By Rauf Klasra
LONDON: Muslims, particularly Pakistanis in Britain, are increasingly distancing themselves from protests and burning of effigies of the Queen and the Union jack, as they argue that this is not an appropriate way to register their protest to condemn knighthood to Salman Rushdie.
Even one mosque management immediately distanced itself from one such small demonstration against the British government held outside its premises on Friday, saying it had nothing to do with those people who were chanting slogans against the Queen and Tony Blair.
The first sign of Pakistanis and Muslims distancing themselves from demonstrations within Britain emerged when a call was given to protest against the British government outside a mosque.
But, hardly 20 people turned out to participate in the demonstration and many of them disapproved of the technique to protest. A report says while some British Muslims protested against the award of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, amid reports of strikes and demonstrations in India, Iran and Pakistan, others distanced themselves from the effigy-burning and calls for violent reprisals.
About 20 demonstrators protested at Regents Park mosque in London after prayers Friday afternoon. Men with their faces covered to avoid identification waved placards, one of which read "God curse the Queen", and shouted slogans.
"We've come to demonstrate against the apostate Salman Rushdie," said one. "He has insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Salman Rushdie is the devil. We have a responsibility - he should be punished, he should be attacked. We should not be afraid of the kuffar [non-believer]. They say Tony Blair is going to be sent to the Middle East as a peace envoy. We hope he comes back in a box."
The protesters also burned a homemade St George's flag to the cheers of some and the dismay of others. "It is disrespectful to behave like this outside a mosque," said Mohammed Ahmed, a 24-year-old part-time charity worker. "This protest will do nothing to change negative perceptions people have about our religion."
The mosque staff also distanced themselves from the demonstration. "We do not sanction this protest or the views they are expressing," said a woman from the director-general's office.
The radical Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir condemned the knighthood but also what it sees as cynical motives for some of the protests by foreign governments.
"While some of the dictatorships of Muslim world now rush to defend the honour of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in order to protect themselves from the wrath of the masses, they continuously insult his memory by acquiescing in the murder of thousands of Muslim civilians in Waziristan, Iraq and Afghanistan at the behest of their masters," it said in a statement.
In Bradford, where the original public burning of Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses led to images circulated worldwide, the city's Council for Mosques condemned the knighthood as "extremely irresponsible", but two former lord mayors, Mohammed Ajeeb and Chaudhry Rangzeb, called for a calm response as the best way to make the community's point.
Ajeeb said: "I would ask the Muslim community to demonstrate restraint. The circumstances facing Muslim communities today mean that any sort of demonstration in streets is not going to help spread peace and harmony."
