The country's most successful Asian police officer has criticised the National Association of Muslim Police for speaking out against the Government's anti-terrorism strategy.Tarique Ghaffur, the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police who left Scotland Yard following a race row, said that the NAMP should be warning of the dangers of Muslim extremists in Britain.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday that Muslim police association had openly rebelled against the Government's anti-terrorism strategy. The Association sent a seven-page memorandum to a Parliamentary committee investigating extremism warning that the current strategy was an “affront to British values'.
However, Mr Ghaffur said: “The NAMP and Muslim community representatives need to face up to the stark reality within the U.K. There is a very real problem within certain sections of our community. We have a small number of individuals within the Muslim community who have committed terrorist acts and others who do pose a significant threat to national security.'
He added: “This is an ideal time for the Muslim community of Britain to demonstrate its shared commitment to rooting out the dangerous minority who continue to use Islam as a front for the promotion of extremist violence. A clear and cohesive rejection of their agenda would be a particularly powerful tool in combating this unrepresentative minority.'
Last night, the NAMP responded to the growing furore over their comments by calling for more Muslims to work on counter-terrorism police units. The Association says that it is “disappointed' with the lack of Muslim police officers working on anti-terror investigations.
Yesterday, the NAMP said it was “deeply disappointed' that its memorandum had been made public. However, all evidence provided to Parliamentary committees is published.