For the first time, a Sikh man has become the mayor of the town of Warwick in England’s West Midlands region. Prabhjit Singh Dhillon, who has been elected the 280th mayor of Warwick, described it as a ‘privilege,’ the Coventry Telegraph reported on Friday.
‘I have become the 280th mayor, a privilege for a local Warwick boy and first Sikh since that time. My mayoral year is a mere blip in the last 1,100 years of former mayors in this historic town,’ Dhillon, a former local schoolboy, was quoted as saying.
After being sworn in mayor, Dhillon asked everyone present to observe a minute’s silence in honour of Drummer Lee Rigby, the British soldier who was hacked to death at Woolwich in London on 22 May.
‘I liken my year to the Olympic torch bearers of last year, in that I am picking up the torch of history from the outgoing mayor and carrying it forward, passing it on to the next mayor in a year’s time,’ he said.
Dhillon said this year’s theme is celebrating the town’s rich treasure trove and building a greater sense of community. Warwick is the county town of the English county of Warwickshire.