British MPs Speak Shocking Stories of
Islamophobia in the British Parliament
Dr Mozammmel Haque
Shadow Leader of the House and the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Afzal Khan)
secured the debate during Islamophobia Awareness Month in the British
Parliament The debate was held in the
Westminster Hall of the House of Commons, on 24 November 2021.
Naz Shah
Labour Member for Bradford
West, Naz Shah said, “I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton
(Afzal Khan) for securing the debate. I thank all Members who contributed to
the debate and the many others, such as my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry
North West (Taiwo Owatemi), who could not make the debate but wanted to put on
the record their commitment to tackling Islamophobia.”
Naz Shah mentioned, “Islamophobia
is a dark reality, with three Muslim grandfathers murdered here in the UK,
while terrorist attacks in Christchurch, Quebec and multiple others around the
world emphasise the serious nature of Islamophobia if left unchallenged. In the
UK, Islamophobic hate crimes against Muslims and their places of worship have
sadly become far too common. The latest data for 2020-21 show that 45% of all
religious hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales were against
Muslims, although a large number of cases are simply not reported to the
police. Data from the crime survey of England and Wales suggests the actual
number is approximately six times the number of recorded offences. According to
the same data, Muslims were the most likely to be victims of religiously
motivated hate crimes in 2017-18 and 2019-20.”
Naz Shah said, “That is not
Muslims complaining about Islamophobia. That is the police collecting data on
Muslims being attacked. One would think, when Muslims are the most likely to be
the victims of religiously motivated hate crimes, that Islamophobia would be a
top Government priority but, tragically, it is not. Islamophobia does not manifest
itself only in hate crime. Islamophobia is not always a visible attack on
mosques or Muslims. Someone does not have to vigorously hate another person to
discriminate against them. Discrimination comes in many forms, including
conscious and unconscious bias. Let me explain how.”
Labour Member Naz Shah
mentioned, “When 15-year-old Azeem Rafiq is forced in a car to drink alcohol,
that is of course a hate crime and an assault. Later, when he feels he has to
drink alcohol to fit in, to be the best that he can be, to have an opportunity
to progress, where is the hate crime then? He is in an environment in which he
cannot be the best or achieve his dreams while adhering to the faith that he
chooses to follow. Listening to his evidence at the Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport Committee, it was evident how much trauma he faced later on in life
through being forced to be someone he was not just to fit in.”
Naz Shah said, “Many Muslims
face similar barriers daily. A sizeable percentage of British Muslim women do
not wear the headscarf, not because they do not want to but because they fear
that, by wearing one, they may be attacked, or due to prejudice, will have
lower chances of succeeding and reaching the top. They, too, feel that they
have to fit in to avoid abuse, discrimination or their chances being limited.
Their fear is not misplaced. A 2016 Women and Equalities Committee report found
that Muslim women face a triple penalty. Some of the vilest vitriol I have
received online is coupled with a picture of me wearing the headscarf while
being at a place of worship.”
She mentioned, “As Muslim
women, we often recall praise such as, “I am impressed to see how empowered you
are as a Muslim woman”—as if being a Muslim was a barrier to empowerment and we
even beat it through our archaic faith to become a symbol of success. Although
this is often done unknowingly, it is done through people accepting a trope
about Islam being a faith that is deeply misogynistic. Contrary to that trope,
I want to put on record that as a Muslim woman, my empowerment as a women comes
from my faith and the life and teachings of the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon
him.”
Naz Shah said, “A report by the
Centre for Media Monitoring that analysed media output over a three-month
period in 2018, which comprised analysis of over 10,000 published articles
and broadcast clips, found 59% of all articles associated Muslims with negative
behaviour and over a third misrepresented or generalised about Muslims, with
terrorism being the most common theme.”
Naz Shah said, “When such
perpetuated tropes and false conspiracies about Muslims are allowed to develop,
it enables an environment where people are otherised and demonised. Not
everything I have mentioned is a hate crime, but it all can have an impact.
