British Muslim group calls for Islamophobia inquiry inside governing party

A crowd of demonstrators on Portland Place in freezing conditions ahead of a march against racism. (Files/Getty Images)
Updated 01 June 2018
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British Muslim group calls for Islamophobia inquiry inside governing party

  • Britain’s Muslim Council has filed a request for an official inquiry into Islamophobia in the British Prime Minister’s Conservative Party, amid claims of Islamophobia
  • The council, an independent body that represents more than 500 mosques, schools and associations in Britain, requested a full audit “to ensure racists and bigots have no place” in the Conservative party

LONDON: The largest Muslim organization in Britain has called for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia within the governing Conservative party.

Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), sent an open letter to the party chairman, Brandon Lewis, strongly criticizing the Conservatives for failing to tackle the “simmering underbelly of Islamophobia” in their ranks.

He was immediately backed by one of the most senior Muslim Conservatives, Sayeeda Warsi, a Cabinet member under former prime minister David Cameron, who said that the party had “buried its head in the sand” over the allegations.

Khan said that there were “more than weekly” incidents of Islamophobia within the party and singled out Bob Blackman as a member of parliament with “a consistent record of endorsing Islamophobia” while facing no reprimand from his party leadership. Blackman denied the accusations.

The MCB is an umbrella body representing 500 Muslim groups and schools in the UK. The letter, published on Wednesday, highlighted nine alleged incidents of Islamophobia by Conservatives in the past two months alone. 

Those named included Mike Payne, a Conservative councillor from Yorkshire in northern England, who in 2013 — before he was a councillor — shared an article which called Muslims “parasites” and “freeloaders.” 

Others mentioned in the letter included council candidates Alexander van Terheyden, who called Islam a “violent political ideology” comparable to fascism and communism, and David Boston, who posted a photo of bacon hanging from a door handle with the caption, “Protect your house from terrorists.” 

“These cases are just the tip of the iceberg and what is in the public domain,” wrote Khan. “Furthermore the inaction taken in high-profile cases sends a signal that Islamophobia is to be tolerated in the Conservative party.”

While Payne, van Terheyden and Boston have been suspended from the Conservative party, the same fate has not befallen Blackman or Zac Goldsmith, Conservative candidate for mayor of London in the 2016 election.

During the election campaign Goldsmith made remarks suggesting that his opponent, and the eventual victor, Sadiq Khan, would be a security risk.

Such “shocking Islamophobia” in the mayoral contest “left Muslim communities reeling,” Khan, the MCB secretary-general, wrote. “There has been no censure of Mr. Goldsmith’s action and he has instead been invited to represent your party again.” 

When he became chairman of the Conservative party in January, Lewis introduced a new code of conduct requiring members to “encourage and foster respect and tolerance.” He also asked people to report incidences of bigotry directly to him via email.

Blackman, the MP singled out in the MCB letter, represents a constituency in the north London suburbs that includes a significant Muslim population. 

He previously faced criticism for retweeting an anti-Muslim post by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and hosting an event attended by the controversial Hindu nationalist Tapan Ghosh in parliament. He was also accused of belonging to Islamophobic Facebook groups. The MP denied the allegations yesterday. 

“I utterly refute this allegation,” he told Arab News. “I was added to Facebook groups without my knowledge or permission and immediately removed myself from them when I became aware I had been added.”

Ghosh, the founder of Hindu Samhati, a nationalist group based in India, has called for the UN to control the birth rate of Muslims and advocates Muslims being forced to abandon their religion if they migrate to a Western country. 

Last October he appeared at two parliamentary functions that were hosted by Blackman, who is chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus. But the MP insists Ghosh was not his personal guest.

“I did not host Tapan Ghosh in parliament. He was invited by an organization without my knowledge,” he told Arab news. 

Concerning other allegations, Blackman said: “In the past I shared a social media post in error, which I apologized for at the time. I will continue working with all communities in my constituency and I condemn Islamophobia.”

In his letter Khan urges the Conservatives to launch a “genuinely independent inquiry into Islamophobia” inside the party, publish a list of Islamophobic incidents within the party where action has already been taken and “publicly reaffirm from the highest level a commitment against bigotry wherever is found.” 

In response to the letter, a Conservative spokesman said: “We take all such incidents seriously, which is why we have suspended all those who have behaved inappropriately and launched immediate investigations.”


