World Tolerance Society

Are we witness of the beginning of a government campaign against British Muslims? We think not. May we be in danger of overreacting to a new environment caused by a constellation of factors, the UK and abroad - the crisis in the Middle East, the war in Iraq and the terrorists themselves incidents in name three. To take the first question first - the idea that universities should inform Special Branch of suspicious activities on campus, especially those of student Islamic societies. There is nothing new about this. In the 1950s, universities have been hotbeds of communist propaganda, as they gave birth to Trotskyist groups in the 1960s and 1970s, some of whose members are now in government. Special Branch has always had an interest for young radicals, but many would argue that it is losing time because they are from their student activism. We believe that men and women should be allowed to wear what they want within the limits of decency. Muslims have a strong sense of cultural identity that has been reinforced by recent events in the Middle East. Young Muslims who are undoubtedly saying that the identity of our days more vigorously. If more young women want to wear the veil, therefore, so be it. The majority community has not objected to sail in the past, so why are we now an objection? No wonder that some British Muslims feel they are witnessing a campaign against Muslims. In any event, the evidence so far is that the terrorists were British Muslims in large part by the radicalization of people they met in the mosques rather than the universities - although the cast of characters overlap in May . The question is whether universities should be used as instruments of the state’s security apparatus, especially that their role is to promote open discussion and knowledge. The answer must be negative.