Islamophobes and those who consciously or unconsciously discriminate against
Muslims often use anything and everything that links to a person’s Muslimness
as a factor for their negativity, be that religious practices, ways of dressing
or customs, or even sometimes something that is not part of Islam, but is
perceived as Muslim, such as a Sikh man wearing a turban. The reality is that
Islamophobia is rampant across society, and purely basing Islamophobia on hate
crimes like this Government wish to do deprives us of the ability to tackle the
full extent of Islamophobia.
Naz Shah Concluded, “We have to
tackle the environment in which Islamophobia is normalised. Today, a former
England captain, Michael Vaughan, can ludicrously suggest a Muslim England
Cricket player like Moeen Ali should go around in between test matches asking
random Muslims if they are terrorists—as if he too was somehow liable—and still
continue to be a mainstream pundit. The former editor of The Sun,
Kelvin MacKenzie, can openly brand Muslims as antisemites and say that it is a
nice change from a Muslim making a bomb or trying to kill hospital visitors,
and still get invited as a mainstream guest on media shows. In fact, people
like Trevor Phillips can generalise an entire community by saying:
“Muslims are not like us”,
that they will never fit in and
are
“becoming a nation within a
nation”,
without an apology or remorse,
and get a special programme in their name on Sky News.”
Alex Sobel
Labour Member for Leeds North
West Alex Sohel asked, “My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. On her
point about institutionalised Islamophobia in certain parts of society—she
mentioned cricket and the media—should we not be looking at the governing
organisations, whether that is Ofcom in the media or the England and Wales
Cricket Board, and seeing whether they are fit for purpose? I do not think they
are in this regard.
Naz Shah
Naz Shah replied, “I absolutely
agree and thank my hon. Friend, because that brings me nicely on to my next
point. In 2011, the former chair of the Conservative party, Baroness Warsi,
said that Islamophobia had “passed the dinner table test”. A decade later in
2021, Islamophobia has now passed the mainstream media test. It has become
normalised. In fact, it has become fashionable to demonise Muslims and gain
from the political capital of hate. That is why it is so important to adopt a
definition of Islamophobia to enable us to at least understand and tackle
Islamophobia in all its forms.”
Naz Shah said, “The Labour
party was one of the first parties to accept the APPG definition of
Islamophobia. Again, last week, the chair of the Labour party and my hon.
Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton wrote to the Government urging them to
rethink and adopt the definition. I welcome the intervention by the hon. Member
for Wycombe (Mr Baker) on trying to do that in a collegiate way.”
Naz Shah continued, “The
Government’s record on a definition of Islamophobia is horrific. The Government
refused the Muslim community a definition of Islamophobia, they then refused to
accept a cross-party definition, and now two and a half years after promising a
definition, they have failed to produce one. While the Minister may try to
regurgitate the same old falsehoods about the APPG definition, I ask her one
simple question. The APPG officers, before publishing the definition and in
good faith, gave sight of it to Ministers. Since the definition has been
published, can she tell me if the Government have ever reached out to the APPG
to address any questions or concerns with the definition and in good faith try
to come to a solution together on the matter? Have they even reached out, even
once? The dangerous message that it sends to British Muslims is that this Government
simply do not care.”
Naz Shah concluded, “When it
came to the covid pandemic, this Government played with people’s lives; when it
came to levelling up, they played with people’s future; and, again, on the
issue of Islamophobia, they are playing with people’s lives. Minister, I urge
this Government to show some leadership and good faith. This issue is far too
serious to be ignored. As the theme for this year’s Islamophobia month
suggests, it is time for change.”
