MCB Calls for Stern and Transparent Action Against Anti-Muslim Violence

8 July 2009

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) today urged political leaders and opinion formers to end their muted response to the recent wave of anti-Muslim violence taking place in the UK and Europe. The bombing of the Glasgow premises and Scottish headquarters of Islamic Relief, a long established British Muslim charity and an affiliate of the MCB, is the most recent in a number of such attacks on Muslim properties and places of worship.

This attack comes days after the fire-bombing of several mosques across the country and the seizure from far-right extremists of what is believed to be the largest suspected terrorist arsenal in England since the IRA mainland bombings of the early 1990s.

The MCB is writing to the Home Secretary to urgently address the matter and also calls upon the Chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee to look into the issue.

MCB Secretary General Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari said, "There is absolutely no justification for these unprovoked attacks. We are gravely concerned at the muted official response to these developments and are seeking clarification."

"For years the MCB has warned that the sustained campaigns of demonisation and vilification of British Muslims in our discourse and media, sometimes with semi-official backing, was creating a favourable climate for racist fanatics to operate and make cheap political gains. Our worst fears have now been confirmed. In the UK and in Europe, the fear is very real as we learn of the shocking murder of a Muslim woman in Dresden, Germany who was killed by someone who hated her decision to adopt the headscarf."

Dr Abdul Bari added, "We eagerly await the outcome of police investigations into these attacks and trust the authorities will assume their full responsibility to ensure that Muslim property and places of worship do not become the soft targets of racist bigots and Islamophobes."

[ENDS]