LONDON: UK's Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, which has been opening its monthly meetings with “Bible Reading and Prayer”, has turned down request to have Hindu opening-prayer in an upcoming session.
Richard Baker, Chief Executive of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, in an email response to distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed (who requested to be scheduled to read opening-prayer in an upcoming Council meeting), wrote that Mayor had “decided to allow only fellow Councillors to open a Council meeting with a Bible reading and prayer”.
Monthly meetings of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council have been opening with “Bible reading and prayer", which has been first item on the agenda. Borough Council meetings have been reportedly opening with a prayer since 2015, the year it was established.
Request of Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, seeking Mayor or councillor to read the Hindu opening-prayer supplied by him in one Council meeting, was also not accepted.
The Borough of Antrim & Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) covers about 274 square miles and Belfast International Airport is in the borough. Neil Kelly and Paul Dunlop are the Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively of the Council, APSE's UK Council of the Year 2024.