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An intolerant creed - New Labour’s Islam policy

By Nasser Amin - posted Friday, 3 November 2006


As a consequence of involving themselves in such popular groupings - which often involve close interaction and collaboration with non-Muslims, including such diverse souls as anarchists, trade unionists and liberals - the Muslim youth have demonstrated a willing desire for cohesion with British society.

Muslims have learnt a great deal from these associations, and in many cases have attempted to incorporate aspects of the obvious wisdom of other cultures and ideologies into their own values. This they have understood to be consistent with Islam being an all-embracing religion.

New Labour's response to the development of such extensive and progressive anti-imperialist fronts in which Muslims play a lead role has, however, been categorically contemptuous and subversive. Rather than nurture the involvement of British Muslims in political life, the Government has systematically sought to undercut and destabilise nascent associations and movements by driving a wedge between them and Muslims.

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The Respect Party’s George Galloway, who has defended the rights and interests of the Muslim community and succeeded in mobilising Muslim support against the Government's policies within the anti-war movement and his own party, is a particular target.

He has had to suffer the worst molestations of the New Labour machine. Muslims have been warned to stay away from this “maverick”. Government apparatchiks have even informed us that his televised feline behaviour on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year is in contravention of all Islamic standards of decency.

Precisely why Galloway should be subject to the precise Islamic Laws which apparently proscribe the wearing of animalesque attire is unknown, but New Labour's paternalistic version of “Islam” is not a tolerant creed: all who dissent must obey it, whether or not they like it.

With all the talk of the dangers of being influenced by extremism, one should take stock of the moral compass of a government keen to impose its own normative conception of what a good British citizen ought to be - a government that calumniates a decent politician for innocuously joking around on television; invokes doctrinaire religious laws concerning suitable attire that the Taliban may once have been proud of; and at the same time, positively advocates the exploitation of less powerful countries.

Legislation ostensibly passed to end terrorism is being used to silence and criminalise actual and possible Muslim political dissent.

There is a precedent here. During the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, governments enacted laws which ensured that the Irish community stayed out of politics, since its attitudes to British dominion in the six counties were at variance with official policy. These too were peddled as being part of a battle between terror and democracy.

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Some commentators have expressed disappointment that the latest proposals have avoided Muslim schools, claiming that they are a further source of alienation. Yet, the attacks on “faith schools” fail to appreciate that they represent symptoms of the problem rather than any cause.

With hatred of Islam making life intolerable for Muslims, with children harassed at school and Muslims in higher education being subjected to increased suspicion and placed under surveillance, is it any wonder that more and more Muslim parents are favouring Muslim-only educational institutions for their children?

Last month, before the latest proposals, Kelly praised Britain's Hindu population as a model of integration. The major reason for this is that, fortunately, Hindus in Britain don’t face the same level of hostility endured by Muslims on a daily basis, nor are their co-religionists subjected to the same ruinous costs of Western foreign policy that the Muslim world has had to endure.

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About the Author

Nasser Amin is a 25-year-old freelance writer and postgraduate at the University of London, Britain.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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