London, UK, August 3 – The last 24 hours has seen both Labour and Tory politicians lecture the Muslim community about what they have to do about terrorism. Hazel Blears' initiative to meet Muslims across the country comes after three weeks of speeches, statements and editorials blaming and stigmatising the entire Muslim community, from community leaders, imams to youth, for the events of 7 July. David Davis' comments in the Daily Telegraph have added to the notion that it is the Muslim community that is to blame for the events of 7 July and that the community has to wholeheartedly embrace the British way of life in order to redeem itself for the crime.
The Muslim community in Britain has been living in this country for decades now as decent citizens holding on to their Islamic values. The vast majority of community leaders, Islamic groups, imams and youth have never advocated violence towards innocent people here in the UK and are more than willing to cooperate in preventing any type of crime. To now suddenly blame and put under the spotlight the entire community for the actions of certain individuals indicates that it is part of a wider policy to promote the government's brand of so called 'moderate Islam'. In other words, creating a community that doesn't voice its opposition to what the British government is doing in the Muslim lands and one that doesn?t call for the establishment of the Islamic State (Caliphate) to replace the corrupt dictators in the Muslim countries, which the British government has been courting for decades.
Dr Imran Waheed, the Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain said, "The Muslim community has expressed clearly its condemnation of violence against innocent civilians wherever that may be. However, we ask when will Tony Blair and his ministers come clean to the Muslim community to condemn the killing and terror they have unleashed in Iraq and Afghanistan? When will the British government explain to its public why it describes some of the world's most brutal dictators, who torture and murder their political opponents, such as Karimov, Musharraf and Mubarak, as their allies in the war on terror? The Muslim community would like to see answers to these questions. It is not the actions of the Muslim community that has bred these individuals but rather the activities of the British government in the Muslim lands that is creating frustration and anger. Statements by leading politicians unfortunately still indicate that they are living in denial about people's feelings about their activities abroad."
[Ends]
Notes to Editors:
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain is the UK branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global independent Islamic political party. The global leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Ata Abu Rushta, is in the Muslim world. The party works throughout the Islamic world to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate