Dr. Mozammel Haque
Afzal
Khan MP for Greater Manchester Gorton wrote a letter to the U.K. Prime Minister
Boris Johnsonon thios occasion of Islamophobia Awareness Month.
November
is the month of Islamophobia Awareness Month. On this month British Muslim
community organised meetings, conferences and discussions. This year due to
coronavirus, though talk and discussions were held but by zoom or Face Book
Live Broadcasting meeting. Rt. Hon. Afzal Khan, M.P. for Manchester Gorton wrote
a letter to the Prime Minister on 10th of November 2020. Following is
the copy of the letter.
Afzal Khan MP’s Letter to
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
Dear
Prime Minister
I
write to you to raise the very serious and concerning issue of Islamophobia
here in the U.K. , during this Islamophobia Awareness Month.
The
recent report by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, “An Avoidable Crisis: The
disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on black, Asian and minority ethnic
communities,” details how Black, Asian and minority ethnic people have been
subject to disgrace racism during the pandemic. Unfortunately, this has been
reinforced by actions taken by your government and members of your Party.
The
last-minute lockdown announcement ahead of Eid-ul-Adha left many of my
constituents here in Manchester rightfully angry and frustrated. It also
contributed to a deeply concerning and false, far-right narrative that British
Muslims are ‘spreading corona,. As a result of this narrative, according to
hate crime monitoring charity TellMAMA, Muslim communities have suffered a
shocking 40% increase in online Islamophobia during the pandemic. The
Government’s own figures also once again reveal Muslims have been victims to
the highest proportions of all hate crimes committed this year.
As
Prime Minister it is your duty to protect and safeguard all communities.
However, I am disappointed, if not surprised, at the inaction of this Government
in tackling the issue of Islamophobia is clearly growing. Fresh criticism has
come from your own Islamophobia adviser, Qari Asim, for the way British Muslims
have been treated during the pandemic.
You
committed to launching an independent review of Islamophobia, but you have yet
to deliver on this promise. The all-Party Parliamentary Group on British
Muslims definition of Islamophobia has been adopted by all the major parties,
including the Scottish Conservatives, apart from the Conservative Party.
In
light of this, I urge you to take immediate action and fulfil your promise to
conduct an independent investigation into Islamophobia within your Party and
heed the recommendations set out in the Doreen Lawrence review to help better
protect the 2.6 million British Muslims here in the U.K. I also urge you, as
leader of the Conservative Party, to follow in the footsteps of your colleagues in Scotland and adopt the
APPG definition of Islamophobia.
Will
you also meet with myself and key Muslim organisations to discuss how best to
tackle Islamophobia going forward?
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Afzal Khan, MP for Manchester Gorton.
Islamophobia in the British Parliament
Issues
and concerns about Islamophobia were raised in both the Houses of the British
Parliament. Afzal Khan, MP for Manchester Gorton, raised the issue of Islamophobia
in the House of Commons on 5th of October, 2020. He asked the
question on spike in Islamophobia in the House of Commons on Monday, the 5th
of October, 2020.
Afzal Khan
(Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)
Spike in Islamophobia
Afzal Khan, Labour Member of Parliament for Gorton, through
Virtual participation said, “During this pandemic we have seen a sharp spike in
Islamophobia, from blaming Muslims for the spread of covid-19 to fuelling
online hate. I am sure the Secretary of State will want to join me in
commending the community for its patience and hard work in these difficult
months. Given that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has previously
highlighted the good work of the Muslim Council of Britain in reaching minority
groups that the Government are unable or unwilling to reach, can he outline
what discussions he has had with the MCB and other Muslim organisations on the
safe reopening of mosques?”
In reply, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities
and Local Government, Robert Jenrick said, “Like the hon. Gentleman, I want to
praise and thank the Muslim communities throughout the country for their
forbearance. We have worked closely with them through our places of worship
taskforce that the Prime Minister and I set up. I have had the privilege to
meet representatives from mosques, including the London Central Mosque on the
eve of the Eid celebrations, to thank them once again for their forbearance. We
have put in place detailed guidelines to help mosques to reopen safely and will
continue to work with Muslim groups in the weeks and months ahead.”
Places of Worship Open safely?
Labour MP for Gorton asked again, “What steps his
Department has taken to help places of worship open safely during the covid-19
outbreak.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick said,
“As Communities Secretary, ensuring places of worship can reopen and remain
open has been a priority for me and my Department. Their contribution to our
country as places of solace, as well as for significant moments such as
weddings and funerals, is clear to us all. Places of worship remain open today
for more than six people for communal prayer and services with existing
covid-secure requirements continuing to apply.”