Undocumented immigrants in US ‘terrified’ as Trump returns

Updated 5 sec ago
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Undocumented immigrants in US ‘terrified’ as Trump returns

  • Trump repeatedly rail against illegal immigrants during the election campaign
PHOENIX: Since learning that Donald Trump will return to the White House, undocumented immigrant Angel Palazuelos has struggled to sleep.
The 22-year-old, a graduate student in biomedical engineering who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is haunted by the incoming president’s promises of mass deportations.
“I was terrified,” said Palazuelos, reflecting on the moment he heard the news.
“I am in fear of being deported, of losing everything that I’ve worked so hard for, and, most importantly, being separated from my family.”
Born in Mexico, he has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He is one of the country’s so-called “Dreamers,” a term for migrants who were brought into the country as children and never obtained US citizenship.
Throughout the election campaign, Palazuelos heard Trump repeatedly rail against illegal immigrants, employing violent rhetoric about those who “poison the blood” of the United States.
Trump has never specified how he intends to go about his plan for mass deportation, which experts warn would be extremely complicated and expensive.
“What do mass deportations mean? Who does that include?” Palazuelos asked.
“Does it include people like me, Dreamers, people that came here from a very young age, that had no say?“
Compounding the stress, the southwestern state of Arizona has just approved by referendum a law allowing state police to arrest illegal immigrants. That power was previously reserved for federal border police.
If the proposition is deemed constitutional by courts, Palazuelos fears becoming the target of heightened racial profiling.
“What makes someone a suspect of being here illegally, whether they don’t speak English?” he asked.
“My grandma, she’s a United States citizen, however, she doesn’t speak English very well. Meanwhile, I speak English, but is it because of the color of my skin that I would possibly be suspected or detained?“
Jose Patino, 35, also feels a sense of “dread” and “sadness.” His situation feels more fragile than ever.
Born in Mexico and brought to the United States aged six, he now works for Aliento, a community organization helping undocumented immigrants.
He personally benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrant policy brought in by Barack Obama, offering protections and work permits for those in his situation.
But for Patino, those safeguards will expire next year, and Trump has promised to end the DACA program.
Indeed, Trump already tried to dismantle it during his previous term, but his decree was scuppered by a US Supreme Court decision, largely on procedural grounds.
Faced with this uncertainty, Patino is considering moving to a state that would refuse to report him to federal authorities, such as Colorado or California.
He remembers well the struggle of being undocumented in his twenties — a time when he could not obtain a basic job like flipping burgers in McDonald’s, and could not apply for a driver’s license or travel for fear of being deported.
“I don’t personally want to go back to that kind of life,” Patino said.
For him, Trump’s electoral win is not just scary, but an insult.
“We’re contributing to this country. So that’s the hard part: me following the rules, working, paying my taxes, helping this country grow, that’s not enough,” he said.
“So it’s frustrating, and it’s hurtful.”
Patino understands why so many Hispanic voters, often faced with economic difficulties, ended up voting for Trump.
Those who are here legally “believe that they’re not going to be targeted,” he said.
“A lot of Latinos associate wealth and success with whiteness, and they want to be part of that group and to be included, rather than be outside of it and be marginalized and be considered ‘the other,’” he said.
Still, he is angry with his own uncles and cousins who, having once been undocumented themselves, voted for Trump.
“We cannot have a conversation together, because it’s going to get into argument and probably into a fight,” he said.

Putin says Ukraine must remain neutral for there to be peace

Updated 16 min 10 sec ago
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Putin says Ukraine must remain neutral for there to be peace

  • “If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine,” Putin said
  • Putin said Russia had recognized Ukraine’s post-Soviet borders based on the understanding that it would be neutral

SOCHI, Russia: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukraine should remain neutral for there to be a chance for peace, adding that the borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the wishes of the people living in Russian-claimed territory.
“If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine,” Putin said.
Putin said Russia had recognized Ukraine’s post-Soviet borders based on the understanding that it would be neutral. The US-led NATO military alliance has repeatedly said that Ukraine would one day join.
If Ukraine was not neutral, it would be “constantly used as a tool in the wrong hands and to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine after more than two and a half years of war. Putin on
June 14
set out his terms for an end to the conflict: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of the regions claimed by Russia.
Ukraine rejects those conditions as tantamount to surrender and President Volodymyr Zelensky has presented a “victory plan” for which he has requested additional Western support.
“We are determined to create conditions for a long-term settlement so that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state, and not an instrument in the hands of third countries, and not used in their interests,” Putin said.
Asked about the future borders of Ukraine, Putin said: “The borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the sovereign decisions of people who live in certain territories and which we call our historical territories.”
Ukraine says that it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory though even US generals say that such an aim would take massive resources that Ukraine currently does not have.


