The
revelation by the Sunday Times that the Labour MP for Tooting Sadiq
Khan was twice bugged by the Metropolitan Police may have shocked
government ministers and members of Parliament but comes as little
surprise to British Muslims who for some time have felt that they are
living in a "Police State."
Khan who is a lawyer by profession and who is viewed as a rising star in Gordon Brown's government, was bugged during two visits to Woodhill Prison to discuss legal matters with his Tooting constituent Babar Ahmed, currently being detained under an extradition request from the US government for alleged terror offences.
The bugging of MPs is a breach of a government edict that has barred law agencies from eavesdropping on politicians since the bugging scandal of Harold Wilson's government in the 60's. In addition, the bugging operation also breached Ahmed's privilege to hold a confidential council with his MP.
Commenting on the issue, Andrew Mackinlay, a Labour colleague of Khan, stated: "The bugging of Sadiq Khan is very dangerous indeed. It is totally unacceptable that MPs' conversations with constituents are bugged by the security services or the police. It is an affront to democracy and has all the hallmarks of a totalitarian regime...."
Khan is one of four Labour Muslim MP's who are viewed as key players in government plans to win the battle of hearts and minds of the Muslim community which had become severely alienated under the policies of Tony Blair's government. However, the latest revelations, coupled with plans to extend the detention limit for terror suspects without charge from 28 to 42 days, shows that while the faces and rhetoric may have changed, the policy of intimidating the Muslim community and treating her as a "fifth column" has not.
The Muslim community is continually portrayed as violent and extreme by sections of the media and by hypocritical opposition politicians trying to exploit the current wave of anti-Islamic sentiment to score points against the government for being soft on security. Mosques and Islamic schools are viewed with suspicion due to negative and mostly unfounded allegations of promoting extremism that are given disproportionate publicity. Recent examples of this included the fabricated findings of a report published by the right wing think tank Policy Exchange claiming that mosques were promoting extremist literature. In addition, the media recently reported the comments of the Iraqi deputy Prime Minister, Dr Barham Salih, made in 2005 that some of the mosques he had seen during a visit to the UK were highly radicalised to coincide with the government announcement of its proposed extension to the draconian anti-terror legislation. It would appear that there was not sufficient anti-Muslim headlines to deflect public attention away from the cross-party criticism of the Home Office proposals!
Muslim professionals have also been targeted by the wave of anti-Islamic hysteria including those forced out of their jobs for wearing Islamic public dress or for being members of Hizb ut Tahrir, a peaceful political organisation. The continued threat of proscription hanging over the British chapter of the global Islamic party only reinforces in the minds of British Muslims that the battle of hearts and minds is not a genuine policy but rather a sound bite to cover the real policy of subversion and intimidation. Indeed, the bugging of Sadiq Khan, whose secular liberal credentials are second to none, sends a very clear message to our community that no matter how much you integrate within the British political system you will always be viewed as an outsider and as a threat for nothing more than being Muslim.
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