing.”
In the subsequent years, Sarwar has become a vociferous campaigner against the horrors of forced marriage and honour killings.
After standing down from British politics in 2010, Sarwar returned to the Punjab of his birth and gave up his British citizenship to become the region’s governor in 2013.
His campaigns for women’s rights and religious freedoms of minorities, such as Christians, have seen him regularly targeted with death threats.
He has spoken out against corruption, inequality, poverty, land grabbing, acid throwing and rape – and the lack of justice for victims of such cruelties.
Last year, he resigned from the post, feeling he could effect little change within the constraints of the role. He is now looking towards parliament as a leader in former cricketer Imran Khan’s reformist PTI party.
My Remarkable Journey is published by Birlinn, priced 20.
All proceeds from sales will go to Sarwar’s charity, the Ucare foundation, who work to build hospitals, schools and other projects in Pakistan.
Serail 1:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...-muslim-mp-shares-7176929#6pEoLFpcBMyOGZ3f.97
Serail 2: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...-dignity-murdered-7183081#lgJ2PV1c2iCGrxLG.97
Serail 3: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...eteran-politician-7189500#Z8OkQb4qIOsCUD81.97
