Cllr Sarfarz Anjum is the Mayor of Saffron Walden and a prominent member of the Saffron Walden Pakistani community. During a trip to Pakistan over the summer he also represented the town by visiting a number of local dignitaries and business leaders. The Saffron Walden Town Council made some of the arrangements for these meetings, including Mayor Anjum’s meeting with the Bishop of Lahore, the highest representative of the Church of England in that province. His trip was funded privately by Cllr Anjum and not the taxpayer.
In return the Bishop of Lahore will be visiting Saffron Walden shortly.
As part of the visit Cllr Anjum carried the trappings of the Mayoral office, including the mayor’s chain, which is now back with the Town Council. The role of the Mayor and the chain are important symbols of the town and its heritage. Whilst it is unusual for the town to be represented abroad, Cllr Anjum is well connected and a similar trip was undertaken in 2007, again with the mayoral trappings and with the approval of the then Conservative Administration.
It has been noted that the local Conservative party is seeking to misrepresent the true facts and defame Mayor Anjum and his intentions for their own party political reasons. For the local Tories to make this complaint smacks of enormous hypocrisy since a similar trip had been made under their previous administration. It is also disappointing that their slurring of his character online seems to have a racial undertone, which is unwelcome and unbecoming.
We look forward to welcoming the Bishop of Lahore to the town and St Mary’s Church.