THE Blackburn Ethnic Minority Young Persons' Forum is an initiative which should be disowned and rejected by the Asian community.

Organisations like these are primarily instigated to provide photo opportunities, media coverage and, more importantly, some good Asian food.

It is a shame that limited financial and manpower resources are wasted on such futile endeavours.

Why create a separate forum for Asians when the indigenous English youth face similar problems?

Although racism is endemic in British society, issues like unemployment, drugs, homelessness and juvenile crime cross all race barriers. It would have been more appropriate if a mixed-race forum was set up to address these issues. Will we also be having a forum exclusively for English youths? Is this not a form of separation or exclusivity? It is quite appalling that the police force and the Racial Equality Council gives support to such divisive schemes. It would have been more appreciated if the police looked into their own ranks and addressed the issue of racism within the police force.

The Racial Equality Council should, for the advancement of the Asian community, be disbanded.

The REC in Blackburn should also look at the inter-racial rivalries that have been created by the current, inept, autocratic leadership. The problems that the forum is trying to address can only be solved by the religious community and family units.

I feel that this kind of interference is doing untold long-term damage in the relationships between the indigenous and Asian communities.

Finally, it will be fascinating to see how long this forum lasts.

EBRAHIM SIDAT, Warrington Street, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.