|
Muslim "activists" picket UK school
Muslim activists picket a school in Luton as the dispute over the hijab arrives in Britain. A bitter theological debate which has split schools across Europe is now threatening to engulf a small secondary school in Bedfordshire, north of London. At Icknield High, a school on the fringes of Luton, pupils were running a gauntlet of Muslim activists, who thrust leaflets into their hands condemning their teachers as heretics. The row stems from the headmasterâs decision to ban hijabs, headscarves worn by Muslim women. Icknield High is the only school in the country to have banned them.Keith Ford made the ruling when the parents of a prospective pupil asked whether their daughter could attend school wearing one. The issue had never arisen before: though about one-third of the schoolâs pupils are Muslim, the overwhelming majority of them are male and the handful of girls had never broached the matter. News of Fordâs decision, which is rooted in the schoolâs strict âno hatsâ uniform policy, quickly reached the local branch of al-Muhajiroun, a radical Muslim group. Within days, community activists had condemned the school as racist and the local Labour MP was urging a rethink. On Tuesday, as the schoolâs governors held a meeting to discuss the issue, Muslim parents were threatening to take their children away from the school, while non-Muslims were urging the governors to resist the pressure. Geoff Lambert, chairman of the governors, said that the school was keen to resolve the issue, one way or the other. âWe just want to get it sorted,â he said. âWe donât want it dragging on. The problem is that, if we decide to change our policy on uniforms â which is effectively what we are being asked to do âthen we need to do so to cover all such eventualities. For that, we need good advice from the Commission for Racial Equality.â The school serves an area containing one of Britainâs largest Muslim communities. Political activists claim that the proportion of local Muslim girls wearing hijabs has risen sharply over the past decade, from 2 or 3 per cent to nearer 50 per cent. Sayful Islam (24), who has led al-Muhajirounâs picket of the school, said that the rise was due to Muslims becoming better informed about the key tenets of Islam. His campaign, which he has entitled âSending Your Children To The Slaughterhouseâ, urges Muslim parents to spurn the values of secular schools â the âslaughterhousesâ â and instead induct their children in Islamic institutions. He said the debate, which is raging in France sparked by legislation outlawing religious clothing in schools, is likely to spread across Britain. âThe only difference is that France is blatant about its secularism, whereas Britain is more discreet,â he said. âPrince Charles would be stoned for adultery in a purely Islamic state, yet here he is head of the Church. The two values systems can never co-exist.â
Abdul Mahim Malik, chairman of the Luton Race Advisory Forum, said that he opposed the ban but objected to the way that Muslim activists had exploited it. âIt is bad for racial harmony, it is against the UN Charter and it helps extremists by exposing rifts in the community,â he said. Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South, urged the school governors to lift the ban to calm local tensions. âThis seems to have got out of hand,â she said. âAl-Muhajiroun are only interested in creating divisions in Lutonâs community.â
Posted by: TS 2004-01-29 |
|||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=25230 |