EDITORIAL: The mass hysteria, violence and Islamophobic sentiments instigated in the wake of the stabbings of three girls in Southport, UK provides a sobering lesson in how a narrative of discord and marginalisation can fuel vicious racism and extremist views.
The knife attack was followed by far right elements stoking the falsehood that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, with social media especially playing a seminal role in promoting a volatile mix of lies, and anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim opinion that resulted in violent thugs attacking mosques and asylum seeker accommodations.
Anti-immigrant protests morphed into intense riots in numerous English cities, including Hull, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol, with rioters clashing with police, and looting and burning shops.
While the UK government is now attempting to clamp down on the violence by threatening strict action against extremist groups and rioters, and by also providing protection to mosques, the larger question of increasing Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK and other Western societies will not be resolved any time soon.
The fact remains that for too long those who espoused far right, extremist ideas were often treated as isolated elements on the periphery of the political and societal mainstream. However, with time these ideologies have gained more mainstream influence in the West than previously acknowledged, and Islamophobic commentary, especially, has become increasingly acceptable in polite society.
Recent elections have seen far right parties in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy all gaining political ground on the back of rising Islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiments and pervasive racism, and while Labour in the UK secured a comfortable majority in last month’s polls, that cannot hide the fact that the politics of hate still finds substantial currency in British society, with the extremist Reform party securing 14.3 percent of the popular vote, making it the third largest party by vote share. Europe, for so long considered the bastion of liberalism, tolerance and democracy, may lose that standing if the far right continues its march on the continent.
The condemnations pouring in from governmental quarters in the UK as well as promises to hold the law-breakers to account, while welcome, do not go far enough in addressing the root cause of the problem. There is a need for the UK government, as well as other Western administrations to acknowledge that Islamophobia is indeed a significant and pervasive issue of our times, on par with other forms of racism prevalent in the West, and requires an urgent and comprehensive action.
There has been a refusal to recognise a reality that has been staring everyone in the face, that xenophobic rhetoric targeting Muslims has real world consequences, including the marginalisation of Muslim communities in the West, undermining social cohesion and perpetuating systemic injustice.
The Labour government must do better than the previous Conservative regime that too often played to the far right narrative, and must adopt a legal definition of Islamophobia. This should be followed by the enactment of policies that protect Britain’s Muslim residents from prejudice and discrimination.
Furthermore, the double standard that some political actors and the media in Britain have displayed in demonising Muslims deserves special scrutiny, best exemplified by the divisive, discordant way peaceful demonstrations against the war in Gaza were framed through inflammatory rhetoric and misrepresentation.
In sharp contrast, now that we have a situation where there has been actual rioting and violence by anti-Muslim thugs, the response by some in British society has been insufficiently robust and inconsistent. It is clear that apart from strengthening the legal framework to tackle this violent spate of hate crime, addressing societal double standard has also become essential for promoting harmony.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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