London: In an opinion piece published by The Guardian, Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf said anti-Muslim sentiment in the United Kingdom and Europe is so mainstream now that “politicians barely bother disguising it”.

“I was the first Muslim leader of a Western democracy. And I say Islamophobia has poisoned our politics,” wrote Mr Yousaf, urging leaders to “confront, not appease the far-right”.

Mr Yousaf, who became the youngest person and first Muslim to hold the office of Scotland’s First Minister stepped down in April after his party’s deal with the Green Party collapsed.

His Pakistani father moved to Scotland with his family in the 1960s, while his mother was born into a South Asian family in Kenya. Mr Yousaf in the past has spoken of the racist abuse he has received throughout his life.

He said that though many in the world bemoan the rise of populism, few are willing to confront the fact “that it is the hatred of Muslims that is driving populism in Europe and the West”.

He wrote that this year, almost half the world’s population has or will take part in elections. “[…] In a number of countries, particularly across Europe, the biggest gains have been made by those who make a living out of vilifying Muslims,” he said.

“I am, proudly, a Western Muslim. I had the great honour and privilege of being the first Muslim leader of any Western democracy, and yet it is increasingly difficult to persuade fellow Muslims that Europe does not have a problem with our very existence,” Mr Yousaf wrote.

He drew attention to Nigel Farage’s party Reform UK, saying that though Labour was predicted to win, Reform UK will make significant gains with a recent poll putting it one point ahead of the Conservatives. He also said Farage has a history of making Islamophobic remarks and has publicly said Muslims do not share British values.

In France, he said, “The man who could well be France’s next prime minister in a month’s time, the 28-year-old TikTok politician Jordan Bardella, described Trappes, a municipality west of central Paris, as an Islamic republic because it had the audacity to re-elect a Muslim mayor.”

He continued, “Commentators and politicians have often caricatured the likes of Farage and [Geert] Wilders as your harmless, old-fashioned uncle who, after downing one too many glasses of Pimm’s at the family barbecue, will spout the odd off-colour remark.

“This complacency, this tendency to ignore and dismiss anti-Muslim hatred, has allowed it to grow from the fringes to the mainstream of our political discourse.”

He said politicians across the political spectrum have “been far too dismissive of Islamophobia within our politics”. “Instead of challenging and confronting inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric, politicians have inexplicably allowed it to fester. They have allowed anti-Muslim hate preachers to spread their insidious ideology and let it rip throughout our communities,” Mr Yousaf said.

He said Muslims he speaks to are “fearful” and don’t know where their future lies.

“The far right want Muslims to leave Europe — to, in their words, “go back home”. However, we have no home other than the countries we were born in, live [in], raise our children, work, pay our taxes to and contribute to.

“The result? We risk tens of millions of people across Europe feeling disfranchised, feeling as if they do not belong in their own country,” Mr Yousaf wrote.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2024