By IRNA,
London : Prime Minister David Cameron was accused by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Saturday of giving ammunitions to right-wing extremists ahead of an English Defence League (EDL) march against Muslims.
“We find it very disappointing that at a time when we should seek to stand together to fight violence and extremism, Mr Cameron omits any reference to this extremist group spreading hate and bigotry against British Muslims,” MCB secretary general Farooq Murad said.
“Such a flagrant omission by the Prime Minister adds fuel to fire for such extremists to further stigmatise and alienate entire communities based on their religion or ethnicity,” Murad said.
He also warned “poisonous anti-Muslim narrative emanating from some MPs” had already been seen, echoing the demonization in parts of our media.
In his first speech on radicalisation made at a security conference in Munich, Cameron was seen falling again into the trap of demonising all Muslims when regurgitating the ill-conceived counter-terrorism policies of the Blair and Brown governments.
MCS assistant secretary general Faisal Hanjra also said that he found it “disappointing” that Muslims are again being targeted as the root cause of terrorism.
“We were hoping that with a new government, a new coalition, there would be a change in emphasis in dealing with counter-terrorism and problems at hand,” said Hanjra, who is also president of the Federation of Students’ Islamic Societies (FOSIS).
But the approach “doesn’t appear to be particularly new,” he told BBC radio. “David Cameron paints a picture that we don’t recognise at all.”
The British prime minister went further than his predecessor in asserting that “so many young Muslims” are extremists and their views should not be tolerated.
He had nothing positive to say about Muslims, their contribution to British society, their participation in the political process, and went as far as promoting assimilation when declaring that ‘state multiculturalism’ had failed.
The EDL march in Luton, north of London, is the latest in a series organised by the extreme right-wing organisation in towns and cities with high Muslim populations since its creation 18 months ago.
In November, a report by Faith Matters warned that the EDL posed a threat to British values of social inclusion, fairness and equality if left unchecked.
The EDL’s main aim is to “increase tension, raise hate and increase community division by the use of the intimidating tactics,” the report said.