Dr Rosena
Allin-Khan
Labour Member for Tooting. Dr
Rosena Allin-Khan, said, “Like many other speakers today, I have my scars. From
being attacked by a racist gang in the park with dogs, as me and my brother ran
away, having our clothes ripped from us, scared; to the audible gasps of, “Why
the hell would you choose to be a Muslim?”, my experiences are as real as they
are painful. With a Polish mother and a Pakistani father, and proudly British,
I feel fortunate to have grown up immersed in many cultures. I have, sadly,
experienced overt racism and bigotry; unfortunately, I have also been where
people speak in perceived safety, not realising that I am a Muslim.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said, “When
I was studying medicine at Cambridge, a senior surgeon spoke openly about
terrorism and Islam. When I asked him kindly to stop, he was shocked. When I
stated that I was a Muslim, he asked where I was from and proceeded to tell me
that half my family were eastern European cleaners and the other half were
terrorists, and that I should go and tell my family to stop killing people.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said, “A
taxi driver once told me, 20 minutes into a cab journey, that he would never in
his life allow a Muslim into his taxicab. He told me that Muslims were taking
over the world, that he had absolutely no desire to meet one, and that he would
not allow his daughter to go and study at a university where someone wore a
hijab. I told him to stop the car, that he had met a Muslim and that I would
continue my journey on foot.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said, “My
mum, who is not a Muslim but married one and had two children who chose to be
Muslim, is Polish and has blonde hair and green eyes. She has been spat at in
the street, called dirty for walking with her children and, while we were
growing up, had people shouting at her on the tube, telling her she had married
a dirty—I will not name the name, because I do not want to give it a place in
this place.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said, “Many
people tell me I should have used getting married as the opportunity to drop
the Khan and call myself Rosie Allin in a bid to be accepted, and that I should
hide all traces of Islam from my daughters’ names, so that they may have “an
easier life.” Well, fear will not make me drop my name or my faith, and fear
will never stop me fighting against Islamophobia. In this place we have a
platform, but millions of people do not. We owe it to them to speak out, and to
fight for change for our community and for our children.”
Yasmin
Qureshi
Labour Member for Bolton South
East, Yasmin Qureshi said, “I want to set something straight on the record. Bolton
South East does not need the help of other MPs to deal with the issues of taxi
drivers. I deal with them, meet them regularly and do not need to set up an
APPG for them. I am interested to know why no Conservative MP in Greater
Manchester ever wants to join an APPG on Greater Manchester, which is much
wider. No Conservative MPs will join that. That was rather a silly comment from
the hon. Member for Bury North (James Daly) in making that point. To repeat, my
taxi drivers do not need any help from anyone else.”
Yasmin Qureshi said, “Returning to the topic of the day, I want to
talk about international Islamophobia. In Myanmar, decades of hate speech and
persecution culminated in 2017 with more than 700,000 predominantly Muslim
Rohingya people having to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh after a vicious
campaign of ethnic cleansing; and our Government did nothing about it. In
China, close to a million Uyghur Muslims are believed to be interned in
so-called re-education camps. There, too, Islamophobia is rife across the
country and our Government have done nothing about it.”
Yasmin Qureshi continued, “In
India, with every passing year, Islamophobia has become more normalised and
mainstream. Narendra Modi was a member of the RSS, a neo-Nazi group, and his
Bharatiya Janata party is making India into an authoritarian, Hindu national
state. Regular, unprovoked attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs have become routine
in India, along with the destruction of mosques and the taking away of Muslims’
human rights.”
Yasmin Qureshi said, “Last
month, the BBC reported that a video had gone viral on social media showing a
terrified girl clinging to her Muslim father as Hindu mobs assaulted him. That
is not a one-off. That kind of violence is overwhelming. I have never heard a
word from the Foreign Office or Government Ministers on that issue. When they
talk about wanting to deal with Islamophobia, I would like to hear from the
Government.”
Yasmin Qureshi concluded, “In
Europe, Muslims are being made the other. Constantly in France and other
countries, every time there is a general election, they bring up the subject of
Muslims, take women’s veils and bring in new laws that say that Muslims are
forming a counter-society. Again, we hear nothing in this country from the
Foreign Office. I would like our Government to do something about that.”
Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
Labour
Member for Slough Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said, “It is a pleasure to serve under
your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for anchester,
Gorton (Afzal Khan) on securing this important debate and on his tireless work.
