I WAS extremely annoyed by the letter from Sardar Pappu Singh (Viewpoint, July 23).

Firstly, I cannot understand why Khurshid Ahmed should be congratulated for presiding over an affair that is being forced through against the wishes of an overwhelming majority and secondly, current divisions have nothing to do with race.

They result from differences in culture and religious dogma, both of which are man-made.

Race is something that is not under our control. It governs hair and skin type etc and the propensity to develop certain ailments.

Some misguided individuals have attempted throughout history to prove that one race is superior to another but none of these attempts has ever been successful so to use the race card in issues such as the mosque debate is a cheap trick that does Mr Singh no credit.

Perhaps these former enemies, Muslims and Sikhs, are banding together against what they perceive to be a common foe – the indigenous British who welcomed them to these shores.

It is true that Dudley Council have made a mess of all this since, as Mr Singh correctly points out, the purpose of the land was known at the time of the swap but I would still like to know if Dudley Muslim Association accrued any benefit from increased value, if any, and if so, have they paid the balance?

My grandfather was a regular soldier. Wounded at Gallipoli, he was patched up and sent to the Somme where he was wounded again.

He died aged 37 from the long-term effects of mustard gas and malaria.

He loved life and had a fine tenor voice, particularly when he had had a few drinks (which was most days).

When my grandmother, who had four young children, asked “What am I to do now?”, she was advised to sell her furniture and get a job.

Khurshid Ahmed gets the CBE for being, among other things, our enemy.

I’m sorry to have to say that but that’s the way I truly see it.

What we are really witnessing here is positive discrimination on a grand scale and I, together with a great many more Dudley residents, am sick of it.

This is not the path to integration, which must be the ultimate aim of all sensible people.

JOHN MORTON Dudley