British Muslims must be at the heart of the creation of new counter-terrorism legislation if it is to be effective, one of the UK’s largest Islamic organisations has warned.
The challenge to the government was laid down by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) at a conference in central London on Thursday, aimed at formulating a response to tackling extremism and terrorism from the Muslim community.
One of the MCB’s biggest areas of concern is the plan to ban non-violent extremists, a particularly sensitive subject for the organisation, whose members feel sidelined by successive governments who believed the MCB harbours unpalatable viewpoints.
MCB assistant secretary general Miqdaad Versi said the authorities were making a grave mistake by conflating socially conservative views with violent extremism.
“We have had police chiefs who have talked about not celebrating Christmas or not going to Marks & Spencer as a form of extremism. The current policy has a real risk of being counterproductive with alienation being fermented as a result.
“Unless the government talks to Muslims from a diverse region of communities from across the UK we will not see this change.”
Versi said “extremism” remained a term that people, including the home secretary, Theresa May, struggled to define.
He said the government had suggested it was “active opposition to fundamental British values”, but questioned if that would catch Conservative MPs who voted against gay marriage or people who said there were too many Muslims in the country (and who therefore would not exhibit tolerance).
“The big thing is what makes [terrorists] violent,” he said. “And what we know is it’s not necessarily their viewpoint that is doing it but something to do with their violent tendency.”
A number of audience members stood up to voice their concerns about how Muslims were all being tarred with the same brush and how they felt alienated as a result, with the media coming in for particular criticism.
The conference marked the start of a consultation, which when completed is intended to yield recommendations for both the Muslim community and the government on what they should do respectively to tackle extremism and terrorism.
MCB secretary general Dr Shuja Shafi said: “For too long terrorism has cast a long dark shadow over our communities. The agenda is set outside our community even though it affects our community.
“For any approach to work it is important that the right approach is taken – and we listen to communities and that is why we have launched this consultation.”
Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the home affairs select committee, told the audience the conference was “a defining moment for the the British Muslim community”.
He added: “In this case, government does not know best, I do not know best, David Anderson [the independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation], with all his skills and abilities, does not know what is best. Only you [Muslims] know best, only you know the solutions ...
“You have to speak up. If you don’t, the vacuum will be filled by others and we will regret it for the rest of our lives.”