Talking to the wall

Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain, the largest Muslim organisation representing over 400 affiliates, immediately condemned the perpetrators of the attacks in a press release: “The evil people who planned and carried out these series of explosions in London this morning want to demoralise us as a nation and divide us as a people. All of us must unite in helping the police to capture these murderers. Yesterday we celebrated as Londoners, euphoric that our great city had secured the Olympic Games. Today we watch aghast as we witness a series of brutal attacks upon our capital city. We were together in our celebration, we must remain together in our time of crisis.

‘‘We must and will be united in common determination that terror cannot succeed. It is now the duty of all us Britons to be vigilant and actively support efforts to bring those responsible to justice,” said Sacranie. He did not mention Iraq or Palestine.

The Muslim Association of Britain in a press release utterly condemned the blasts. “The Muslim Association of Britain expresses its disgust with the contempt in which the perpetrators appear to hold human life. Islam holds the sanctity of human life in the highest possible regard and shedding the blood of an innocent person is seen as a crime most heinous and repulsive.

‘‘The Muslim Association of Britain calls on Muslims everywhere to be clear and strong in declaring the fundamentals of Islam which emphasise the principles of peace, justice and humanity. It calls also on those living in London and elsewhere to provide all assistance and support requested by the emergency services and to contribute fully towards the smooth and successful progress of their work”. Again, no mention of Iraq or Palestine.

Above are representative samples from the two largest Muslim organisations in Britain. Similar condemnation was registered by small and local groups.

Muslims have been condemning all kinds of terror but is anyone listening? Apparently not. Shenoy, along with a host of other journalists, is, instead, all ears to the radical fringe like Omar Bakri and Anjum Choudhury.

Huntington’s famed “clash of civilisation” theory is not lent substance by the silence of the British Muslims but instead by the plugging of ears by those who refuse to hear the voices of the mainstream Muslim community.

The writer is a freelance journalist of Indian origin based in Toronto