BritBangla hosts the U.S. Special Envoy for Islamic Cooperation
17th October 2011

BritBangla, a network of professional Bengalis in the UK, invited Rashad Hussain, U.S. Special Envoy to the organisation of Islamic Cooperation to speak at an event hosted by Lord Ahmed at the House of Lords on Monday 17th October 2011. Organised jointly with the Concordia Forum and the US Embassy London, the purpose of the event was, according to Taryn Khanam, CEO of BritBangla "to provide a platform for establishing bilateral links between US and UK Muslims". Guests included Shahzad Bhatti, Director at Khazanah, Imam Abdullah Antepli, Muslim Chaplain at Duke University, Haris Tarin, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Washington DC, Wajahat Ali, Researcher at Centre for American Progres, Basim Elkarra, Executive Director of Council of America-Islamic Relations, California, Kashif Zafar, Managing Director Barclays Capital and Farhad Chowdhury, co-founder of Micro-philanthropy 100 Foundation.

Bengali Muslim representatives present were Dr Abdul Bari, Imam from East London Mosque; Murad Qureshi, Chair of the Environment Committee of the Greater London Authority, Councellor Jitu Choudhury and Syed Jaglul Pasha, Joint Secretary of the Privatisation Commission of Bangladesh. The guest speaker Mr Rashad Hussain spoke about building comprehensive relationships with the Muslim nations and he emphasised on the importance of generating long-term policies, hoping it will bring positive outcomes whereby history can judge the impact. Mr Hussain is an attorney who has served in the White House Counsel's Office and plays a pivotal role, as a member of President Obama's team, in advising the US Administration on issues relating to Islam.