IbnAlAawam
Junior Member
:salam2:
UK Academics Reject Muslim Witch-hunt
UK Academics Reject Muslim Witch-hunt
Britain's largest association for academics is against playing a policing role for the government against Muslim students, warning such measures fan anti-Muslim racism, The Daily Telegraph said on Tuesday, May 29. The University and College Union (UCU) will issue a motion during its annual conference later Tuesday that none of its 120,000 members would spy on suspected Muslim students.
It will reaffirm opposition to "the ethnic profiling of students and staff for immigration control or security purposes".
The union will also condemn the government's attempts to use "members of staff for such witch hunts."
The British Education Ministry unveiled in November guidelines to tackle what it called "Islamic extremism" in universities, asking lecturers and university staff to spy on Muslim students.
The 20-page document encourages universities nationwide to proactively report students of suspicious involvement in "extremist" activities to special branches of local police.
It argues that Muslim students from "segregated" backgrounds are more likely to support "extremist" stances than their counterparts.
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), which represents 90,000 Muslim students, has criticized the guidelines, insisting there was no evidence of extremism on campuses.
Racist
The UCU will affirm that the government policies are fueling Islamophobic attacks across the country.
"Racist and xenophobic tendencies in Britain" have received an "apparent promotion by government policies," the academics will say.
"Increasingly restrictive measures and the xenophobic language surrounding them" has led to an increase in racist attacks on Muslims.
The UCU will also affirm that "demonization" of Muslims is no way to defeat terrorism.
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.0 million.
The minority has been in the eye of the storm since the terrorist attacks on London transport on July 7, 2005, killed 56 people, including four Muslim bombers.
Ever since, British Muslims have been increasing complaining of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim, citing the routine stop-and-search operations.