Battle lines are being drawn in South Wales after a Pakistani Imam, employed by a local mosque in Newport, had his visa revoked and was deported to Pakistan after being held at Heathrow for 2 days. The Imam in question, Hafiz Majeed Al-Nasar, had been on leave in his home country and was detained at the airport after flying back to London.
Newport is close to the English border and is Wales’s third largest city after Cardiff and Swansea. It has a population of c. 150,000 mostly Caucasian (90%) with about 6% of Asian origin. It also has 2000 practising Muslims at 7 city mosques: 5 Sunni and 2 Shia. The town is in the process of re-generation and subsequently is a less-affluent area with a lot of affordable if not desirable housing.
There has been a battle for the hearts of the mostly non-radicalized Muslim believers as more extreme forces from Cardiff, only 10 miles to the south-west, began infiltrating the city starting in 2011 and leafleting existing mosques.
Bangladesh-born Sheik Ullah told the BBC when it started "They said on the leaflet you don't have to vote, voting is forbidden. That's not right. They said because there is no Sharia law in this country, they can commit crimes. That's wrong. The Koran says you have to obey the law of the land and that's that and all about it. The police were called and the police told them to go because they were not welcome."
The deported Imam said he was told that his visa to work in the UK was cancelled by his employer, the Jamia Mosque. He said from Pakistan "I was shocked and I was very upset, I didn't know what happened. All of my family were very worried."
Manzoor Ahmad of the interim committee of the mosque, which is involved in operating some of its functions but does not operate it, joined the protest yesterday and said protesters would like the imam to be reinstated. So far the mosque has not commented on the record.
It is not clear if the deportation is connected to attempts to radicalize some of the younger members. The reality that there is division amongst the membership, with some protesting the decision of the mosque while the organization itself sanctioned the deportation. This in turn suggests there is significant difference of opinion and that individual members may support a more aggressive tone. Indeed Ahmad may very well have been very involved in recruiting Al-Nasar, with the leadership later deciding he was too extreme. Certainly online video at Blip.TV show Ahmad being confrontational with the Mosque leadership.
In December 2011 Ahmad obtained an injunction against a Conservative Welsh Assembly Member, Mohammad Asghar, claiming he interfered with mosque prayers. Following the successful move to gain an injunction Ahmad said “We have decided to make the management of the mosques more democratic, transparent and accountable. In a sense, this is our version of the Arab Spring. Mosques have been run by small groups of men who were not properly accountable to worshippers. We don’t think that is appropriate any more, and hundreds of people signed a petition calling for elections. Last Friday, Mr. Asghar made a speech in the mosque in which he opposed the moves towards democracy and said that the elections should not take place. We believe it is hypocritical of Mr. Asghar to oppose elections in the mosques, given that he was only able to become an AM as the result of a democratic election.”
What’s not clear in his statement is who ‘we’ is. Despite Ahmad’s democratic claims one has to wonder if he is challenging the general direction of the mosque. His Arab Spring assertion sounds like a move to wrest control by whatever means necessary. Mosques in Newport had been working together (Newport Prevent Delivery Group) on a joint Home Office strategy to combat radicalization with sermons conducted city-wide in an orchestrated way. Is Ahmad’s attempted takeover part of a wider strategy to stop that and change course?
Tensions are high in the area with certainty. A white Newport shopkeeper was forced by police on Wednesday to remove a T-shirt from his shop window because they felt it “could be seen to be inciting racial hatred.”
The black T-shirt said in yellow lettering “Obey our laws, respect our beliefs or get out of our country”. But following a complaint from a member of the public, police came to his store and threatened to arrest him unless he removed it from sight.
Matthew Taylor, owner of Taylor’s clothes, said “I had a visit from two CSOs (community support officers) because it has been reported by someone who felt it was offensive. “It’s not meant to be offensive. I didn’t produce it to be offensive. It’s what I believe. At the end of the day if you don’t like the way a country is run and don’t like our beliefs then go somewhere else, don’t go killing people. I don’t care if you Welsh, Scottish, English, go somewhere else if you don’t like it.”
A spokeswoman for Gwent County police confirmed: “We did have a call from a member of the public. We visited the shop and asked him (Taylor) to remove it (the T-shirt) as it could be seen to be inciting racial hatred.” Police did not offer up an explanation as to how it was inciting racial hatred other than it seems it was just their judgment.
The Chairman of the Welsh affairs select committee, David Davies MP, in a typical politicians attempt to be all things to all men said: “I think the police are well aware of that (the current heightened tensions between communities) and I can see their point of view. It’s a very sensitive time. But I can see this guy’s point of view and the statement he is making. You should not be in this country if you are not prepared to obey the laws. I think the vast majority of people in this country of all races would agree with that. So I don’t think it is a racist matter at but I can see the police’s point of view.”
Deciphering that extreme dose of political correctness boils down to this! Regardless of whether or not you are right about something if is going to inflame a situation with a minority, no matter how small and how unpopular, then your right to free speech is temporarily suspended.
It is astonishing reading the Twitter feed of the chief British advocate for Islamic hate, Anjem Choudary. For example on May 31st: 1)“(Home Secretary) Theresa May & some media want to stop 'hatred' but daily anti-Islam/Shariah hatred comes from the UK regime & it's own media.” And 2) “No one's ever killed anyone whilst a member of Al-Muhajiroun, however millions have been killed under the orders of Cameron!”
This man accuses the Home Secretary of hatred and the Prime Minister of murder. Yet Choudary is in hiding under police protection while a South Wales shopkeeper is threatened with arrest for making a T-shirt with a political statement that most people agree with.
Manzoor Ahmad it seems is going to push forward his agenda and claim religious discrimination any time he is opposed. Matthew Taylor is going to say what most people think and will immediately be gagged. Imam’s such as Hafiz Majeed Al-Nasar will continue to be imported as vying Islamic groups seek to assert their version of Allah’s will for Britain. Meanwhile David Davies and other MP’s like him will continue to try to understand and accommodate everybody’s point of view whilst ignoring the forest fire that is burning behind them.
