In those former good days, Muslim immigrants were way ahead of their countrymen in regard to the economy and in regard to individual freedoms. No one felt they had to hide their identity. Every kind of organization – for ethnic, religious or sectarian purposes – was allowed. Europeans weren’t even aware of the religious identity of Arab, Turkish or African immigrants.
This atmosphere in Europe not only served as a reference for demands for change in the homelands but, at the same time, many political movements were organized first in Europe and an important part of their financial resources were also obtained here.
Now while those former days are rapidly taking their place in history, new difficulties from new conditions are emerging. While walking in the streets of London on Monday, a newspaper headline that caught my attention suddenly reminded me of how far back those days are.
The Evening Standard newspaper carried the following headline on a news story that covered the whole first page: “A terrorist plan to kill thousands of Londoners.” Unable to curtail my curiosity, I bought the paper.
A large photograph of an Asian youth with a goatee accompanied the headline. The photograph was of one 34 year-old Dhiren Barot, alleged mastermind of the terrorist plan, and the son of a retired bank director.
The newspaper immediately indicated that Dhiren was a member of Al Qaida and that in his court deposition he said he, “hoped to kill as many people as possible in England and America.”
According to the newspaper, Dhiren, who came to London with his family a year after his birth in India, converted to Islam from Hinduism when he was about 20 years of age.
Sometime after his conversion, Dhiren went to Pakistan and Afghanistan and received military training. Actually this is not news. Dhiren was arrested on suspicion of terror two years ago.
What is new is the hair-raising terror plan attributed to him by the court. In addition to this, on the second page next to Dhiren’s life story is a list of the characteristics of a “dirty bomb” he designed.
That his bomb is made using dynamite goes beyond the fact that, however the connection is made, a nuclear bomb is what the reader is meant to consider. Old terror photographs complete this horrifying tableau.
While going through the other pages of the newspaper, I met with another surprise. This time I saw an ad for the British internal intelligence service M15. Covering more than half a page, the advertisement wrote in capital letters and large print:
“Arabic, Persian, Sorani, Bengali, Punjabi, Somali, Pashtun, Urdu: Are you familiar with any one of these? If you understand conversation made in any of the languages, your ability can be of value in protecting society.”
The ad was posted by the language unit of the security service, and also carried these details: 22,750 sterling + advantages.
Meanwhile, I wondered how Mahir Kaynak would explain their omitting Turkish while mentioning almost all the languages of the Middle East.
Yesterday the same topic was in the Times’ headlines. The Independent carried headlines about a police officer who was suspended from duty because he was Muslim, and the Guardian’s headline ran a racist poem against people with Pakistani roots written by a candidate for parliament.
In this murky atmosphere, I am in London for a seminar on, “Understanding British Muslims’ hopes, desires and fears.”
But a news story and an advertisement appearing in a newspaper on an ordinary day do a better job of explaining the new atmosphere in Europe than academic speeches.
As a matter of fact, a Muslim government official of Indian heritage says that in order to get an idea of the difficulties facing approximately the 2 million Muslims living in England, it is sufficient to look at today’s newspaper headlines.
Previously, the veil was always in the headlines. It appears that Muslims are not going to vacate the headlines easily. While constantly sitting on pins and needles on the one hand, the duty of explaining real Islam will gain vital importance on the other.
Twelve journalists from different countries ranging from Pakistan to America, from Denmark to Singapore, are attending the program arranged by the British Foreign Affairs Ministry.
I’m meeting with authorities and leaders of Muslim societies. We are still at the beginning of the week-long program. For this reason, it will be best to leave evaluations until later. A final note regarding the group: the Danish newspaper that triggered the caricature crisis is among the invitees.
