UK: First Islamic mayor of a Western capital sworn in

The election of the first Islamic mayor of a major capital in the West has been hailed as a victory of great symbolic importance for the UK and internationally, so Al Jazeera reporting on 7 May 2016, the day Sadiq Khan was sworn in at a special multi-faith service in Southwark Cathedral. While London"s 1 million Muslims are proud that the son of poor immigrants from Pakistan could reach this high political position, the Mirror reported on 8 May 2016 that a leading human rights activist in Pakistan was murdered by Islamic militants hours after publishing a blog in which he praised London"s "Western Secular Democracy" for electing its first Muslim mayor. David Davidson, working for World Watch Research, comments: "Khan"s election is regarded by many as a fairytale rags-to-riches success story. His rival candidate was accused of trying to scare and divide voters by pointing out how often Khan had spoken at engagements sharing platforms with leaders with known Islamist leanings and defended Islamic militants in court in his position as lawyer. Khan is down on record as saying he will fight "˜Islamophobia". While hate-speech against any religion is wrong, Christians in Britain hope this will not become a smokescreen for warding off genuine concerns about the influence of radical Islamic teaching spreading in the country."