LONDON: Over a decade after her “Islamophobia has passed the dinner table test” speech in government, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former UK minister, has made a keynote intervention — “Muslims Don’t Matter: the silencing, stereotyping and stigmatising of Muslims by the British press and political parties”.
In her speech delivered at the University of Leeds Thursday evening, she meticulously referenced polling, policy decisions and the handling of high-profile events including the current conflict in the Middle East as examples of how British Muslims are held to higher standards than other fellow citizens.
She argued this is creating a climate of fear within a community of nearly four million.
Urging the end of culture wars, she urged policymakers to change course to avoid potentially catastrophic outcomes.
In her speech Warsi said: “This week is Hate Crime Awareness Week and recently published government figures on hate crime once again show in the year ending March 2023, a rise in religiously motivated hate crime and once again Muslims are the most targeted religious group (where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, 2 in 5 (39%) of religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims (3,452 offences)).”
In referencing the treatment of British Muslim communities in the political sphere, she argued: “There is a particular irony to this political struggle because, on the one hand, the government insists on the observance of ‘Fundamental British Values’ but when Muslims challenge actions that detract from our commitment to rule of law for example with torture and rendition, or challenge actions that undermine democracy, in speaking up for freedom of speech or freedom of association, or challenge actions that undermine respect and tolerance by calling out Institutional Islamophobia, or challenge actions that undermine individual liberty — when Muslims apply these Fundamental British Values in their participation in wider society, they are demonised, marginalised, excluded from political arenas and treated as outcasts.
“We are a liberal democracy with a long and proud history, we demean ourselves by adopting a totalitarian approach to a section of our fellow citizens, British Muslims. We undermine our stated values, and we appear as hypocrites.”
Continuing to fight the battle to rid her party of Islamophobia, she challenged the Labour Party not to partake in a race to the bottom and urged mainstream politics to remain a place where British Muslims are authentically heard.
On this, she stated: “And only this week we see reports of the Labour Party banning its councillors and members of Parliament from attending pro-Palestinian marches not others, despite having spent months before the recess fighting the government to protect the right to protest in the Public Order Act.”
She asked fellow Brits who believe in equality and fairness to join British Muslims.
“I ask you to join what is in effect a Muslim civil rights movement, a demand to belong, to be a part, to play our part, to have the same rights and freedoms as others, to be heard, to have the right to be heard, for our citizenship to be worth the same as everyone else’s, to be treated equally under the law.”
Referencing the fallout of the Dan Wootton controversy, the Farage de-banking debacle and the ongoing fight to define Islamophobia, the former minister sounded the alarm by warning if the climate of hate towards the Muslim communities continues, it could pave the way for a nation where the dehumanisation, attacks and othering of Muslim communities become a normal fabric of British society.
However, she ended on an optimistic note by saying the good in both society and British Muslim communities has always prevailed and will do so.
Baroness Warsi emphasised this whilst speaking about her family’s personal experiences.
“My grandfather fought Hitler’s armies as part of the British Indian Army, they did not give their blood and sweat for the freedoms we have today for their descendants to be stereotyped, stigmatised and silenced,” she said.
The UK leader added that her forefathers fought for Britain, helped build its industries and infrastructure, added colour, sounds and wonderful flavours to the rich tapestry of its culture and as a young and growing community, “British Muslims are once again providing the workforce, entrepreneurs, and international networks to, if I may repurpose a phrase for good.”
