UK: Muslim groups urge government to engage with Muslim Council of Britain after riots
Dozens of British Muslim organisations have issued a joint declaration in response to recent far-right riots, calling on the government to engage with “democratically elected” Muslim representatives, “particularly the Muslim Council of Britain”.
Wednesday's announcement comes after Middle East Eye revealed that the government had not been responding to communications from the country’s largest body representing British Muslims, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), throughout the riots in late July and early August.
The declaration, issued by the recently formed Islamophobia Action Group on Wednesday, was signed by 80 organisations including the Muslim Engagement and Development Initiative, the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Council of Wales.
It called on the government to “engage directly with legitimate, democratically elected representatives of Muslim communities, particularly the Muslim Council of Britain, to ensure that Muslim voices are heard and addressed”.
On Wednesday evening a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government told MEE:“We are committed to tackling hatred and division, including addressing the unacceptable rise in anti-Muslim hatred.
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“The government engages regularly with faith communities. During the recent disorder, the Minister for Faith spoke to representatives of Muslim communities through numerous roundtables and visits to places of worship - most recently in Sunderland, Hartlepool and Middlesborough.”
At a press conference in central London on Wednesday morning, Dr Anas Altikriti, who is CEO of the Cordoba Foundation and chaired the event, told MEE that previous British governments had favoured a “childish attitude” that suggested “we will only talk with whomever we like”.
He said this “goes against the best interests of governments, of countries, of the relations we need to foster between government and society”.
“The Muslim Council of Britain is a democratic representative organisation,” Altikriti added.
“Every two years there’s an election called. Whether the organisation displeases the government shouldn’t figure in a society that claims to be run by democracy and with a range of opinions and standpoints.
“It’s about time someone in this new government says that for the past 25 years we haven’t progressed. We’ve gone backwards. Now we are in a situation where racism has returned to our streets.”
He added that there does not need to be only one platform claiming to represent all Muslims - the government should see that “Muslim views are like everyone else's views: varied and diverse, but important and relevant.”
‘It’s a new time and a new moment’
The declaration further urged the Labour government to officially adopt the All Party Parliamentary Group's definition of Islamophobia, which has been adopted by all the UK’s political parties except the Conservative Party’s English branch.
It describes Islamophobia as a “type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
The declaration also called for the government to commission an independent review into far-right activities, “focusing on the role of social media platforms, mainstream media, and political narratives in perpetuating hate and Islamophobia”.
Alhaji Munir Ajayi, head of the Council of Nigerian Muslim Organisations, also spoke at the event.
The council is an affiliate of the MCB.
“We struggle to see how much has been addressed in terms of the fallout [of the riots],” he said. “More has to be done.
“It’s a new government. It’s a new time and a new moment. It’s important to engage with Muslims through the MCB.”
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