‘Substantial’ probe into anti-muslim campaign

Police are advising people to go about their daily lives but remain vigilant as they spoke about the measures in place to tackle a “despicable” antimuslim campaign.

Senior Police Scotland officers told how they are taking the issue seriously and have committed a “substantial” police response to dealing with it.

It comes as officers and MSPS moved to reassure members of Scotland’s Muslim community about the action taken so far against a social media and letter campaign urging people to “punish” a Muslim.

A community representative has said the campaign has already triggered Islamophobic incidents in Scotland.

The police officers set out their response at a meeting yesterday evening with the Scottish Parliament’s crossparty group (CPG) on tackling Islamophobia, chaired by Labour MSP Anas Sarwar.

Describing the hate campaign as “despicable”, Police Scotland’s Superintendent David Pettigrew told the meeting at Holyrood that none of the letters had been received in Scotland.

He said: “There is no information available to us at this time to suggest there is any increased risk to the Muslim community.

“We review that constantly and we’re in constant communication with our colleagues down south.”

He said people should report any incidents but said they should not be scared to continue their everyday business.

“Always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings, but go about your daily business,” he told the audience.

The officer spoke after hearing questions and concerns from a number of community leaders and representatives.

Deputy Chief Constable Johnny Gwynne told the meeting: “We can reassure you there is a substantial police response behind this. We are taking this seriously.”

He added: “There is no intelligence of any direct threat to anybody in Scotland.

“We’re as prepared as we can be in the absence of any specific detail. Our job is to stop that cancer in life which is hatred.”

Mr Sarwar has revealed how Glasgow’s ethnic minority communities have been alerted to allegations of five serious hate crimes in the past ten days.

Following the meeting, Mr Sarwar said: “We recognise the fear and alarm that the ‘punish a Muslim’ campaign is causing, which has no place in society. An attack on one person living in Scotland, regardless of faith, is an attack on us all. Our advice to people concerned by this campaign is to go about your daily life, but remain vigilant.”

0 MP Anas Sarwar condemned the ‘punish a Muslim’ letters