Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Top Menu

  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
  • Islamic Culture
  • Da’wah
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

logo

Header Banner

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
    • Making Sense of Pakistan

      April 16, 2022
      0
    • How Should We View the War in Ukraine?

      March 30, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • DEEP DIVE: The Weaponisation and Politicisation of British Citizenship Laws

      March 12, 2022
      0
    • Our Role in the Ukraine war is to Expose the Propaganda

      March 2, 2022
      0
    • Muslims Should Rejoice Over the Islamic Ruling System

      January 21, 2022
      0
    • Another Warmonger Honoured for Serving the British Elite

      January 2, 2022
      0
    • The Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh Victory Day (Bijoy Dibos): a cause for ...

      December 13, 2021
      0
    • Playing Politics with the Uygher Muslims

      December 2, 2021
      0
  • Islamic Culture
    • Reading Quran

      The story of the man who was told to “Enter Paradise” and ...

      January 24, 2022
      0
    • Significance of Rabi’ul-Awwal

      October 10, 2021
      0
    • Virtues of the Month of Muharram

      August 10, 2021
      0
    • The significance of first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah

      July 10, 2021
      0
    • The Honour of the Prophets

      April 30, 2021
      0
    • A to Z of Ramadan

      April 19, 2021
      0
    • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

      December 29, 2020
      0
    • Miracle of the Quran

      Q & A - Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign ...

      December 27, 2020
      0
    • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to ...

      November 17, 2020
      0
  • Da’wah
    • Public Demonstration - Independence Not Intervention

      April 22, 2022
      0
    • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

      April 20, 2022
      0
    • Ramadan Message: The World Needs Islam - We Must Work for the ...

      April 1, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • Ramadhan event: Kyiv to Kabul: The World Needs Islam

      March 20, 2022
      0
    • Obituary of a Dawah Carrier Dr. Youssef Haj Youssef

      December 30, 2021
      0
    • Open Letter to Imams and Muslim Leaders

      September 28, 2021
      0
    • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Sends Delegation to Chinese Embassy Condemning the Inhumane Treatment ...

      June 30, 2021
      0
    • Jahangir Raja: Obituary of a Da’wah Carrier

      June 28, 2021
      0
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
Viewpoint
Home›Viewpoint›Prevent needs to be abandoned not reformed

Prevent needs to be abandoned not reformed

By Editor
March 31, 2018
3593
0
Share:

A new anti-radicalisation programme was launched last week called ‘Safe and Secure’ as an alternative to the government’s ‘toxic brand’ Prevent Strategy launched many years ago. The Safe and Secure programme aims to address the same issues as Prevent but “without the stigma” attached to it for the Muslim community.

The programme was created by a former senior Muslims police officer, Dal Babu and Mike Howes, a former council head of community safety. The programme has also reported to have been backed by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

Sections of the press portrayed the launch of this programme as something which was “launched by Mosques” due to the first launch event being held at the London Muslim Centre, next to the East London Mosque. Maybe forgetting that in 2015 the Waltham Forest Council for Mosques announced a boycott of Prevent accusing it as being a racist attack on the Muslim community.

Around the same time Sajid Javid, the government’s Communities Secretary revealed a new government pledge of £50m to help boost integration.

In what is clearly seen as a rebranding of successive government’s failed Prevent strategies, Javid said the pilot areas for this initiative would be densely populated Muslim areas including Blackburn, Bradford and Peterborough.

Like Safe and Secure it would address issues to do with segregation of ethnic minority communities and integration with a particular focus on Pakistani and Bangladeshi women who could not speak English and ironically did not claim child care vouchers; citing this as an example of limiting their work opportunities and integration as well as their children’s integration!

Sajid Javid’s announcement follows a review of social integration in England in 2017 by Dame Louise Casey who, predictively, handpicked issues from the Muslim community as key examples of segregation of communities and “deeply regressive religious and cultural practises, especially when it comes to women”.

It is therefore no surprise to anyone that this announcement has selectively used examples from the Muslim community again in a desperate attempt to achieve what Prevent miserably failed to do.

