Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 29, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/356988/Mullah-raj-in-Londonistan.html
Muslim fanatics declare 'sharia'h zones'
As hundreds of bright yellow posters announcing
the enforcement of 'Islamic rules' were stuck on lamp posts and bus stops
across those parts of London that are home to a majority of the city's immigrant
Muslim population, the eastern boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and
Newham along with a few others suddenly found themselves to be declared as
"sharia'h-controlled zones." The demarcating 'authority' in this
case is a banned Islamist group that goes by the tacky moniker of Islam4UK
which wishes to sow the seeds of an 'Islamic Emirate' in Britain. But that
is for the long term; for the moment, the 'sharia'h-controlled zones', where
smoking, drinking, gambling and use of drugs are banned and music, concerts,
free mixing of the sexes are prohibited are meant to counter the 'evil influences'
of Western civilisation. These, along with 25 other areas that the British
Government has earmarked as known for violent religious extremism, are supposed
to be the Muslim community's response to the "drunkenness and loutishness,
prostitution and the sort of thug-like attitude you get in British cities,"
according to Anjem Choudhary who led the poster campaign. Without making light
of his complaints about poor, immigrant neighbourhoods that are often squalid,
filthy and crime-infested, the fact remains that vigilantism, that too of
the Islamist variety, should have no place in a mature society that is governed
by the rule of law. Indeed, the very idea of moral policing, least of all
when carried out by Islamist gangs of dubious distinction, should be abhorrent
to any person who values democracy. To that extent, it is good to know that
the local police have already taken down the offensive posters and are now
looking for the culprits to bring them to book.
And while that does take care of the problem
to a certain extent for the time being, the fact remains that several Muslim
majority neighbourhoods, not just in London but in cities across Europe, are
still very much at risk of becoming "sharia'h-controlled zones"
in the near future, especially given the rate at which fanatical Muslims from
developing countries are migrating to Western countries and seeking shelter
on grounds of poverty and discrimination at home. Western Governments, caught
between promoting social diversity and allowing democratic freedoms, have
been traditionally reluctant to clamp down on errant minority behaviour. As
a result, such instances of religious fanaticism have gone unchecked for decades
and now 21st century Britain must deal with emboldened Islamists imposing
sharia'h in the heart of Western civilization. Hopefully, the British authorities
will soon realise that there is no merit in tolerating any form of either
minority bullying or religious extremism in the name of liberal values.