Police chief and Islamic leaders urge Muslim inquiry

The UK`s highest-ranking Asian police officer has called for an independent judicial inquiry into radicalisation of young Muslims after the July 7 bombings.

Speaking at the National Black Police Association Conference on August 7, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said Islamophobia made some Muslims vulnerable to extremism.

He told the Association that tighter anti-terror laws had indirectly discriminated against Muslims and that a “critical crossroad” had been reached in relations with the Islamic community, adding that the aim had to be to prevent another terrorist attack.

Mr Ghaffur said: “Young people have developed a strong sense of connection with Islam. The cumulative effect of Islamophobia, both internationally and nationally, linked to social exclusion, has created a generation of angry young people who are vulnerable to exploitation.”

He said the “simplistic” anti-western messages of extremist organisations, advocating closed and hostile views of other religions, could be attractive to vulnerable young people.

He said: “We must think long and hard about the causal factors of anger and resentment. In particular, we need to adopt an evidence-based approach to building solutions. I therefore support those who are calling for an independent judicial review of the issue of young Muslims and extremism and the wider community dimension.”

Mr Ghaffur said police had to be careful about the consequences for community relations when tackling terrorism.

“There is a very real danger that the counter-terrorism label is also being used by other law-enforcement agencies to the effect that there is a real risk of criminalising minority communities,” he said.

“The impact of this will be that, just at the time we need the confidence and trust of these communities, they may retreat inside themselves.”

He also placed stop-and-search powers under the spotlight, saying the use of powers and so-called passenger profiling in the fight against terrorism tended to be based on “physical appearance rather than actual intelligence”.

The Muslim Council of Britain has echoed Mr Ghaffur’s comments about the need for an inquiry.

Khalid Sofi, Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee for the Muslim Council of Britain and member of the Home Office committee panel for stop and search told Police Professional: “We broadly agree with what Mr Ghaffur is saying and it has been our position for some time now that anti-terror laws and section 44 of stop and search are having a disproportionate effect on Muslims.

“It is having a counter-productive effect: the confidence in law enforcing agencies is decreasing day-by-day. That’s what we have been saying in all our presentations and Mr Ghaffur has confirmed that.

“We don’t think it helps in our war on terror and no evidence suggests it will increase our safety. It does have an impact on how the relationship with the Muslim community is affected. A good relationship in the Muslim community, confidence in the system is vital to tackle any criminality.

“We have also called for a full public inquiry into the event which led 4 British Muslims to kill themselves and to go after their own people. We believe a full independent inquiry will help us to understand and tackle the issues and we would welcome and demand that that should happen.”

Islamic Human Rights Commission Chairman Massoud Shadjareh, said: “It has been clear for a very long time that there is an institutional Islamophobia in the implementation of stop-and-search.”

Muslim Council of Britain Secretary General Muhammad Abdul Bari, backing the call for a public inquiry, said: “We as a society need to better understand what factors led to the four July 7 bombers becoming radicalised and how many others may have come under the influence of similar extremist ideas.”

The Home Office said the legislation was not discriminatory and partnership with the Muslim community was vital.

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