Welcome Speech by Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General Muslim Council of
Britain, at a Muslim reception in honour of The Rt Hon Tony Blair, Prime
Minister, London, 5 May 1999.
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to God, the Lord and Sustainer of all the
worlds. We seek His help and forgiveness and on Him we depend. And may
peace and blessings be on His noble messenger, Muhammad.
Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Ministers of Her Majesty's
Government, Members of the Houses of Parliament, Respected 'Ulama, leaders
of the faith communities and distinguished guests.
On behalf of The Muslim Council of Britain I extend a very warm welcome to
all of you and, on behalf of all of us, I extend the most sincere and
cordial welcome to the Prime Minister.
Today is an important day not only for the Muslim community but, we
believe, for the entire nation.
Prime Minister, you are the first Prime Minister to have honoured the
British Muslim community by accepting to be the guest of honour at their
Reception.
May I at the very outset publicly reciprocate your most kind and
thoughtful greetings that you extended, again for the first time by any
British Prime Minister, on the occasion of the last Eid.
We were especially moved by your vision of Britain being a Commonwealth of
faiths which made Britain an ideal place for civilisations to meet and to
pro-exist and to enrich each other. This is far from the notion of
civilisations existing only in clash and conflict.
Islam celebrates cultural diversity and pluralism, as the verses from the
Qur'an recited at the beginning show.
And this gathering together with representatives of various
faiths and political persuasions is an expression of the richness and
colour of our British spectrum.
Some fringe elements may, though, wish to tarnish this spectrum by their
expressions of hate and violence.
What motivates them, I do not know.
But one thing is certain that we are all united in rejecting their
criminal behaviour.
Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Sir Paul Condon - all of us in this room
stand four-square behind your efforts at rooting out these agents of hate.
Let us not be distracted by the acts of a very few from the fringe, but
keep our march towards building a just and equal society.
And, today's gathering shows that, God Willing, we can succeed.
Before we dwell on other matters, we must extend to you our most sincere
thanks for the bold initiative you have taken in support of the
beleaguered people of Kosova in their darkest hour.
And we agree with you that the refugees must be housed such that their
return is easier when the conflict is over. However, the community is
ready and willing to extend every possible assistance to welcome those who
may be coming here.
Dispersing them far and wide and removing them, away from their physical
and cultural roots, would amount to unwitting collaboration with those who
are engaged in ethnic cleansing and who want a Kosovar-free Kosova to
occupy and to colonise.
For, we are all painfully aware that once a refugee always a refugee. But
this should not be allowed to happen anymore. The expelled and uprooted
Kosovan people should be kept as close to their homeland as possible.
Of course, those hosting them deserve the gratitude of all humanity. It is
also our duty to help those countries with the necessary means and
resources so that they are able to look after the expelled Kosovan people,
and so that they do not become a burden on their hosts.
We earnestly hope that the Kosovan people would be returning soon to their homes.
We are aware that most of the Kosovar Albanians have welcomed the action
by Nato to protect them and to degrade the oppressive machine of the
Belgrade regime, even though they continue to pay a terrible price.
But they also have a terrible fear.
That, in the name of diplomacy and realpolitik, a deal will be struck with
Milosevic as it was done at Dayton; that genocide will be legitimised;
that they will forever be excluded from their homeland; that their freedom
and their rights will be sacrificed in order to appease the aggressor.
Prime Minister, let me say it very frankly that we have more faith in your
words than some other leaders of the Alliance. We, therefore, believe that
the Kosovan people must return to their country; that the Yugoslav forces
must leave Kosova and that the Kosovan people are given back their
autonomy and their freedom.
We don't, however, feel comfortable about the idea of a protectorate, in
other words the Kosovan people being made wards of an impersonal
international bureaucracy.
It is both fair and reasonable that the vacation of Serb aggression and
the empowerment of Kosovan self-rule should happen simultaneously and,
instead of a prolonged policing by some multinational forces, the people
themselves should be enabled to keep internal order and maintain security.
It would be more efficient as well as cost effective.
