Tributes paid to Wolverhampton inter-faith leader

Sehdev Bismal MBE died on June 25, at the age of 77 after a long battle with ill health.

Dr Opinderjit Takhar, director of the centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at University of Wolverhampton, paid tribute to her former colleague.

She said: “Rest in peace my dear friend, Dr Sehdev Bismal. It’s been a pleasure to have been guided under your passion and enthusiasm to get things done.

“You’ll be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing you.”

Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East, acknowledged Dr Bismal’s contribution to the inter-faith and fair trade movements in Wolverhampton.

He said: “Sehdev played a very important leadership role in the inter-faith movement in Wolverhampton.

"The work done by him and his colleagues is a big part of the reason why the city enjoys such good community relations today.

"These things don’t happen by accident. They happen because people show leadership and are determined to display in our daily lives the fact that we have more in common than anything which sets us apart.

“He was also, along with his good friend Dennis Turner, a pioneer of the Fair Trade movement in the city.

"He worked hard to make Wolverhampton a Fair Trade city and took great pride in the adoption of fair trade standards in the big public institutions in Wolverhampton like the city council and the University. We have lost a great citizen and he will be sorely missed.”

Dr Bismal arrived in Wolverhampton in 1967 and, after several years of working for British Steel, he trained to become a school teacher and began a long career in education. He became head of service in the education department for over 20 years.

During his time in education, Dr Bismal witnessed changes in schools and local authorities and saw a range of contradictory responses to the increasing presence of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and faith traditions. This led to him taking a variety of leadership roles within Inter-faith, Fair Trade and the Sewa Centre amongst others.

In 2003 he was invited to Buckingham Palace and was honoured as a Member of the British Empire and in 2017 was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Wolverhampton.

After his wife Rajinder passed away in 2004 of cancer, Sehdev turned to writing and published his first book Dream Interrupted, which documents their journey of love, life and her death. His second book, Broken Hearts, was published in April 2019 and drew from his experiences of immigrant traditions in the context of modern culture. Dr Bismal, who died June 25, is survived by his daughter Babita and sons Anuraj and Vineet.

The funeral is service will be held at Bushbury Crematorium on July 15 at 3pm.