LONDON, 4 August 2005 — Religious hate crime in London has increased six-fold since the 7/7 suicide bombings on the London transport system, which claimed 57 lives. Figures released by Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed that police recorded 273 ‘faith crimes’ mostly verbal abuse against Muslims and attacks against mosques. Nationwide though, the figure is over 2,500 hate crimes including the murder of an Asian Muslim in Nottingham.
The timing of these figures coincides with a major debate going on in Britain in the aftermath of 7/7 and 21/7 about the success or failure of the policy of multiculturalism, and comes a day after Home Office Minister Hazel Blears launched the government’s ‘engagement offensive’ aimed at improving relations with the Muslim communities, especially young Muslims. The sheer nervousness in the capital was once again evident yesterday when passengers leapt 12 feet from the upper deck of a No 205 bus near King’s Cross in a panic over a suspected bomb. Six people were treated in hospital with minor injuries. The ‘bomb’ turned out to be the bus overheating with smoke bellowing from its engine. British police continued to urge the public to be vigilant, saying that the threat of a third wave of bombings is real.
At the same time, British police faced another frustrating day in their attempts to extradite failed 21/7 suicide bomber, Hussain Osman, who is held in the top-security Regina Coeli Prison in Rome and who was charged on Monday on terrorism and possession and use of false documents. The Italian authorities confirmed that the extradition request papers have been received and are in order, and the hearing will only take place in the second-half of August.
Osman’s lawyer, Maria Antionetta Sonnessa, who is fighting the extradition and aims to get Osman tried in Italy for lesser charges, said that her client planted the Shepherd’s Bush bomb merely as a ‘demonstrative act’ to make a point about the killing of Muslims in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. Osman allegedly said that the bomb contained flour and was harmless, a claim which Scotland Yard emphatically dismissed.
The debate on multiculturalism, however, is hotting up with the core issue how to inculcate a common Britishness, which also encompasses ethnic diversity. Some critics stress that the government has played down any sense of a common Britishness over the years. But post 9/11 it has tried to beef up a sense of Britishness with notions of Chicken Tikka Masala being Britain’s favorite dish. Others warn that Al-Qaeda is based on an extremely militant international ideology which has no respect for national identity, let alone a British national identity, and which believed in a notion of a ‘global ummah’.
Yesterday the Conservative Opposition Party broke the consensus when the Shadow Defense Secretary Gerald Howarth warned British Muslims that if they do not like the British way of life then they should get out of the country.
Scotland Yard has been trying to explain its controversial racial profiling policy of ‘stop and search’ aimed at Asians and Muslims by getting the support of the Muslim communities for the policy. Assistant Commissioner Tareq Ghafour, the highest-ranking Muslim officer in the Metropolitan Police, yesterday confirmed that he has been engaging with the Muslim communities over the last few weeks regarding the policy.
“I do have some sympathy, but we have had some useful debates with the communities. If there is a mandate from the communities then it is easier to explain the extraordinary circumstances in which the stop and search policy is being used and the reasons behind its use. We can then explain why we are carrying out the policy, and the manner in which we carry it out, with dignity and respect,” he added. He agreed that stop and search may dent the confidence of the Muslim communities in Britain. The best long-term solution is Face-to-face engagement with the communities.
