KARACHI, Aug 23: Prof Iftikhar H. Malik, a teacher of international history at Bath Spa University College, on Tuesday, urged Britain to help democratic forces in the Muslim world.

Giving a talk on “Islam and Britain: eternal foes or misunderstood friends”, which was organized by the British Alumni Association in collaboration with the British Council, Prof Malik touched on various theories advanced by scholars and historians on political Islam.

Author of 14 books and several research papers and monographs, Prof Malik said Muslims in diaspora enjoyed liberties which they might not have in their countries of origin.

He quoted influential publicist Fareed Zakariya as arguing that instead of democratizing the Muslim world, efforts should be made to liberalize their peoples. But Prof Malik contended that democracy was a prerequisite for the liberalization process.

Prof Malik’s two recent publications are “Islam and Modernity: Muslims in Europe and the United States” (Pluto: 2004) and “Jihad, Hindutva and the Taliban: South Asia at the Crossroads” (Oxford University Press: 2005).

When asked to speak about the hypocritical and authoritarian posture adopted by some of the leading democracies of the world, particularly after 9/11, Prof Malik said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair was losing popularity in spite of his recent electoral success.

He said abuses committed by democratic countries should be used as a pretext for abandoning the cause of democracy, especially in the Muslim world where it was much needed.

Prof Malik said that in Britain attempts were being made to reach out to the Muslim population. Answering a question, he said that the media hype about greater hostility to the Muslims in Britain was wrong and propagated by tabloids only. He warned the audience against being misled by the tabloid media.

“However, people do become wary when they see a dark man with a beard board a bus with a rucksack,” he said referring to the 7/7 bombings that shook London.

Answering another question, Prof Malik said that it would be incorrect to call Islam either an ideology or a faith. He argued that Islam was a civilizational force which encompassed almost all spheres of human life.

Prof Malik underlined the need for focussing greater academic attention on South Asian studies, adding that talk on political Islam usually remained confined to the Middle East, with South Asia receiving scant attention.

He said that South Asians in diaspora should also receive greater academic attention.