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First female Muslim mayor in England hails from political family in Sri Lanka Source: Daily FT Sri Lanka The first thing you notice in Kareema Marikar’s personality is her bubbly nature, infectious smile and down-to-earth simplicity. Despite creating history as the first female Muslim mayor in England, she is not yet ready to rest on her laurels, judging by an interview she gave to the BBC recently. “I am a Marakkala woman from Sri Lanka,” Marikar told Saroj Pathirana of the Sinhala Service of the BBC in the interview conducted in a quaint, leafy British park on a bright Spring day, clad in a white ‘osari’, a traditional sari originated among the nobility in her native area of Kandy about a century ago. Marikar, who was elected on the Labour Party ticket in north London’s Harrow city in May, hails from a well-known political family in Sri Lanka. She is ...