Much has been made of Pakistani Muslim male politics in Bradford since Labour‘s historic defeat in the Bradford West by-election earlier this year. And since Muslim women were credited with being a key component of George Galloway‘s stunning victory, Labour has been keen to court this unlikely female electorate.
Labour’s real challenge though goes much further than developing a dialogue with Muslim women; the party must also give serious consideration to the means of access. Labour will have to pave a direct political path to lead them to Bradford’s Muslim women.
There’s a history of wariness about reaching out to Muslim women in Bradford. We’re singled out as a difficult-to-reach group, and branded by public institutions and policy makers as voiceless, passive homemakers. All too often, issues affecting Muslim women are evaded on the basis that they are too sensitive. The ongoing Islam-bashing in the media simply reinforces the stereotype. So when the Bradford Muslim Women’s Council (BMWC) invited Ed Miliband to listen to the views of its local members, it is hardly surprising that the Labour leader accepted the invitation on the spot.
BMWC was established in 2010 to create a space where women rather than men determine their own needs. The organisation also aims to raise Muslim women’s voices in policy making arenas. What struck me about the 70 or so women, who met Miliband on Saturday, was that their primary concerns were the same as anyone else’s in Bradford. Ranging from solicitors, civil servants, unemployed graduates, businesswomen and college lecturers, the women quizzed the Labour leader about the Westfield site, the low level of educational attainment in local schools, as well as the lack of jobs, university fees and austerity cuts.
While their questions underlined their passion for the city of Bradford, the Muslim women were also concerned with issues further afield. They wanted to hear Miliband’s views on British troops in Afghanistan as well as drone attacks, for instance. Despite an impromptu half hour extension to the Q&A session, which resulted in the Labour leader missing his scheduled train back to Whitehall, there just wasn’t time for me to ask how scarce an opportunity it was for someone like Miliband to have an audience with regular Muslim women like us.
Miliband inadvertently touched on this in response to concerns raised by the women about the media’s persistent demonisation of Islam. Acknowledging our alarm with a somewhat regretful tone, the Labour leader suggested that “99% white” communities living in areas like his own constituency of Doncaster, inevitably don’t have any contact with Muslims or Islam. It is this filtered or “indirect exposure” as he called it, which leads to ignorance, he explained.
Ironically, this is exactly the sort of ignorance fuelled by precisely that “indirect exposure” to Muslim women which robbed the Labour Party of its long-held seat in the Bradford West by-election so spectacularly. The outdated biraderi system has been particularly popular among the older generations of Pakistani Muslims, where voting on the basis of clan membership takes precedence over merit. Even though the concept of biraderi politics has never served Muslim women well, the Labour candidate, Imran Hussain, nevertheless depended on his biraderi ‘qualification’ to see him through. He also completely underestimated George Galloway’s ability to galvanise Muslim women, from under his nose, in a campaign which gave Muslim women a voice for a change.
BMWC is also contributing to this agenda. The organisation mobilised 150 Muslim women who turned out to question the candidates on their policies in the Bradford West by-election hustings, a first for most of the women. BMWC is a reminder to Muslim women that becoming involved in the community falls under their collective religious obligations, which run alongside personal duties.
Biraderi politics remain rife in other parts of the city despite Galloway’s victory in Bradford West. Surely one of the adverse legacies of Pakistani Muslim male politics in Bradford is the complacency to sidestep women to negotiate with men on our behalf. This is why many of the women I spoke to at the BMWC event, believed doing away with corrupt clan politics alone won’t be enough to connect with Muslim women. Policy makers need to revise their old habits too, such as overcoming the inherent fear of offending us, or worst still, offending the men in our communities! They also need to overcome the stereotype and prejudice which is perpetuated every time a man is called upon to speak for us.
If policy makers want to court the Muslim female electorate, then it’s crucial that they locate a path that leads straight to us. Our views can’t be represented without direct lines of communication. We won’t be satisfied with a handful of female equivalents of ‘community leaders’ who may be equally prone to gatekeeping as their male predecessors. We care more for outcomes than power, so accountability carries more weight than favour. Policy makers must also recognise that despite our common faith, Muslim women have diverse views and voices, and that we come in veils, hijabs, niqabs and none. Ultimately though, there’s really no justification for bypassing us. We don’t expect to be pandered to, but we do want our voices heard and our contribution to be valued. Rather than regarding us as a problem, perhaps it’s time policy makers viewed Muslim women as part of the solution.