Lastly, on the question of Kosova, we are sure you are aware that while
there is general consensus on the objectives of the Nato operation, there
is concern that coming as it did outside the normal and established UN
system, it presented problems of international legality. But while the
time is past for going into legal arguments, we very much hope this is not
going to become a precedent in international order. The UN system is
problematic enough, but we believe the United Nations should not be
allowed to meet the same fate as the League of Nations.
Prime Minister, let me say again how greatly we appreciate the courageous,
moral and humanitarian stand you have taken on the question of Kosova and
we hope that such stand is going to inform other areas of our foreign
policy; for example, Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir and the continuing
suffering of the civilian population of Iraq.
Coming home, Prime Minister, one must speak of the fresh breeze beginning
to blow in the country.
While the Muslim Council of Britain does not take a party political
position, we have to acknowledge and we appreciate the many measures that
the New Labour government has initiated to include Muslims in the life of
the country.
In two years, we have seen the first Muslim appointments to the House of
Lords; to hospital and prison chaplaincies; and greater consultation with
government departments on a range of issues of community, national and
international interest, including redemption of the debt of the world's
poorest countries. We are also pleased at the contribution of the two
Muslim working peers to the work of the upper house.
We cannot also forget the long-awaited approval of Grant Maintained Muslim
schools. We see it as an important beginning.
All these denote a positive change in the culture of the government and
its relationship with the Muslim community.
This government has delivered on key promises, and given hope and
confidence that the days of obfuscation, delay, and procrastination are
over. But there is still much work to be done.
As you know, it is still - quite bizarrely - not unlawful in Britain to
discriminate against Muslims on religious grounds. Members of the Jewish
and Sikh communities are fortunate that they enjoy some protection under
the race laws.
Religious discrimination is real. It happens. And worse is vilification of
religious sanctities. And it hurts. A law against religious discrimination
and religious vilification may not eliminate the problem. But it would be
a clear statement of policy of what is not acceptable in a civilised
society.
Another important matter that needs the government's attention is on the
question on religious affiliation in the 2001 Census.
In principle, the question has been agreed and will be included in the
census everywhere except - mysteriously - Scotland. On this historic day
for Scotland, we ask the government to remove this oversight.
The census question is an important one. It will allow planners to
allocate resources according to needs of the society. It is, therefore,
necessary that parliamentary time is allocated for the necessary amendment
to the existing law.
Such a census will give policy-makers hard data on the many unfortunate
realities of Britain's Muslim community: the
high rates of educational underachievement, the crippling levels of
unemployment, and the suffocating social exclusion.
These are issues, which, Prime Minister, we know are close to your heart.
The census question on religious affiliation is ultimately a means to an
end. It is not an end in itself.
Of the many changes that this government has brought in, we particularly
welcome the emphasis on basic numeracy and literacy, and lifelong
learning. While undoubtedly good for the whole of the country, they are
particularly relevant to Muslims in Britain. The Muslim Council of Britain
will participate fully in the National Grid for Learning and endeavour to
create space for its affiliates to contribute appropriate content for the
Grid.
We have here this evening with us distinguished scientists, academics,
businessmen, industrialists, lawyers, professionals, physicians and
surgeons, sportsmen, religious scholars, teachers and educationists,
writers, authors, broadcasters, journalists, information scientists,
painters, artists, mayors, councillors and political party members,
students, youth and community leaders and workers.
Some of our senior members who could not be with us today such as those
who are participating in the local elections tomorrow, including Mr Bashir
Maan in Glasgow, the first Muslim councillor in Britain and one of the
founding members of the MCB. He sends his greetings. Also from Prince
Naseem Hamed and many others.
The MCB's goal is to work together for the common good of society as a
whole. We hope and pray that the Muslim community in being true and being
helped to be true to its ethos will be an asset and a source of strength
to our country. MCB is Muslim Council for Britain. It is also Muslims for
Britain.
May I once again welcome and thank the Prime Minister for being here with
us this evening. And to you all our distinguished guests, friends and
colleagues.
Read Prime Minister Tony Blair's Reply
HERE (look under 'Info Centre / Releases')
For further details contact the MCB office on 0181 903 9024.
