Waqar Azmi
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Waqar Azmi is listed in the world's 500 most influential Muslims by
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, as well as the Asian power 100 list of the most influential Asians in the UK and, the Muslim power 100 List of the most influential Muslims in the UK. He is UK Government's former Chief Diversity Adviser at the
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...
and EU Ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue. He is founder & chairman of Remembering Srebrenica.


ISIS calls for murder

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called for the murder of Azmi along with 20 other top Western Muslims leaders including Conservative Party ministers
Sajid Javid Sir Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the ...
and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Hillary Clinton's advisor
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in their 2016 online English-language magazine, Dabiq in an article entitled "Kill the imams of kufr in the west", who, according to
ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, "directly involve themselves in politics and enforcing the laws of kufr (non-believers)." The article brands Azmi and those on the 'hit list' as "apostate" and urges their murder by encouraging followers in other countries to "wage jihad by himself with the resources available to him (knives, guns, explosives, etc.) to kill the crusaders and other disbelievers and apostates."


Early life and career

Waqar Azmi grew up with his family in
Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the ...
, Uttar Pradesh, India, and moved to the UK at the age of 13, speaking no English when he arrived. He attended the
University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...
, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Politics and Social Policy. In 2001, he became Managing Director at the world's largest consultancy firm,
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and
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and, chairman of Waterhouse Consulting Group in 2009. Azmi founded the British Federation of Racial Equality Councils, a UK body of racial equality councils and partnerships representing over 100 councils across England, Scotland and Wales. He also founded the
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
Race Equality West Midlands and the Herefordshire Equality Partnership.


Civil service career

In October 2004, he was appointed as UK Government's Chief Diversity Adviser at the
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...
. He launched the 10-Point Plan on diversity to drive change across
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and for the first time in the UK, linked diversity performance of each government department to the pay and bonus of Permanent Secretaries. ''
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'' wrote: "Azmi raised eyebrows when he announced that the bonuses of permanent secretaries would be linked to their success in meeting the targets". Britain's only Asian
Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...
, Sir
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, and a former Minister,
Keith Vaz Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British politician who served as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 Unit ...
, welcomed the announcement, saying it would accelerate change in the civil service. But Keith Vaz warned: "I'm quite sure there will be resistance to this". Azmi's work led each government department to prepare a delivery plan and stepped up the pace of change including advertising for open competition the posts of Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors and other sensitive and top governmental jobs. ''
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'' called Azmi "The Equaliser" and ''The Times'' called him "Whitehall's diversity champ."
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, the then Cabinet Office Minister said in a speech that Azmi was "doing a hugely important job". Other commentators like Paul Zickel writing in ''The Times'' said: "Disability in the Civil Service recently moved out of the shadows and into the mainstream. For me, the key driver was the Civil Service-wide ten-point plan developed by Waqar Azmi".


Public inquiries

Azmi has been involved in several Public Inquiries in the UK. He was also on the 2001 Oldham riots Inquiry which was set up to investigate the riots that occurred in May 2001. He was an open critic of the Inquiry, claiming that under government pressure the Inquiry was steered towards language and citizenship, instead of structural inequalities and the growing influence of far-right groups such as the
British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...
(BNP).


Awards, nominations and honorary degrees

Waqar Azmi received an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2002 at the age of 32 by Her Majesty the
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in recognition of his major contributions in the UK and in 2003 he was awarded Britain's Young Asian Achievers Award by
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. In 2001 Azmi was awarded an Honorary master's degree by the
University of Worcester The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. History In 1946 an Emerg ...
. In 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by
Southampton Solent University Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near ...
, and later that year, the
University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...
awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. In January 2015, Azmi was nominated for the Spirit of Britain award at the
British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...
.


Views on extremism

The ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' wrote: "After he had finished delivering an inspiring speech at a career fest last week, Dr Waqar Azmi was almost mobbed by the crowd. It seemed like the Muslim gathering had waited for a long time for someone like him". Speaking to a Muslim audience of 150,000 (Urdu/Hindi: 1.5 lakh people) in Mumbai, he "slammed those who killed innocent people in the name of Islam. Evil has taken over the hearts of those who maim innocent children, blow up houses and kill people. It is our duty to help purify those dirty hearts," he said. A section of Muslims had gone astray as they had left the Prophet's message behind, he said. "We must illuminate the hearts of those misguided." Azmi sees globalisation as an opportunity for greater integration and understanding. He cites the Prophet's choices in the initial days of Islam: "He could have tried to destroy all non-Muslims in Medina; commanded everyone to become a Muslim; or chosen the path of integration. He chose the last option and invited everyone, including Jews and Christians, to the society he formed. The problem surfaces when, instead of integration, Muslims want to colonise. They want to create a separate society." Azmi also believes that Muslims themselves are largely responsible for the problems and challenges that exists in their communities due to a lack of education, activism and effective leadership: "Muslims have become reactionary rather than responding forces," he says. "Reaction leads to friction and destruction while responding paves the way for reconciliation and peace. When controversies erupt over cartoons or films on the Prophet, I tell Muslims there is no image of the Prophet. So any cartoon or film depicting him will be fake. Why fight over a fake depiction? When Muslims react violently, they play into the hands of forces that want to incite the community and paint it as reactionary".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azmi, Waqar 1970 births Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Civil servants in the Cabinet Office English Muslims Indian emigrants to England People from Azamgarh Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire