A KEIGHLEY man has been nominated for inclusion in a publication honouring the highest levels of achievement within the Muslim community.

Javed Bashir, from Highfield, has been included in the Trailblazers category of the second edition of "The Muslim 100 Parliamentary Review".

His official nomination explains: "Javed has been selected for being an innovative and visionary leader, inspiring young professionals to reach great heights of performance and success within their organisations, civic society and beyond.

"The Muslim community is going through difficult challenges, and it's people like Javed who we need, to provide the necessary leadership, guidance and support to the communities to deal with such challenges."

Reacting to the news, Mr Bashir said: "I feel very humbled and privileged and I'm really excited about it. I could never have dreamt of achieving this.

"It'll help me to make more contacts with high profile people, some of whom I'd like to bring back to the district to work with young people, inspire them, and put Keighley and Bradford on the map."

In 2009 Mr Bashir joined forces with University of Bradford to set up the Professional Muslim Institute (PMI). PMI identifies talent within Britain's Muslim communities to nurture them to be leaders of the future.

It was launched in the House of Lords in 2010 and attracted more than 3,000 professional Muslims, linking them with inspiring role models and setting up a mentoring programme for children and young people.

For his work in developing leadership amongst young professionals, Mr Bashir was awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of Bradford in 2015.

Prior to that, he had already been singled out for his efforts to promote harmony between communities.

His nomination statement explains: "After the 2001 Bradford riots Javed was recognised for his community integration work and was awarded the Community Harmony Award by Bradford Council.

"He has also received the Community Cohesion Award from Remembering Srebrenica for his work in developing understanding and cohesion among young people.

"He has addressed an international conference to deal with conflict in the disputed territory of Kashmir, and highlighted the plight of people affected by Pakistan's Mangla Dam expansion plan.

"Not content with all these works, Javed has fundraised for local and national charities including the Lord Mayors Charity Appeal, the Callum Ingham Appeal and interfaith events at Keighley's Holy Family Catholic School."

Mr Bashir has lived in Keighley for about 40 years. He works for Bradford Council's education department as a supplementary schools development officer.

The last Muslim Power 100 event took place in 2007 and the list then featured well-known, influential people such as cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, "curry king" Sir Gulam Noon and singer Yusuf Islam – formerly Cat Stevens.

Mr Bashir has been invited to an exclusive gala dinner, which is being held in London on May 7 to launch the latest edition of the list.