The British Muslim Initiative (BMI) is appalled by reports that government has been using its Prevent programme to spy on Muslim citizens. We hail the principled decision of the Guardian newspaper to publish the findings of its investigations, which confirm that the programme has maliciously targeted Muslim communities through what Liberty describes as “the biggest spying programme in modern times”.
BMI president Mohammad Sawalha said, “This campaign of espionage is a hallmark of totalitarian societies. It is an unfortunate throw back to the Cold War years when spying was the order of the day.” “We are deeply aggrieved that such measures should be adopted to target law-abiding citizens in a modern democracy”, he added.
The BMI recognizes in the government strategy a dark political undercurrent of hostility engineered by the Zionist, Islamophobe and Neo-Con alliance (ZINC). “When young people are classified as extremists because they oppose the illegal blockade of Gaza there is no doubt about who is behind this campaign,” said Sawalha.
The BMI reaffirms its long-standing position, endorsed by many within the higher echelons of the intelligence community. That the root cause of radicalization and extremism in our society is the ill-advised and unjust foreign policy of our government. Sawalha said, “British complicity in the abduction and torture of its citizens abroad, its support for the illegal occupation of foreign lands and participation in disastrous wars on Muslim countries are the real drivers of extremism.”
The BMI calls on our government to scrap the discredited and wasteful Prevent programme and disassociate itself forthwith from the jaundiced advices of the anti-Muslim ZINC alliance.
For further information and interviews, contact:Anas Altikriti 07899 80600
British Muslim Initiative
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