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Blears’s
Oldham visit is the first stage of her eight-leg journey across
the country.
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LONDON,
August 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Iraq war
and marginalization have cast a pall over a bridge-building bid by the
British government with the Muslim minority, who said it is high time
that authorities stopped living in denial and addressed the underlying
causes of the extremist ideology behind the London bombings, a British
daily reported Wednesday, August 3.
The
Muslim Council of Britain, the main representative Muslim body in
Britain, said ministers needed to accept the role political events
such as the Iraq war had played in the growth of extremism, The
Financial Times reported.
“It
seems the government is in denial about this,” a spokesman told the
paper. “Some of these policies have contributed to making the
extremist message more palatable to Muslim youth.”
Anti-Terrorism
Minister, Hazel Blears, went Tuesday to Oldham in Greater Manchester
on the first stage of her eight-leg journey across the country in
search of grassroots Muslim opinion.
She
listened for two and a half hours as faith leaders, councilors, young
men and women, who mostly welcomed the visit as “useful” while
some branded it as a routine Labour-like PR exercise.
Dominic
Grieve, the shadow attorney-general, agreed that the Iraq war was
partly to blame.
“The
Iraq war had contributed to this anger, with the western intervention
in a Muslim country fuelling the 'great grief' caused to British
Muslims by the state of the Islamic world,” the FT quoted him
as saying.
He
added that he found the suicide bombings “totally explicable in
terms of the level of anger which many members of the Muslim community
seem to have about a large number of things.”
Grieve
warned he did not think that “simply by visiting community leaders
you are going to get to some of these underlying issues”.
In
an obvious retreat from his earlier stance, British Prime Minister,
Tony Blair, acknowledged on July 26 that Iraq was being used to
recruit terrorists.
One
of the four would-be bombers arrested last week in the biggest massive
manhunt in British history told investigators that they were motivated
by the Iraq war and not by religious fervor.
Gov’t
Attention
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British
Muslims warned that heavy-handed police tactics risk alienating
ethnic groups. (Reuters)
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At
Oldham’s session, Muslim figures told Blears that ethnic minorities
in the country crave for government attention.
They
said the government should address the underlying causes of terrorism
rather than adopting an iron fist approach, Britain’s the
Guardian reported.
“People
from socially deprived areas, those not engaged in the community, with
no aspirations and so sense of belonging, are going to be targeted by
extremist organizations,” Muswar Hussain, in the same session to
represent Oldham social services, told the minister.
Rasheda
Khatun, a 20-year-old student representing the Oldham branch of the
women's organization Muslimah UK in the session, told the minister the
Muslim voice should be taken into account.
She
said it is incumbent on Muslim organizations to come together to
express their views in unison.
“When
we unite, we will be able to have political activity and take part in
the democratic process,” the Guardian quoted her as saying.
She
told Blears how life had changed for her and her friends since July
21, when four bombers killed 52 people in multiple attacks on
London’s transport system.
“We
show by our dress that we are Muslims. People stare at us but,
following the atrocities in London, they stare at us for a different
reason now, thinking there could be a bomb under our jilbabs. This
really scares us,” she said.
"Muslims
have been generalized and it makes people think we are all potential
terrorists. We are paying the price for what has happened and it is
disgusting. We do not deserve it."
Soaring
Abuses
This
is a sign Blears could face a tough battle reassuring community
leaders over police adopting a stop-and-search policy to target young
men from specific ethnic groups, Reuters reported.
Since
July 7, London's Metropolitan Police said crimes motivated by
religious hatred have soared by almost 600 percent in the British
capital.
Police
figures showed that there were 269 such incidents reported since the
first blasts, compared to 40 over the same three-and-a-half week
period in 2004.
"There
is no doubt that incidents impacting on the Muslim community have
increased," said Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur.
The
majority of incidents were minor assaults or low-level abuse but they
had a great "emotional impact" on communities, he said.
"It
can lead to these communities completely retreating and not engaging
at a time when we want their engagement and support."
British
Transport Police, which patrols the London Underground, have confirmed
they are targeting specific ethnic groups -- notably blacks and south
Asians -- for "intelligence-led" random ID checks and
searches on the streets.
Alienating
The
news has prompted anger from some Muslim groups, and warnings that
such tactics could alienate communities.
A
spokesman for the MCB told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Tuesday that
while he understands the police need to take all necessary actions, it
had to avoid "alienating or stigmatizing" an entire section
of society.
"Otherwise
this action will be counterproductive," he said.
The
Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) said such a policy would worsen
the situation.
"It
won't help in terms of building a relationship or trust between the
communities."
Some
newspapers expressed concern Wednesday at the possible impact of young
Asian men being repeatedly stopped by police.
Blears
had been "dishonest" in not admitting that such men would be
more likely to be targeted, The Independent said in an
editorial, urging "extreme caution" in the police response
to the bombings.
"Ultimately,
our fight against terrorism depends partly on the willingness of
minorities to co-operate with police," the paper said.
"Heavy-handed
police tactics that risk demonizing and alienating certain groups are
both dangerous and counterproductive."
