The Hindu : International : Conform or leave, Blair tells Muslims

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Sunday, Dec 10, 2006
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Conform or leave, Blair tells Muslims

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: In a blistering attack on Britain's radical Muslims, Prime Minister Tony Blair has bluntly told them to "conform'' to British values or go home.

"Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain, Britain. Conform to it; or don't come here,'' he said in a speech in Downing Street.

In remarks that were seen be directed at Muslims from Pakistan, Mr. Blair singled out Muslims "originating from certain countries'' as the source of extremism. "It is not a problem with Britons of Hindu, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese or Polish origin. Nor is it a problem with the majority of the Muslim community... . But it is a problem with a minority of that community, particularly originating from certain countries,'' he said. Mr. Blair said people had a "perfect right'' to their own religious identity and were free to practise their faith and conform to their culture but this right should not come into conflict with common British values of tolerance, democracy, and respect for rule of law.

On the "burqa'' controversy, Mr. Blair supported the view that it hindered integration and upheld the decision of a school which recently sacked a Muslim woman teacher for insisting on wearing a veil in the classroom. "It is really a matter of plain common sense that when it is an essential part of someone's work to communicate directly with people, being able to see their face is important,'' he said.

Under a six-point plan for integration he outlined, Government funding will no longer go to groups that are "too tightly bonded around religious, racial or ethnic identities,'' mosques would be asked to open up access to women, and "imams'' coming into Britain would be required to have a "proper command of English.''

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