Teacher balances Ramadan with electioneering in bid to be MP
WHILE Ramadan is a challenging time for all Muslims in Scotland, it is especially so for those trying to work and campaign for the elections at the same time.
Anum Qaisar-javed is one such woman trying to balance her job as a modern studies teacher with fasting and trying to win over the electorate ahead of a Westminster by-election on May 13.
The SNP candidate for Airdrie and Shotts spoke to The Herald about her drive to go into politics, and said the support of her local branch was vital for coping with the long periods of fasting she is doing during Ramadan.
She said: “My branch has been brilliant – they are so supportive.
“I emailed them explaining about Ramadan and that it was starting on Wednesday, and apologised in advance for getting ‘hangry’.
“I might be a bit hangry, but I’m still here and still determined to campaign.”
The 28-year-old’s campaign is bookended by major events in the Muslim calendar. Ramadan began last week, with the election result coming around the time of Eid – “the festival of breaking the fast”.
However the pandemic has changed the way Ms Qaisar-javed can participate in these events, as it has for all Muslims.
She said: “It’s really sad, because normally we would be celebrating with family. When I was younger, every Friday during Ramadan we would go to relatives’ houses or they would all pile into ours.
“I come from a Scottish Pakistani family – I have about 20 cousins – and there would be loads of us all breaking our fast together.
“With the pandemic, we can’t do that and it is definitely different, but safety has to come first.”
Along with Ramadan being a different experience this year, the Westminster-hopeful said campaigning has also been drastically altered.
Ms Qaisar-javed hopes to stand alongside the SNP’S 43 other MPS in Westminster, representing Airdrie and Shotts in place of
Neil Gray, who is seeking election to Holyrood and has vacated his seat.
One of her motivating factors for seeking election is to tackle racism and increase diversity in Scottish politics, as well as represent those in her constituency who are impoverished or struggling.
She said: “My birthday is September 11. I was nine years old when 9/11 happened. I remember coming home from school excited to open my birthday presents, running into the house and my mum was crying, my dad couldn’t take his eyes of the television.
“The day after that I was waiting at the bus stop to go to school, and a boy came up to me and said ‘Why is your skin colour the same colour as mud, as poo? Is your dad a terrorist?’
“I had no idea what to say,
I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I didn’t think I was any different to anyone else before then.”
While her first exposure to racism as a child was more overt, she said there is still an “undercurrent” of bigotry that needs to be challenged.
She said: “If you look at, for example, what [Scottish Tories leader] Douglas Ross has said about members of the travelling community, this undercurrent of certain levels of racism or bigotry that are still accepted is showcased by that.
“I feel it’s not enough to say you’re not racist. You have to be actively anti-racist, whether that’s towards Pakistanis or the travelling community, it doesn’t matter to me.”