Government ‘stigmatising’ British Muslims
The government has been accused of “stigmatising” and “demonising” the Muslim community in its efforts to tackle extremism after last year’s July 7th bombings.
Muhammad Abdul Bari, head of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), has written to communities minister Ruth Kelly warning of a “veritable regular drip-fee of ministerial statements stigmatising an entire community”.
And yesterday Labour peer Lord Ahmed, Britain’s first Muslim peer, warned it had become fashionable among ministers to “have a go at the Muslims”.
Their comments come after Ms Kelly last week announced government funding would be withheld from Muslim organisations that did not take a proactive role in tackling extremism, and reports today that universities would be urged to spy on Muslim students.
A leaked document seen by the Guardian suggests lecturers and staff will be asked to inform on “Asian-looking” and Muslim students amid fears that British universities are being targeted by extremists.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has rejected the article as “inaccurate” and said that although guidance was being developed, it was “pure speculation” to say what it will include.
And today, Ms Kelly will use a meeting with local authorities to stress the need for all communities to take action against extremism, not just Muslims.
But in his letter, Mr Bari cited her comments last week, the increased use of stop and search among Muslims, John Reid’s call for Muslim parents to watch out for extremism in their children and the row over the veil as proof his community was being singled out.
“This relentless barrage has been disheartening and you will understand our worry about where all this is leading,” he wrote to Ms Kelly this weekend.
“Some Muslims have even sought the MCB’s advice on whether they should change their names in order to avoid anti-Muslim remarks. This is what happens when a community is singled out by those at the helm of affairs.
“This is a great diversion from the many other real social challenges facing all of us in Britain – of caring for our infirm and elderly, strengthening the family and giving a sense of purpose to the young.
“Our nation deserves a strategy to move forward – what we have been receiving instead from our leaders are hastily formulated responses masquerading as policy.”
Lord Ahmed has also accused the government of sustaining a “constant theme of demonising” Britain’s 1.6 million Muslims.
“If you look at every bit of rhetoric that has been coming out of the government departments and very senior people it has been sort of targeting at the Muslim community leadership,” he told BBC Radio Four’s Sunday.
“That has opened up a way for the neo-cons, the right wing people who have been attacking the Muslims. Islamophobia has become a contemporary form of racism.”
The peer rejected Ms Kelly’s suggestion that Muslim groups were not doing enough to tackle extremism, saying that just “one, or one and a half” of the 64 recommendations made by the task force set up after last year’s London bombings had been implemented.
“What has the government done in terms of parallel communities, deprivation, ghettos that exist with the Muslim communities?” he asked.
