19th November 2010
BREAKING NEWS: Merton councillor given life peerage in religious first for Lords
By Omar Oakes
Good Lord! Coun Ahmad speaking at Wimbledon Guardian’s Green Guardian awards in 2006 7 comments
A Merton councillor and Wimbledon Park resident has been appointed as a member of the House of Lords, the Prime Minister announced this afternoon.
Councillor Tariq Ahmad, a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, is also the first member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association (AMA) to receive a peerage, having served as the association’s national vice-president since 2003.
Coun Ahmad – or Lord Ahmad as he will become known – was appointed in 2008 as David Cameron’s vice-chairman for Cities and was lauded for his wealth of experience as a businessman and his roles in the voluntary sector.
A spokesman for the AMA said: “Tariq is a great ambassador for the whole community and hopefully he will continue to serve all for the good of our entire community.”
A spokesman for Merton Conservatives said there have been no discussions yet about whether Coun Ahmad would continue as a councillor or give up his seat.
Debbie Shears, leader of Merton’s Conservative opposition group, said: “I was extremely pleased to learn that Her Majesty The Queen has agreed to confer a life peerage on Tariq.
“He is a very well respected colleague and member of Merton Council and this honour is thoroughly deserved.
“I have no doubt he will work tirelessly in the House of Lords for the good of our country.
“On behalf of all Conservative councillors here in Merton, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Tariq and his family.” 7 comments
Comments:
mechatak19th November 2010 Well done Tariq Sb, or should I say Lord Ahmad. This shows that hardwork, prayers and a humble attitude is rewarded by God Almighty. I am sure you will serve the British people with more vigour, sincerity and dedication. I am sure because you belong to the Ahmadiyya community’s whose motto is ‘Love for All, Hatred for None.’
Dr Tauseef Khan
LondonReports.a20th November 2010 Congratulations Lord Ahmad! May you be a beacon of honour, integrity and hope to the people of Britain. May God Almighty grant you success and guide you to uphold the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’.
Congratulation Lord Ahmed, your dedicated work towards the community bring this fruit, May God Almighty showers his blessing on you and you will reach highest reward for the community as Sir Muhammad Zafarrullah Khan and Dr Salam. Congratulation for Pakistani Community for this award as well.
Dear Tariq Sahib
Its a great news for the whole community and may you be torch bearer for the high moral values in this august forum and alway strive and work for the betterment of humanity at large. Ameen
Saleem-ul-Haq Khan
Advocate.
Lahore-Pakistan
Jibran1 21st November 2010 Dear Tariq Sahib
Well done and congratulations on your well-deserved honour. You are a credit to the local and religious community which you and serve and I hope and pray that you will continue to serve both in the future.
Arif Ahmad 21st November 2010 AssalamOalaikum Lord Tariq,
Hard to believe this but no one deserves this honour more than you, from the hard work for Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya and Humanity First serving humanity to becoming a Lord is a blessing of Allah on you and the whole of the Ahmadiyya community. I would still like to thank you for Bosnian Linguaphone course. May Allah bless you and enable you to serve the country with the same dedication as you have served your community Ameen.
Khalid Hayat.ReportSadiq Ahmed22nd November 2010 Assalamo Alaikum Lord Tariq Sahib! Loads of congratulations for having achieved such a great honour. Having read your biography, I can see how hard you have worked over the past 20-30 years and for that reason you thoroughly deserve this honour. Your voluntary work is absolutely second to none! This is a big blessing of Allah on the whole of Ahmadiyya community. May Allah enable more Ahmadis’ to achieve such high honours and enable them to serve the Ahmadiyya community with great pride like you. Ameen!
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