Believe It or Not! We are Natural Allies

So where has it all gone so terribly wrong? Why have two minorities that should be natural allies so fundamentally moved in different directions? What am I talking about? Muslims and the Lesbian/Bi/Gay and Trans communities.

I remember marching in anti-Nazi Party rallies and in calling for racial equality in the capital in the 1980's and 1990's with fellow marchers who were gay and bisexual and I used to leave with a feeling that London was the most varied and the most exciting city on earth. One where you could find anyone, from the farthest countries of the globe and from any background, and get along with them. We still had a lot to do in those bad old days, but there was no mistaking the warmth between us. Not only was there a common bond in being seen as different, I also felt secure and safe that those from the Lesbian/Bi/Gay and Trans communities would understand some of the prejudice that is thrown against minority groups - which is still taking place now against migrant groups. You see, there was a natural alliance, a common bond, between my fellow campaigners and I. They were also fighting for my rights as a British Muslim of East African and Pakistani heritage.

This common bond has rapidly deteriorated with those crude separationists and religious zealots who have done much to damage relations between all communities. Christian, Jewish and Muslim fundamentalists alike have attacked the personal choice of individuals which frankly has nothing to do with them. I say that and shout out loud about it since my beliefs as a Muslim do not mean that I should denigrate or attack another group of people. That is not what Islam is about and it certainly isn't what London is about.

Moderate British Muslims get shouldered with a lot of responsibility - do more, stand up to the fanatics. No rest for them from me, for this is one more issue we need to take a stand on! Enough is enough. No more perverse and farcical attacks on the Lesbian/Bi/Gay and Trans communities. To each their own and live and let live. And I would go further than that and say, I reach out to those from both communities and ask whether we can march again. We never dreamed ten and twenty years ago that our communities would be split but that is what has happened and we need to arrest it and reassert our natural alliance. That is what Islam has taught me, respect for the individual and the respect for human life, not anger, intolerance and the rocky road that leads to stigmatisation.

A United London Against Fear

The recent terrorist bombings in London and the terrorist events in the Capital in the last 2 years (since the 7th of July 2005), have made us all feel on edge in London. We have been and will be resilient against the terrorist and extremism threat. Whilst extremism is prevalent in all religions and in various guises, (obviously the most dangerous is violent extremism), the purveyors of hate and the 'anger message mongers' need to be targeted and ousted from communities.

In 2005 after the 7/7 bombings, I was invited to be part of the Communities Working Group, a group that had been set up as part of the Extremism Task Force. That invitation was based on my experience of running community cohesion programmes and alternatively, by virtue of being a Muslim, I have also found myself interested in, yet sensitive to the safety and security needs of others. Allied to this, I have also been sensitive to the needs of those large numbers of law abiding and peaceful Muslims who just want to get on with their life and practice in peace. Yet I have also found myself angry at those who have committed terrorist crimes against my fellow citizens, whether they be Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists or members of any faith or none. I have found myself angry at those who commit terrorist atrocities against my fellow citizens who happen to be gay or bisexual and against those innocent bystanders that get caught up in such atrocities. You see, for me, those who carry out terrorist acts of violence not only attempt to kill innocents just getting along with their life, they also do a great dis-service to Muslims and to Islam. In fact, they are a real threat to Islam and to us as British Muslims and this is also the case with those extremists in other faiths. They do an injustice to their respective faiths which are based on tolerance, respect and the protection of human life.

This country has had a deep history of interaction with Muslims and whilst the history has not always been positive and productive, it nonetheless has been a fact of life. Yet, those voices of segregationism and isolationism that come from polar positions have no place within a modern Britain. And what are these polar positions; these include those xenophobes who want 'Islam and Muslims' banished from the UK and those who attempt to speak for Muslim communities and who talk the language of hate, isolation and destruction. Funnily, they both politically come from similar places though with opposing ideologies.

So, I say to those who take the line of extremism, ENOUGH! You are the problem and not the solution. To those who talk of a unicultural Britain, I say, the strength of Britain today is its diversity. Through the mixing of different communities, can we learn tolerance and mutual understanding. Through segregation, we only learn to caricature one another.

The Real Undercurrent in London

I spent Friday afternoon walking the streets of Central London wondering how politicians can all be so blind to what is taking place in this great City. Do they choose to purposefully delete out what is taking place right under our noses? You might think that I have lost the plot and that too much Lib Demmery has meant that I am on the slippery slope to joining the ranks of the sentimentalists and idealists.

Well, what triggered this introspection? About 2 miles down the road from where I was (Holborn), 'suits' were continuing to make their fortunes, buying commodities, selling them and playing the roulette wheel of 'buy. sell, buy, sell.' Yet in the room in which I had just sat in for 2 hours, all I saw were broken people, broken families, broken relationships and no hope. Just a blank black hole which would lead to early death and an epitaph in history that would read, "so much hope, yet so little achieved."

I sat for 2 hours listening to social security appeals of people who were overpaid, people who did not manage to turn up to interview appointments at the Job Centre Plus and those who had not disclosed information. And what was the undercurrent through each case? Depression, drug-induced psychosis, alcoholism, domestic violence and divorce and separation. These were broken people whose survival depended on the State, who had been caught up in bureaucratic measures meant to 'strengthen and develop people' for the world of work. Yet, whilst I agree with the principle and practice of getting people to work, these were the people that would not be able to hold down steady jobs. Not only had worklessness become part of them, their self esteem had also reached a point that the only thing that kept them going was alcohol and the poison of drugs.

You see, we talk about London and wealth creation. We all want to be wealthy or happy in other ways, yet I can tell you that I joined politics to help make changes for the poor, the dispossessed and the sick and downtrodden. Time and experience has taught me that we also need the wealthy, the successful and the entrepreneurs who keep the beating heart of the City pumping. They are one valve of many that pump the oxygen round our City. Yet, we do not see the broken people who need our help. They need a voice, they deserve social justice and they deserve a chance!

I want London to be theirs as much as it is for a wealthy man or woman living in St Katharine's Dock. I want London to be for the young Black man and for the Eastern European migrant who works in a food catering store. And I want London to be for the white young man who has lived on an estate for most of his life and who now feels excluded. For in his exclusion, we can all play a role in pulling him out, in giving him a chance, in giving him a vision. Will you stand by me and walk with me towards this vision? I hope you will, I hope you care, I hope you will act with me.