PM David Cameron is supporting, Sajid Javid, the Culture Secretary of State's claim that Muslims have a “special burden” in the fight against terrorism. Speaking in the wake of the Paris shootings Javid, who was recently tipped as future Tory-leader material said "all communities can do more to try and help and deal with terrorists, but I think it is absolutely fair to say that there is a special burden on Muslim communities, because whether we like it or not, these terrorists call themselves Muslims (…) It is no good for people to say they are not Muslims, that is what they call themselves. They do try to take what is a great peaceful religion and warp it for their own means."
Having taken part in the Paris march for unity, Cameron also released a statement in which he underscored the fact that many Muslim families are losing “a small number of relatives” to radical activity, including children who travel abroad to be trained with terrorist groups such as ISIS. He corroborated Javid by adding “it is that community whose religion is being warped (…) The government works with communities to deal with and try and help tackle extremism. Tackling Islamist extremism means working extremely closely with the Muslim community (…) Of course that is an important part of the Prevent strategy. That in no way detracts from the fact that Islamist extremism is a perversion of the Muslim faith.”
Among these comments came the news that Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary, has stripped the £250,000 worth of tax-payer funds that were given to the Muslim Charities Forum for faith-based community projects. Pickles stated that this was on the basis that they have been linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood political movement. While the Communities Secretary asserted he had no qualms about confiscating support to any group that is linked to “individuals who fuel hatred, division and violence”, The Muslim Charities Forum have responded that they “are extremely disappointed in the decision.”
“The MCF is committed to creating an integrated Muslim charitable network in the UK and to building partnerships which have been a key part of its work since its inception. We reject the basis on which this funding decision has been made (…) The Faith Minorities in Action Project is about bringing people together to build trust between communities across the country. It is now likely that this vital work will cease.”
Islamic Help also refuted the allegations stating that “This action is a smear on the good work we have been doing in the UK and overseas since 2003.” The charity went on to speak up and say that it had only been awarded £1,000 in state funding for their scheme to teach English to minority groups in London: “By its actions, the government has not only contributed to the very atmosphere of ‘Islamophobia’ that it claims to be combating but has harmed its own objective of promoting integration and British values.”
Culture Secretary Javid, who is Muslim by heritage but does not practice the faith, added that there is “no getting away from the fact" that those behind the assassinations in Paris and England "call themselves Muslims (…) The lazy answer would be to say that this has got nothing whatsoever to do with Islam or Muslims and that should be the end of that (…) You can't get away from the fact that these people are using Islam, taking a peaceful religion and using it as a tool to carry out their activities."
