Britain marks London bombing anniversary

Muslims, as you would expect, were the centre of attention. Prime Minister Tony Blair himself condemned Muslim leaders for appearing to sympathise with extremists “who hate the West.” He said moderate Muslims must stand up and say they disagree with the ideology and grievances of the hardliners and not just their actions.

He said: “The Government has its role to play in this but, honestly, the Government itself is not going to defeat this. If we want to defeat the extremism, we have got to defeat its ideas and we have got to address the completely false sense of grievance against the West.”

His comments incensed Islamic community leaders who denied that they were not doing enough to help weed out extremists in the wake of the bombings in which 52 people lost their lives. They accused Mr Blair of being responsible for the radicalisation of young Muslims by waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

By coincidence during the week, 24-year-old Pakistani-born Jabron Hashmi became the first British Muslim serviceman to be killed on active duty. The Lance Corporal died with 27-year-old Corporal Peter Thorpe when their base in Afghanistan was attacked by Taliban fighters. He was one of 350 Muslims in the UK armed forces.

How giving his life for Britain can be squared by the millions who think that all Muslims are terrorists is anyone’s guess. According to his brother Zeeshan, himself a former soldier, Jabron was a committed army man and a committed Muslim who was fiercely proud of his Islamic background and equally proud of being British.

In the meantime, a survey carried out for The Times and for Independent Television News has concluded that a quarter of the public regards Islam as a threat to the British way of life. The survey also suggests that more than a third of British Muslims hold the opposite view and believe, instead, that British values threaten the Islamic way of life.

It finds that the greatest social difference between Muslims and the rest of society is over the wearing of Islamic dress in schools. Three-quarters of Muslims think that pupils should be free to wear religious dress whatever a school’s uniform policy. Surprisingly, as much as two-fifths of the general population agree with this.

Dr David Dabydeen, Professor of Cultural Studies at Warwick University, said the finding on the wearing of religious dress in schools was particularly revealing. He was quoted in The Times as saying: “I think that some aspects of Islam are so backward they are practically medieval, particularly when it comes to attitudes towards sexuality and gender.”

Professor Dabydeen, who co-edited the special commemmorative publication of India in the Caribbean with Dr Brinsley Samaroo, also spoke of that part of the survey which suggested that the Muslim community felt threatened by mainstream society.

He said: “For Muslims to feel threatened is ridiculous. It is not in any sense an anti-Muslim issue. This is a plural society that has tolerated many different cultures and I see very little evidence of mosques being burnt down or attacked.”

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, former secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the issue of religious dress in schools was one of fundamental freedom. He added: “Many Muslims do feel strongly about the issue. If a pupil wishes to wear a particular item such as the hijab, it can easily be accommodated as part of a school’s uniform.”

There were other stories during the week that are also worth mentioning. Police revealed that 70 alleged plots by al Qaeda-linked extremists were being investigated. They said that detectives were working flat out, with resources stretched close to the limit, but that they had thwarted four attempted terror attacks since the July 7 suicide bombings.

Sixty people are awaiting trial for terrorist offences, most of them British Muslims, allegedly plotting to kill their fellow countrymen. Many are quite young, one of whom is only 16. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke told reporters that the level of counter-terrorist investigations has intensified over the past 12 months.

It also emerged that 1,200 homegrown “fanatics” are under surveillance by the security forces. They are drawn from 400,000 “sympathisers” with extremist causes, currently living in the UK. In addition, several of these extremists have been trying to infiltrate MI5, the domestic security service.

As these facts and figures came to light, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke bitterly attacked the judiciary. He said that judges who have overturned measures passed by Parliament, such as control orders, were making decisions of deep concern to the nation’s security, without being accountable for them. In another development, families of suspects linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban are to be banned from receiving state benefits and tax credits. These are already being withheld from a number of people, under UN resolutions that call for the freezing of assets of named individuals believed to be involved in terrorism.

Until now, their wives and other family members have been able to continue claiming benefits but Economic Secretary to the Treasury Ed Balls has announced changes to the rules to block anyone sharing a house with a listed person from receiving cash in this way. There can be no doubt that much has happened in the year since the London suicide bombings.