KARACHI, Oct 5: Islamophobia was on the rise in most European countries and politicians of these countries were on Tuesday accused of failing to tackle the problems of discrimination, hostility and isolation facing almost all of the continent's 15 million Muslims.

Citing a report of the European Centre for Monitoring Racism, the Brussels-based Shada Islam noted that tensions between Muslims and Europeans were triggered by 9/11 and had aggravated after the Madrid railway bombings.

She was participating in one of the working sessions of the two-day seminar on "Immigration to Europe from South Asia and the Muslim world" which was inaugurated on Tuesday.

It has been organized by the Area Study Centre for Europe of the University of Karachi, in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation. Shada Islam also referred to the recent French law banning the Islamic headscarf and other 'conspicuous' religious symbols that had brought to the surface the uncomfortable issue of the role of Muslim minorities in European societies.

She pointed out that a similar debate on headscarves was, in fact, being conducted in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. She also noted that painfully missing from Europeans' discourse on Islam was any recognition that Muslim immigrants were an integral part of Europe, and Islam was part of Europe's historical heritage.

Prof Zig Layton-Henry of the Warwick University, UK, traced the history of riots and violence in Britain and maintained that xenophobia reflected support for the anti-immigrant far right parties.

Islamophobia was another dimension of xenophobia, he said, adding that since the Iranian revolution in 1979 Muslims had become a focus of Western attention and mistrust. In Britain, the fatwa against Salman Rushdie provoked an emotional debate between those who supported freedom of speech and those deeply offended and insulted by the book.

Subsequently, he said, the first Gulf war, the genocide in Bosnia, the Afghanistan, the Palestine Intefada and the war in Iraq had all played a part in encouraging Muslim solidarity across the world against Western policies and actions.

The attack on the twin towers in New York had made westerners anxious about Muslim terrorists. Prof Dr Kai Hafez of Germany spoke on counter forces to xenophobia in Europe.

His argument was that immigration to Europe from the "South" had spurred xenophobia in many parts of Europe. As a reaction, many counter forces had come to the fore to promote the idea of a multicultural - or even "trans cultural" Europe.

Amid debate on issues connected with multiculturalism and integration of immigrant South Asians, Dr Mahnaz Fatima of IBA dilated on overpopulation, mass poverty and structural economic problems that provided the domestic push for immigration.

Migration of labour to Europe and to the new world was instrumental in plugging labour-gaps during their development stages. However, immigration did not cease as it, inter alia, continued to be a requirement of the developed economies too. Immigration to the developed countries was large-scale even in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Question was raised whether this issue in Western Europe could be addressed by merely a restrictive immigration policy or a better management of immigrants after their arrival?

Prof Sikandar Mehdi of the Karachi University spoke on lack of career opportunities for intellectual and professional elites in South Asia. He said that Bonnapartism was one of the causes of migration of the intellectual elite.

It was not only an economic factor that pushed the people to leave their country. Emergence of dictatorial regimes and demise of democratic dispensation also contributed to this factor.

He said the conditions were not the same when intellectuals returned home to lead the freedom struggle. He also called for establishing dignity of the national degrees and the institutions.

Prof Mehdi discussed the trends of migration from South Asia to Europe and the US. He was of the view that the government was also criminally involved in pushing the people out.

Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema spoke on perceived and genuine politico-religious persecution in Pakistan and India and its impact on migration. He cited various constitutional provisions in Pakistan that dealt with fundamental human rights. He noted that a common feature of all South Asians was that they adhered to a particular religion.

In India, he said, a sizable chunk of the population consisted of people, who do not share the faith of the majority. As a result, minorities in India were an important factor in politics, business and job market.

Since elections in India are held on the basis of joint electorate, every major political party, whether national or regional, tries to woo the Muslim voters, and also voters belonging to other minorities.

Similarly, in certain states, like in Gujarat, Muslims posed a serious challenge to some of the established business houses owned by Hindus. This had been one of the main reasons behind recurrent Hindu-Muslim clashes in the 'Indian state of Gujarat, contended Dr Cheema.

In Pakistan, minorities were in much smaller number as compared to India, there were allegations of persecution at the hands of state authorities or militant religious groups, he said referring to various reports.

There were similar reports of persecution of religious minorities in India. But the persecution of religious minorities in India had not been confined to Muslims alone. There had been reports of violence against Christians and even against Buddhists. Such incidents increased under the rule of the BJP, he noted.

The most glaring example of the persecution of Muslims perpetrated with the direct assistance of state functionaries were the riots in the Indian state of Gujarat, in which more than 2,000 Muslims were massacred by Hindu mobs, said Dr Cheema. Ms Saira Yamin-Basin, Dr Talat Mahmood also spoke.