The announcement by CB in the recent Asian Voice weekly newspaper that ABPL is moving its ‘operations’ to Harrow is music to my ears. Given the demography of Harrow with one of the largest proportion of Indian / Gujarati population living in Harrow it is the natural home for the ABPL Group. Harrow is where many of its readers of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice live and work. This is where CB and his team have engaged with the communities of Indian heritage on a range of social, cultural, economic and political issues and events. I’ve lost the count how many times we’ve attended their events at the Sangat Centre and KP Hall etc.
Undeniably CB and his team at ABPL have served us big time in the last 40 years or so from the ‘Karma Yoga House’ which was truly a landmark for the publications but more so for the meetings and events celebrated in the SHAKTI Hall of KYH, inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi, often with visiting dignitaries from India. The appeal of the Karma Yoga House was profound to British Indians and brought them together from across London and the UK. However, I believe being in the ‘heart’ of where our communities live, and that includes areas like Brent, Barnet, Ealing and Northwood etc, will make even greater contribution to the engagement with our communities, businesses and voluntary / public bodies. Also, don’t forget ABPL will now be much more accessible to our community in Leicester!
Purely from a personal and selfish perspective Rekha and I are pleased that instead of over an hour’s journey the organisation is now on our doorsteps! Rekha and my association with CB and Team ABPL goes back nearly 30 years. This has involved active and positive engagement related to a range of events and issues during my 20 years on Harrow Council as a councillor and Leader of Harrow Council and 13 years on London Assembly representing Brent and Harrow including as the Chair of London Assembly in 2020-21. I’ve enjoyed contributing to Asian Voice through well over 150 articles in my ‘columns’ on a wide ranging issues such as local safety, racism, equality and Kashmir. Equally, my better half Rekha Shah who’s been a Harrow Councillor for 20 years and Mayor of Harrow in 2016 – 17 has also enjoyed and benifitted from her connection with Team ABPL.
We see the move to Harrow as a very welcome and new ‘chapter’ for CB and his team to reach even greater heights in informing and serving our diverse communities. This is a popular move and has all our support for it to flourish to reach even greater heights.
Welcome home to Harrow!