Comment: it is not at all surprising for anyone who has followed the events since the launch of Prevent, the number of times the government and its financial beneficiaries who take Prevent funding have tried to rebrand this failure of a policy.

The government has pumped millions of taxpayers’ money for numerous attempts to revive Prevent after it became clear to all that it was a failure.

Why Did Prevent Fail?

The government’s Prevent programme was launched after the 7/7 attacks in London with the aim of making the UK a safer place from terrorist attacks. The idea was to spot people who could become radicalised as a result who would then go on to become terrorists due to their ‘radical’ views.

In reality the programme became a ‘police-state’ style spying tool directed at the Muslim community, shifting blame and onus on the entire community to do more to root out ‘extremists from within’. According to Prevent, people who held ‘radical’ (based on the government’s definition) views could potentially become terrorists.

How would a radical person be identified? Prevent used examples of the following to identify someone going through a process of becoming radicalised or extremist: a sudden change in behaviour such as growing a beard, changing to a more ‘Islamic dress’, stopping listening to music, having support for oppressed people like the Palestinians and even disagreeing with the government’s foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The problem with this theory is that it criminalises people for having legitimate ideas and practices according to their religion as well as having perfectly valid political criticisms of the government’s foreign policy which in turn would label them as radical and extreme. Going against a fundamental tenet of ‘freedom of speech’.

The government provided millions in funding and training to local authorities, schools, NHS and even GPs on how to spot potential terrorists. Numerous national bodies, and high-profile people such as the National Union of Teachers, the Royal College of GPs and the former head of MI5 expressed concerns at the effect this would have on silencing and further alienating the Muslim community.

However, the government didn’t listen and continued with the approach of apportioning suspicion and guilt on the Muslim community until it was clear to them there had been little effect.

Therefore, Safe and Secure and other integration programmes announced by the government and its associates are evidently a rebranding and reforming of a failure.

If the government really wants to make a change in education, employment rates and wants the wider society to accept the Muslim community it should scrap Prevent and its consequent schemes and stop shrouding the entire Muslim community with suspicion and blame for the problems it has created since its involvement in the Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria wars.

An honest approach to the challenges of integration would be for the government to ask itself why it is trying to scare and force communities to accept ‘British values’ rather than trying to convince them through open dialogue and debate.

TagsMuslim CommunityPreventSafe and Secure
Previous Article

Five Things the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Controversy Tells ...

Next Article

Democracy in the West is Left Hopelessly ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Viewpoint

    Would you appoint Nigel Farage for a Brexit “independent” review?

    August 15, 2019
    By Abdul Wahid
  • Press Releases

    Can Rampant Liberalism Keep Children Safe?

    October 21, 2017
    By Yahya Nisbet
  • Press Releases

    Secular Elite’s Hatred for Islam Motivates Their Double Standard

    February 16, 2020
    By Yahya Nisbet
  • Viewpoint

    Dr. Abdul Wahid’s thoughts on Sara Khan’s lead commissioner appointment

    February 1, 2018
    By Abdul Wahid
  • Video of WeekVideos

    The Important role of the Masjid in the Muslim Community

    March 30, 2014
    By Editor
  • News Watch

    Birmingham Central Mosque chairman calls for boycott of PREVENT

    January 25, 2016
    By News Desk

Liberate Al Aqsa

Join US on Telegram

Podcast

Latest Posts

Press Releases

Protest in London Says No To More Democracy, Yes to the Khilafah

Members of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain, alongside supporters from the Muslim community, gathered on Saturday 7th May 2022 at the Pakistan High Commission in London to protest against US ...
  • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain to Protest American Interference in Pakistan’s Politics

    By Yahya Nisbet
    May 1, 2022
  • Public Demonstration – Independence Not Intervention

    By Editor
    April 22, 2022
  • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

    By Editor
    April 20, 2022
  • The Geopolitics of Badr

    By Editor
    April 17, 2022
  • Making Sense of Pakistan

    By Editor
    April 16, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain Should Speak Out Against the Pakistani Leadership’s Surrender of Kashmir

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 15, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain should support the call for the Khilafah in Pakistan

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 12, 2022
  • Press Centre