Dennis Benson

When Eliza Manningham-Buller appeared before the Chilcot inquiry recently she warned that the Bush/Blair invasion of Iraq threatened to radicalise, for want of a better word, some amongst a generation of young people who saw our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as being an attack upon Islam. The result was, claimed the former head of MI5, that the threat from terrorism had ‘increased substantially’.

Her words inevitably increased the sense of fear that is damaging race relations in this country. Of course we always had the mindless bigots and low-life BNP who seem to lack a self undertsanding that would tell them that their beliefs are illogical, but now we face the much less manageable prospect of fear of the unknown amongst the huge decent and peaceful community.  And this is a tragedy for the vast majority of Muslims whose only desire is to live their lives in peace. Two of our allotment group are of that faith and I am proud to claim one of them as my best pal. It pains me deeply to witness his reaction each time that the media features a new security alert or incident.

And so I shared his delight at the news of a massive anti-terror campaign launched last week. This was lead by al-Hidayah 2010, a three-day event attended by 1,300 Muslims, mainly young men and women. Devotees of Muslim scholar Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, gathered at Warwick University to be taught practical ways of countering extremist views in their schools, universities and communities. The theme was engagement with people expressing radical views and attendees were directed to passages of the Qur’an to help them to argue against them.

The camp follows the publication by Qadri, founder of the moderate Minhaj-ul-Quran International movement, of a headline-grabbing ‘fatwa on terrorism’, a 600 page volume claiming to remove decisively any theological justification for Islamist terror. A spokesman, Shahid Mursaleen, expalined that ‘we are trying to train young people here to counter the argumants they hear from radicals, to give them the knowledge so they can question the extremists and contradict their ideology’. Delegates paid £200 to attend but such was the demand that many more were turned away.

In his opening lecture Dr Qadri argued that radicalism was a slow process that began with an ‘ideological infection’. This could be treated before the sufferer turned violent if fellow Muslims spoke to them and showed their philosophy to be wrong. The reaction from large numbers of those who attended was very positive. Typical was Mohsin Khan,19, from Oldham, who said ” I want to learn more about my religion, about why terrorism is wrong, about being a better human”.

The next stage of the campaign is now underway. A fleet of vehicles is to travel the country trying to counter extremism. The vehicles are in effect mobile libraries being filled with books and DVDs. They will be manned by an eager army of volunteers and ‘will knock on every door’.

The huge venture is billed as ‘the UK’s first anti-terror camp’. Let us hope that we all come to share Mohsin’s desire to learn more about being better humans. Strip away fear and prejudice and we all are simply part of one humanity. Initiatives such as this are better than a thousand laws from posturing politicians. It is truly a giant step forward toward a happier, more integrated and safer Britain. 

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                              RAF CUTS ARE ILL-THOUGHT THROUGH!

The apparent decision to impose the majority of defence budget cuts on the RAf is illogical and dangerous. It seems that the fleet is to be reduced to 200 fighter planes, the lowest number since 1914. Perhaps the decision is influenced by the fact that the Taliban does not have an airbourne capability but many other countries that pose an equal threat do.

Being in a position to ensure that hostile aircraft are not allowed to penetrate British air space is as vital to our future security as the ability to fight land-based battles. In fact many experts contend that it is infinitely more important than the Trident capacity.

Whether draconian cuts are the right way to resolve the economic crisis is a debate for economists, ensuring the defence of the realm should be in the hands of military experts not muppets.

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                                                  POLICE OVERTIME

The average Bobby will lose up to £5000 a year under plans to scrap overtime and bonuses. Without doubt there is scope to change outdated practices but is this really the right time to slash pay given that the number of officers is to be drastically reduced?

It would be an easier package to sell were it not for the fact that the Banks are gleefully announcing huge increases in the bonuses they pay themselves. Not only have the coalition bean-counters taken over the decsion making they seem determined to allow their pals- who caused this mess- to escape scot-free!

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                                            TWO-A-DAY QUIZ 

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS ; 1 The Bee Gees     2  Michael Angelow was the first streaker at a Test Match in England.

TODAY’S QUESTIONS;  1 Which long running soap opera screened its 1000th episode in August, 1970?         2.The first woman to climb Everest, Junko Tabei, was from which country?

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