Russian attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia kills four, wounds 40

Updated 07 November 2024
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Russian attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia kills four, wounds 40

  • Russian forces have stepped up their attacks in Zaporizhzhia in recent days
  • “The death toll as a result of Russia’s strikes on Zaporizhzhia has risen to four,” the emergency services said

KYIV: Russian aerial attacks on the frontline city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday killed at least four people and wounded another 40, including children, officials said.
Another two were killed in a separate attack on the eastern Donetsk region, strikes that followed a wave of overnight drone attacks, including on the capital Kyiv.
Russian forces have stepped up their attacks in Zaporizhzhia in recent days and are making rapid advances in the industrial territory of Donetsk, both of which the Kremlin says are Russian territory.
“The death toll as a result of Russia’s strikes on Zaporizhzhia has risen to four,” the emergency services said in a statement on social media.
“Forty were wounded, including four children,” governor Ivan Fedorov said in a separate statement.
Officials said earlier that a hospital had been damaged in Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of more than 700,000 people and lies around 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the nearest Russian positions.
A four-month old girl and boys aged one, five and 15 were wounded in the attacks, Fedorov said.
Officials posted images showing rescue workers pulling victims from the rubble and holding back distressed locals from getting to the destroyed buildings.
The strikes later in the Donetsk region killed two people and wounded five more in the village of Mykolaivka, the region’s governor Vadym Filashkin announced on social media.
“One of the shells hit a five-story building and four buildings nearby were damaged,” he wrote on social media.
He posted a photo of a Soviet-era residential building on fire, dozens of its windows blown out with debris littering the ground beneath it.


Grenade attack targeted Israeli embassy in Denmark: report

Copenhagen Police investigated two explosions near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen last month. (AP)
Updated 57 min 58 sec ago
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Grenade attack targeted Israeli embassy in Denmark: report

  • The grenades landed on the terrace of a house adjacent to the embassy
  • Two Swedes aged 17 and 19 have been detained

COPENHAGEN: Israel’s embassy in Denmark was likely the target of grenades thrown nearby last month, Danish media reported Thursday, citing the pre-indictment of two teenage suspects detained in the case.
Two Swedes aged 17 and 19 went before a judge in Copenhagen who remanded them for another 20 days.
Their pre-indictment, citing investigations, said they were suspected of violating terrorism laws by “throwing hand grenades at the Israeli embassy in Denmark on October 2,” the Ritzau news agency reported.
The grenades landed on the terrace of a house adjacent to the embassy, where they exploded, causing no injuries.
The two suspects were arrested at a Copenhagen railway station hours later initially on suspicion of violating gun laws.
They have since been accused of a terror offense and police, who have arrested a man in his fifties in connection with the incident, are also looking for other accomplices.
“It makes no sense to imagine this is an act they committed alone. There must be accomplices,” Ritzau quoted prosecutor Soren Harbo as saying at the start of the hearing.
The teens deny the accusations.
The case comes against a backdrop of severe tensions in the Middle East, with conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as increasing gang violence with Danish criminal gangs suspected of recruiting underage Swedes to settle scores.


Renowned Indian scholar, philanthropist Dr. Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini dies aged 80

Updated 07 November 2024
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Renowned Indian scholar, philanthropist Dr. Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini dies aged 80

KALABURAGI, India: Dr. Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini, a prominent scholar, educationalist, philanthropist and chancellor of Khaja Banda Nawaz University in India’s Karnataka state, died on Wednesday evening aged 80.

Funeral prayers were held on Thursday evening at the Sharif Mosque. He is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

He completed a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies at McGill University in Canada and was awarded a Ph.D. from Belford University, US, for his research work.

Since 2007 he brought significant changes to the Khaja Education Society on the organizational, administrative and functional levels. He also expanded existing institutions and was instrumental in establishing Khaja Bandanawaz Institute of Medical Sciences at Kalaburagi in 2000.

Through perseverance, he established Khaja Bandanawaz University in August 2018. As vice-president of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and chancellor of Khaja Banda Nawaz University, he played a vital role in promoting modern and Islamic education in India.

In addition to his administrative skills, Hussaini was known for his deep and scholarly understanding of Sufism. He was awarded the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award for excellence in education by the government of Karnataka in 2017.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and other political leaders expressed their condolences over his death.