International   

U.K. Muslims shun knighthood row

Hasan Suroor

“The community wants to get on with bread and butter issues”

LONDON: The Muslim reaction in Britain to the Rushdie knighthood controversy has been refreshingly restrained so far with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which tried to jump on the bandwagon, failing to get support from the wider community in what is seen as a sign of the changed mood among Britain’s two million Muslims.

Even within the MCB, which led the violent anti-Rushdie protests over “The Satanic Verses” in 1989, the widespread view this time is against doing anything “silly”, as one Muslim activist put it.

Inayat Bunglawala, a former high-profile secretary of the Council, admitted that “we were wrong to have called for the book to be banned”. Writing in The Guardian, he said there was a strong desire among younger Muslims “not to get distracted by the Rushdie knighthood”.

The Council of Indian Muslims dissociated itself from the furore in Pakistan and Iran saying there were more important issues for the community to be worried about.

“With all the problems we are facing the Rushdie knighthood is a minor issue,” Munaf Zeena, chairman of the Council told The Hindu. He said Britain’s Muslim community had “matured” and wanted to “ get on with bread and butter issues”.

Only two Muslim “leaders” have publicly criticised the honour. Muhammad Abdul Bari, MCB secretary-general, who called it “the final insult” to Muslims from Tony Blair before he leaves office next week; and Labour peer Lord Ahmed who said it was wrong for the Government to honour a “man who has insulted the British public and been divisive in community relations”. Meanwhile, PEN International, the group which campaigns for writers’ independence and lobbied for Mr. Rushdie to be honoured, said it was surprised by the level of protests.

Jonathan Heawood, director of PEN’s London chapter, said: “He has become a Guy Fawkes figure to be thrown on a bonfire whenever it suits a Government to divert attention from what is happening in their own countries.”

Some writers and politicians, however, questioned the Government’s judgement saying it had, inadvertently, provided ammunition to radical Muslim groups.

Stewart Jackson, Tory MP and chairman of all-party group on Pakistan, said: “If you are going to give knighthood to someone then you have to bear in mind what the message you are giving is going to be. The timing was very insensitive particularly with ongoing problems with Iran and the instability in Pakistan.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No more rulings on ceasefire violations: monitoring mission
Nostalgic celebration of independence
China to build highway to Everest base camp
Row over American “strike” in Pakistan
U.K. Muslims shun knighthood row
Fleeing Gazans trapped at crossing into Israel
Sudan most at risk of failure: report
Attack on home of gurdwara head
Step up engagement with ASEAN: Singapore
“We don’t believe in containing any country”

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu