BRITAIN: New Shock Waves Come A Year After Bombing

By Sanjay Suri Reprint | | Print |

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jul 7 2006 (IPS) - Britain came to a standstill for two-minute silence Friday to mourn the 52 people who died in the London bombings Jul. 7 last year. But the silence, in which Muslims joined, did not quieten a growing unease between Muslims and the rest.

A day earlier Al Jazeera television broadcast a recorded video by one of the bombers in which he called for jihad to counter what he called Western aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. The existence of the video and its timed broadcast has raised fears that al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda like group had backed the four suicide bombers.

That suspicion grew on the back of an earlier survey that suggested that one in seven British Muslims think of the bombers as martyrs, not terrorists.

The survey for The Times and ITV News by the agency Populous found that 16 percent of British Muslims, equivalent to more than 150,000 adults, believe that while the attacks were wrong, the cause was right. That level of sympathy has created fresh concern that large numbers of British Muslims might still be open to recruitment for terrorism.

“We have said all along that we do have a small proportion of jihadis, a group here which came into existence in the wake of Afghan jihad,” Dr Ghiasuddin Siddiqui, director of the Muslim Institute told IPS. The Muslim Institute is an independent body that comprises also a Muslim parliament that draws Muslim representation from around Britain.

“During the eighties and nineties we had so many jihadi leaders who came and spoke, and recruited a lot of young people here in this country,” Siddiqui said. “And of course the network has remained.”

The release of the bomber’s video-taped recording was particularly ill- timed, he said. “It has tremendously damaged the Muslim situation and I think the time has come the Muslim community recognises that unless and until we expose, marginalise this fringe group, their own existence in this country will be in doubt. This is something very damaging. It sends out wrong kind of messages.”

But many Muslim leaders see Muslims as more terrorised than terrorising.

“If we see from 7th of July last year, there has been no terrorist attack in this country,” Munaf Zeena from the Council of Indian Muslims told IPS. “But you can think of it in the reverse. You can say that the British government have adopted a different policy, a policy of collective punishment. Of punishing innocent people.”

A recent instance, he said, was a police raid in east London where a Bangladeshi was shot and injured. The man was shot after the police raided a house on suspicion that chemical bombs were being assembled there. Nothing was found, and two men who were arrested were let off without charge.

“A year back it was the terrorists who were doing it. Now it is the British government that is collectively punishing the people,” Zeena said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been talking of the responsibility the Muslim community has to take, Zeena said. “The responsibility for security is not the responsibility of the Muslim community, it’s the state responsibility,” he said. “Of course we have a duty to help, of course if we have information we have to pass on that information, but the onus of responsibility cannot be placed on the community.”

The demand on Muslims had brought a fundamental shift in the democratic approach, he said. “There’s a huge shift in policy from individual rights and responsibilities to community rights and community responsibilities.”

And while Muslims are being asked to counter terrorist tendencies, they face persecution, Zeena said. “This is what is felt by a lot of young Muslims, just going out, walking on the streets, not knowing when you will be stopped and searched.”

At a meeting organised by the Muslim Educational Centre at Oxford Wednesday, Siddiqui warned that much of the attitude Muslims face is the result of actions by Muslims themselves.

“Events of 9/11 and 7/7 have raised new questions about identity, citizenship and multiculturalism and the Muslims’ ability to integrate and live in harmony with others,” he said. “A major debate on these issues is yet to take place within the Muslim community. By insisting on living a 7th century life-style in a 21st century society they cannot expect a welcoming response.”