London, UK, 8 December 2008 – Ahead of the government’s latest national closed door PVE conference, targeting a thousand delegates this Wednesday [10th December], Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has unveiled a new web ad and launched an in-depth report illustrating why the British Government’s policies to ‘prevent violent extremism’ are little more than a top-down attempt at ‘religious’ engineering that will prove utterly counter-productive.
Both the web ad and report highlight the UK Government’s hypocritical agenda of trying to impose a new religion of ‘British’ Islam upon Muslims, one in which the government gets to appoint their own imams and scholars, decide the curriculum for madrassahs and schools and also determine what Muslims should believe about foreign policy, Israel and the War on Terror.
Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain said: "This week’s conference is likely to be part of an increasingly McCarthyist environment that define what thoughts are now to be off-limits to Muslims. We know they seek to silence Muslims discussing geopolitical matters and part of this is to define various aspects of Islam (those that deal with politics and societal affairs) with vague labels of ‘extremism’.”
"Most notable is the government’s new PVE policy in schools expecting teachers to spy on their pupils aged 5 years and upwards, thereby ensuring Muslims are treated as suspects almost from the cradle to the grave.”
"Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain wants people to know the truth about the UK Government’s agenda of assimilation and bullying Muslims into silence. Rather, we believe that Muslims should maintain their Islamic identity as well as working to achieve political unity – based on Islam – in the Muslim world. We have no doubt these policies will do nothing to change Islam, but will only heighten alienation and frustration.”
"The web ad about ‘British’ Islam will be heavily publicised on the internet and sent to tens of thousands of people both in the UK and worldwide using Hizb ut-Tahrir’s vast global presence. We believe Muslims in the UK and around the world will be surprised at the depths a secular UK government is now prepared to interfere in religion. To those who have experience of living under the totalitarian regimes currently dominating the Muslim world, some of the tactics of the British government will seem an eerie reminder of what they witness first hand day in, day out.”
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Notes to Editors:
1) Watch Video Ad: Divide and Rule
2) Download HTB’s report The British Government’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ & ‘Community Cohesion’ Agenda