Increased Pressure On British Muslims to Reform.

Note: This posting is from the London Telegraph. The pressure is mounting in Britain for a 'root and branch' reform (aka modernisation)of Islam and the way of life of muslims, in Britain. Long overdue.

Read on...

Tories accuse Muslims of 'creating apartheid by shutting themselves off'
By Patrick Hennessy and Melissa Kite
(Filed: 15/10/2006)

The Conservatives today accuse Muslim leaders of encouraging "voluntary apartheid" in Britain by shutting themselves away in closed societies and demanding protection from criticism.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, says that Britain risks social and religious divisions so profound that society's very foundations, such as the freedom of speech, will become "corroded" and that the perfect conditions for home-grown terrorism will be created.

His stark intervention, in an article for The Sunday Telegraph, represents a toughening of the Tory stance on the dangers of Islamic radicalism and follows calls from some leading ministers for Muslim women to remove their veils. It is also a departure from the "caring Conservatism" message laid out by David Cameron.

Mr Davis says he supports the stance on veils adopted by Jack Straw, the Commons Leader, but believes the wider issue is one of the "very unity of our nation".

"What Jack touched on was the fundamental issue of whether, in Britain, we are developing a divided society. Whether we are creating a series of closed societies within our open society. Whether we are inadvertently encouraging a kind of voluntary apartheid.

"At the starkest level, we may be creating conditions in the recesses of our society that foster home-grown terrorism."

Mr Davis's comments follow a series of events that highlight the reluctance among some Muslims to integrate fully into British society. Aishah Azmi, a 24-year-old teaching assistant, is taking legal action because her school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, asked her to remove her veil in front of children. Madani High School, an Islamic school in Leicester, is ordering its non-Muslim girls to wear headscarves.

An ICM poll this weekend showed 57 per cent of voters want Muslims to do more to fit in and 53 per cent agree with Mr Straw that the full veil creates a barrier between Muslim women and other people.

Mr Davis's comments – strongly challenged by leading Muslim groups – also come against a backdrop of rising numbers of Islamophobic attacks.

He said: "There is a growing feeling that the Muslim community is excessively sensitive to criticism, unwilling to engage in substantive debate. Much worse, is the feeling of some Muslim leaders that as a community they should be protected from criticism, argument, parody, satire and all the other challenges in a society that has free speech as its highest value. It is straightforward. I respect your religion, you respect mine and we all respect our laws. No special treatment."

Mr Davis won support from David Blunkett, Labour's former home secretary, who said: "We should not go out of our way to avoid saying things that we want to say because we might actually cause a rumpus."




Comment: This application of pressure is the only way forward for the British muslims. They generally don't like this (naturally, it is uncomfortable to be constantly under pressure). However, Islam is a 'quietist' belief and if the pressure is stopped, the efforts at reform will also stop. Islam is not naturally predisposed to reforming itself (understandable); pressure is unavoidable.

All this is for the benefit of those muslims who will eventually end up living in Britain. It is for their benefit that the reform pressure must work. Without reform there will be no serious integration. There is no progress without integration.

All these observations apply exactly to Australia.