Jaswant Singh Birdi got the first turban-wearing mayor of Coventry, UK

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first Turbaned Sikh Jaswant Singh Birdi is new Lord Mayor of the City of Coventry inUK

First Turban-Wearing Lord Mayor of Coventry: An Indian-origin Sikh councilor has created history by being appointed as the new Lord Mayor of the West Midlands city of Coventry, England. Punjab-born Jaswant Singh Birdi will be chairman of the city council and, as Coventry’s first citizen, will be the non-political, ceremonial head of the city.

“I am very proud to be Lord Mayor of my adopted home city,” Birdie said in a statement. It has given me and my family so much over the years and I would be honored to show why I love this city so much by promoting the wonderful people who live here.

Last week at Coventry Cathedral’s annual general meeting Birdie was presented with chains worn as an official insignia by the mayor. He said that as a Sikh it also means that I will wear the chain of office and the turban. It will help show that we have a thriving multicultural city, which will inspire others as well.

Born in Punjab, Birdie moved to Coventry 60 years ago and has spent 17 years as a councilor in the city, representing the Bablake ward for the past nine years, after two terms in office in the Hillfields ward in the 1990s. After serving as Deputy Lord Mayor for the past 12 months, he was succeeded in the role by Councilor Kevin Matton.

He grew up in a village in the Indian part of Punjab and spent time as a child in Lahore and West Bengal as his family moved there for work. Birdie moved with his parents to Kenya in East Africa in the mid-1950s, where he received primary and secondary education, before moving to the UK in the 60s for further education.

Besides being a councillor, he has been actively involved in setting up religious, social and community projects in the city. They named their chosen charities for the year as Muscular Dystrophy Charity, Coventry Resource Center for the Blind, and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Charity.

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