Earlier, Baroness Manzila Uddin spoke on Islamophobia in the
House of Lords on 10 November 2020
Baroness Uddin (Non-Affl)
Baroness
Manzila Uddin talked about Islamophobiua in the House of Lords on 10 November
2020. Baroness Uddin said, My Lords, I extend my sympathies to the family of
Rabbi Sacks, the late Lord Sacks. It was a privilege to work with him on
interfaith issues for many years, including in the early years of his journey.
I also extend my thoughts and prayers to the families of all those who were so
brutally murdered in Paris, Austria and Kabul. We stand together in their
sorrow.
She
also mentioned, “This House will agree that we must not fall prey to the
language of hate and divisiveness being normalised in our discourse on
terrorism and violent extremism, whoever the source. I am aghast at the hateful
incitement and utterances from French leaders in denigrating faiths and
communities, which will cause an insurmountable rise in Islamophobia, including
Islamophobic attacks on Muslim communities in France and elsewhere.”
Baroness
Uddin asked, “Will the Minister continue with her commitment to working across
faith communities, including women-led organisations, to ensure that their
security remains paramount? Does she agree that demonising religion in
combating the plague of terrorism is likely to disfranchise societies and, in
doing so, demean our best endeavours as a society committed to upholding
respect for the values of freedom, liberty, justice and equality?”
Facebook Live Meeting
The
Muslim Professionals Forum presented a Facebook Live Broadcasting Meeting on
“Is Religion Welcome in British Public Life? A Talk by Guest Speaker Professor
Tariq Modood, Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy, hosted by
Khaled Noor, chair, The Muslim Professionals Forum on 10 October 2020. In the
Questions & Answers section, while answering to a question on Islamophobia,
Professor Tariq Modood, said. The Conservative Party has some higher problem attracting Muslims
and others to their ranks or to join them.
Tariq
Modood is a Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy and the founding
Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the
University of Bristol. He is also the co-founder of the Journal Ethnicities.
His latest book include Secularism and Multiculturalism (2019), Religion and
Beliefs in British Public Life
Islamophobia
Professor Tariq Modood mentioned, “But it is interesting we
have seen now on in the current government as well as in the Theresa May’s
government and so on that quite a lot of ethnic immorality individuals,
especially now I see people, Pakistani and Indian origin, holding quite high
office in the Conservative Party and its Government and so on.
“But
I think the bigger issue for the Conservative Party is that they are very slow
and reluctant to tackle racism and specifically Islamophobia. There is a lot of
Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. According to their own report,
according to the materials we can find now, that is only be the tip on the
iceberg, that only may be visible, most of the rest is invisible.
“The
organisation, HOPE NOT HATE, just a few days ago published an extensive and a
systematic report on Islamophobia in the Conservative Party – How the
Conservative Party is failed over a long period of time; failed to deal with
Islamophobia in its ranks; something that Baroness Sayeeda Warsi is a big
champion of. She has spoken of so many times loudly about it and so on. But yet
the movement has been very slow. So even something visual into the high office,
nevertheless the tackling of certain kind of racism and Islamophobia; well, it
is not tackled, it is not actually admitted be a large scale problem; they say
so a few individuals but actually it is not. And this report by HOPE NOT HATE
brings us out very well.
Professor
Modood also said, “If we look at online communication which means people who
are Conservatives, we see lots of derogatory remarks about Muslims, insulting
remarks, the use of stereotypes and in some ways its come down to Prime
Minister himself. We know that he made derogatory remarks about some Muslim
women dress, conservative dress, modern dress and when asked to apologise he
refused to do so.
He
continued, “So obviously that sets the example, sets the tone so when we have
the leadership election for the Conservative Party, one of the candidates –
Sajid Javed – he said I am going to prioritise to investigate Islamophobia in
the Conservative Party, then the other candidates also allying including Boris
Johnson but he had not done so. He had been very slow to do. He has set up, I
have to say, they have set up a body to investigate, not an independent body,
as Baroness Warsi has been calling for and as the Muslim Council of Britain has
been calling for, now the HOPE NOT HATE is calling for.
Talking
about investigation Professor Modood mentioned, “They have not set up an
independent enquiry but they have set up something within the Party structure
and it will be instinctive when comes up. I cannot say, I feel with confidence,
that they will get the full measure of the problem. They may continue to do
what they have been doing which is to understate the problems as just been a
problem to do with a number of individuals rather than a systematic cultural
problem within the Conservative Party.”
Professor
Tariq Modood is a Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy and the
founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at
the University of Bristol. He is also the co-founder of the Journal
Ethnicities. His latest book include Secularism and Multiculturalism (2019),
Religion and Beliefs in British Public Life
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