We have been here before many times. Islamophobia is not a new phenomenon but
one that has sadly entrenched itself into significant segments of our society.
As the Muslim Council of Britain noted, 70% of Muslims have experienced
religious-based prejudice in the past 12 months and just under half of all religious
hate crimes recorded by police in 2020-21 were Islamophobic. I also highlight
that abuse can happen to Muslims or even those perceived as looking like
Muslims, such as turbaned Sikhs like myself.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, “I
personally called on the Prime Minister to do more over two years ago, and
asked for an apology for his derogatory and racist remarks describing already
vulnerable Muslim women as looking like bank robbers and “letter boxes”. Those
comments led to a 375% spike in hate crimes and, more widely, showed that to
openly abuse Muslim women was acceptable. All that was without an apology,
except for a half-hearted one during the heat of an election and only when
pressed to do so. That is characteristic of the Government response—denial,
delay and avoidance.”
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi continued, “Given the increased prevalence of
such Islamophobic incidents in the Conservative party, where is the independent
inquiry into Islamophobia, as promised on national television by the Prime
Minister and his now Health Secretary? In fact, when the all-party group on
British Muslims, of which I am proud to be a vice-chair, agreed on a definition
of Islamophobia, all major parties accepted and adopted it with one notable
exception: the Conservative party. We cannot simply accept the unacceptable
status quo. If we do, we fail millions of Muslims because, without action, this
is the message that Muslim communities are hearing.”
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
concluded, “ I hope that the Minister, for whom I have time, has come with more
than just warm words, because the persistent failure of the Government, particularly
the Prime Minister, has real consequences and fails the people of our country.”
Apsana
Begum
Labour Member for Poplar and
Limehouse, Apsana Begum said, “Every single day, people of Muslim backgrounds
like me face discrimination and prejudice. I am never allowed to forget that my
presence in Parliament, as the first MP to wear a hijab, makes many
uncomfortable, from the regular mispronunciation of my name to being mistaken for
other hijab-wearing women who work in Parliament, to being asked, even, if I am
related to Shamima Begum.”
Apsana Begum said, “Too often,
we are cynically used as a focal point for people’s anxieties, as scapegoats
for the failings of the political and economic system. It should therefore be
no surprise to anyone that I constantly have to cope with a vicious torrent of
abuse. Just to give hon. Members a few examples, this is the kind of material
that I receive: “Vile and filthy religion…importing vile and filthy creatures
like Apsana Begum”; “Muslims should be banned from public office…we can’t trust
their allegiances”; “Muslims are the masters of lying. They are the bane of our
Christian society. They do not belong and should be deported”; “Deport the
Filth”; “Throw her and her family back to where they came from”; “Chop her hand
off”; “This could be one of your last statements”. Those are not even, by any
measure, the worst of what I receive.”
Apsana Begum mentioned, “ All
too often, Muslims live with a constant, persistent fear overshadowing our
lives, especially given that the latest data shows that Muslims are the largest
target of religiously motivated hate crimes. The rise of the far right, in
particular, is a very present danger. I just want to pick up on the fact that
Government Members have been talking about taking politics out of this. I
wonder what they would say to what the UN special rapporteur on freedom of
religion or belief reported—that institutional suspicion and fear of Muslims
has escalated to “epidemic proportions” and that “numerous” states, regional
and international bodies were to blame. Perhaps the Minister can address that
point.”
Apsana Begum concluded, ”It is
important to remember that, across the world, under the auspices of fighting
terrorism and extremism, we see people of Muslim backgrounds facing persecution
and the denial of basic citizenship rights, from the Rohingya refugees to the
escalated harassment of Muslims in France, for example. The evidence is very
clear. Islamophobia is on the rise. But there is hope and I am inspired by the
history of anti-racist struggles in east London. I am proud to represent the
constituency that I have lived in all my life and I pay tribute to the
contributions of Muslims all across Britain.”
