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| July 19, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 11, 1426 |
Concern in AJK over incidents in UK
MUZAFFARABAD, July 18: The threats faced by the British Muslim community, particularly those of Pakistani and Kashmiri origin, in the wake of the July 7 London blasts have worried their relatives back home. According to reports, more than 100 incidents of violence against Muslims have been reported so far in the United Kingdom, notwithstanding assurances by the British government to stop such incidents.
“We are shocked and condemn the July 7 blasts which have taken so many innocent and precious lives. But, at the same time we call upon the British government to ensure that the Muslim communities are not persecuted under the cover of that incident,” said AJK Minister for Communications and Works Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.
Of the 750,000 ethnic Pakistanis living in Britain, more than 70 per cent belong to Mirpur, Bhimber and Kotli.
Mr Farooq, who represents a Bhimber constituency, told Dawn that he was receiving frantic calls from the UK-based families of his electorates and other Kashmiris, narrating their plight in the aftermath of the blasts.
“They are panicked because they are being penalized for something which they do not have any direct involvement in,” he said.
Mr Farooq said it was unfair to link any community or religion as a whole with the acts of some “misguided individuals”.
“I hope the British government and its agencies also know the difference between mainstream Muslims and those few organizations allegedly responsible for the terrorist act,” he said.
He said Britain was a tolerant society and that unique image should not fade away.
“All of us share the pain and grief of the bereaved families and appeal to the native Britons not to take the law into their hands and instead let it (the law) take its own course,” he said.
He said the crime had damaged the Muslims, therefore, they also wanted to see its masterminds unearthed.
Nazia Aslam, a Muzaffarabad resident whose two sisters are married in Britain, said Muslims should not be meted out discriminatory treatment because of their faith.
“What has happened in London is distressing, but what is happening in its aftermath is more distressing for us,” she said.
Talking by telephone from Leeds, Khalid Hussain, a Mirpur-born lawyer, asserted that Pakistanis and Kashmiris were the most peaceful community of Britain and according to the statistics maintained by police crime ratio among them was much less than others.
“But, in spite of that they are being harassed with acts like petrol bomb attacks on mosques and distribution of provocative leaflets, linking Islam with terrorism,” lamented Mr Hussain who is settled in Leeds with family since long.
Uzma Khawaja, a Kashmiri student in Leeds, said posters inscribed with offensive remarks against Pakistanis had been pasted on the walls after the blasts. “Who knows who are the real plotters? Unless that is proved through impartial investigations, no particular religion or community should be targeted,” she said.
According to a Luton-based Kashmiri, periodic ‘anti-terrorist’ raids by police were giving jitters to the town’s 30,000 Muslims.
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