LONDON, Aug 5: Hizb ut-Tahrir slammed Prime Minister Tony Blair’s announcement on Friday that it was to be banned in Britain, a move that also prompted concern from a more mainstream Muslim organisation. UK Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Imran Waheed branded Mr Blair’s remarks ‘most unjust’ and pledged the group would battle any ban via the courts.
Mr Waheed said: “Our views are very similar to those in the Muslim community. We want an end to Western interference in Muslim countries.
“By doing this, he (Blair) is setting an example to the tyrant rulers of the Muslim world, encouraging them to further suppress their populations.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir is a non-violent political party.
“It has had a history of non-violence for the last 50 years and these measures are like what we have seen in Uzbekistan where President (Islam) Karimov has been burning his political opponents alive.”
He appeared to be referring to a military crackdown that claimed several hundred lives in eastern Uzbekistan in May, which the Uzbek government said was a response to a plot by Hizb ut-Tahrir to seize power in the country.
“Our members are all for political expression, not for violence,” said the spokesman.
The Muslim Council of Britain, the country’s biggest Muslim representative organisation, also weighed in, saying that although it held no brief for Hizb ut-Tahrir, which it understood to be non-violent in Britain, the ban could backfire.
“They are a group with whom the mainstream Muslim community has strong and well-known disagreements concerning participation in our political process,” said secretary-general Iqbal Sacranie.
“However, banning Hizb ut-Tahrir is certainly not the solution and may well prove to be counterproductive.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in the Middle East in the 1950s. Russia’s Supreme Court classified it as a ‘terrorist’ organisation in February 2003.
It is, however, legal in most Western countries, though Germany imposed a ban due to the group’s anti-Semitism.—AFP
