Community leaders from Ipswich came together to observe the minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Manchester atrocity.

East Anglian Daily Times: David Ellesmere and Fortik Miah were at the Town Hall ceremony.David Ellesmere and Fortik Miah were at the Town Hall ceremony. (Image: Archant)

At 11am on Thursday the town centre fell silent as faith leaders joined senior councillors and politicians to show solidarity with the families of the dead and injured in Monday evening’s attack.

The ceremony was led by Ipswich mayor Sarah Barber who said that the way it had been observed showed everyone wanted to show their support for the victims.

She said: “Everyone in the area stopped for that minute. The market went quiet. Everyone stopped what they were doing to think about what had happened for that short time. That shows just how this has touched people.”

There was a strong turn-out from members of the Ipswich Mosque who said they were as appalled by the attack as everyone else in the community.

Mosque secretary Fortik Miah said: “We live and work in Ipswich. This is now our home town and we live our lives here. When something like this happens it affects us.

“This has nothing to do with religion. There is no religion that says you should go out and kill yourselves and kill children as well.

“Anyone of us could have had daughters or other family members caught up in this kind of atrocity.”

Mr Miah was joined by borough council leader David Ellesmere who has visited Manchester for Labour Party conferences and other events.

He was still trying to understand what could drive anyone to this kind of action: “It was pure evil. How can anyone try to justify killing young girls and their families?”

Mr Ellesmere said Ipswich was fortunate to have good community relations – the area’s Muslim community is well-respected and well integrated in the town and it was no surprise to see so many people from the Mosque at the Town Hall.

They were joined by the Vicar of St Mary le Tower Canon Charles Jenkin and representatives of other faiths including Seva Singh from the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sikh temple in Bramford Road.

His wife, Prabjot Kaur, is from Manchester so they know the area affected and were keen to pay their respects to the victims.