Sarwar: ‘UK wrong to reject definition of Islamophobia’

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar has branded the UK government’s decision to reject the definition of Islamophobia as a “significant backwards step”.

The definition was set out in a report published by a crossparty group of MPS in December and has been adopted by all the main political par ties in Scotland.

“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is atypeo fr acism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness,” the definition says.

However, the UK government has said the definition needs to be given further consideration in rejecting its immediate adoption.

Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, issued a statement expressing concern about the definition, saying it was “too broad as currently drafted, could cause confusion for officers enforcing it and could be used to challenge legi timate free speech on the historical or theological actions of Islamic states”.

The head of UK counter-terrorism policing Neil Basu said the wording was “too broad to be effective”. He said: “It risks creating confusion, re presenting what some might see as legitimate criticism of the tenets of Islam – a religion – as a racist hate crime, which cannot be right for a lib eral democracy in which free speech is also a core value.”

But Mr Sarwar – a Glasgow MSP who hails from a Pakistani Muslim background – has criticised the government for the stance.

In Scotland, all of the main political parties have agreed to adopt the formal definition of Islamophobia in an effort to tackle prejudice.

“We have made great strides in tackling Islamophobia, so this would be a significant backwards step ,” MrSarwar said. “It’s for the Muslim community to define Islamophobia, just like it’s for the Jewish community to define anti semitism or the L GB T community to define homo - phobia.

“This is not about stopping criticism of Islam or creating blasphemy laws. This is about the everyday prejudices faced by Muslims or those perceived as Muslims. Governments, parties and organisations need to accept the definition and move on to discussing how we challenge and defeat Islamophobia.”

MrSar war has battled against being the target of alleged racist comments from within his party. He last month hit out at Labour’s complaints process after a councillor was cleared of racially abu sing him.

The definition of Islamophobia was produced by the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims after months of consultation.