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Britishness III – UK's Muslim Relations Just Not Cricket

Kevin Massy - 11/1/2005

An appointment in the City of London, the capital's financial district, is the next stop on the journey to discover prevailing levels of Britishness in the UK in the 21st century. In keeping with the historical icons of the Stratford adventure, today’s destination is Thomas More Square, E1, for a meeting with Inayat Bunglawala, an IT consultant for a major finance company and press secretary for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

On the way out of Tower Hill tube station – the very spot on which Thomas More himself was executed for his objections to Henry VIII’s break from Rome – I wonder what the one-time Chancellor of England and speaker of the House of Commons would have to say on the Britishness issue. Being a martyred European federalist, it is unlikely he would have endorsed any policy of exclusive British identity, but one can only speculate.

In the absence of Saint Thomas, however, I make the pilgrimage to his eponymous square to get the views of someone far more central to the debate.

As a formal spokesman for the MCB, Mr Bunglawala has had a challenging time in the wake of the London transport bombings of July this year. Following the suicide attacks, which killed 52 people, Mr Bunglawala, who unequivocally condemned the London bombings, was embroiled in a stand-off with the BBC regarding the issue of press bias in the coverage of the aftermath. In a letter to the BBC, he criticized the efforts of "highly placed supporters of Israel in the British media to make capital out of the July 7 atrocities in London", a claim that the broadcaster denied as "plain wrong" and "insulting".

In August, Mr Bunglawala was selected as one of seven "Conveners" on a British Government task force responsible for tackling extremism among young UK Muslims.

(Note: The interview with Mr Bunglawala that provides a basis for this article preceded the London attacks, but his comments on Britishness are equally, if not more, salient now.)

Mr Bunglawala has agreed to a lunch-break meeting, as he says that every minute of his out-of-office time is spent in his voluntary capacity at the MCB. A slight, bespectacled Asian man of 35, he suggests we move outside although the day is blustery, as if he is not comfortable having his two jobs in such close proximity. Perched on a concrete bench in a courtyard of granite, glass and artificial waterfalls, his Yves Saint Laurent suit jacket flapping open in the breeze, he seems more at ease to talk.

“I have multiple identities,” he says in impeccable, measured English. “My parents are from Gujerat, and I see myself as British, Indian and Muslim. When I speak to members of my family my Gujerati language ability is laughed at, but I don’t lament the dilution of my Gujerati culture because I am adopting a new one.”

Although unconcerned about the alteration of his ethnic identity, he admits he would be alarmed if being British meant that he or his children had to give up their faith – something he says transcends national identity.

As a Muslim, Mr Bunglawala admits his community has had a “pretty bumpy ride” in the UK since 9/11. He says that British Muslims have become the objects of constant suspicion, labelled in the right wing press as “the fifth column” or “the enemy within”, and put on the continual defensive by jingoistic opportunists.

“Right-wingers have been given licence to cast aspersions and suspicions and British Muslims have felt to a certain extent that we have to outdo all others to show loyalty to the state,” he says.

Despite this increased demand to prove themselves, he claims that British Muslims are the least protected by UK law (which only last year partially criminalised religious – as opposed to racial – discrimination), and the most victimised at the hands of the police authorities.

He rolls out the statistics in monotone staring into the middle-distance, suggesting that this is not the first time he has cited them: “Anti terrorism legislation has seen over 600 people arrested – most of whom have been Muslim – with only ten convictions. These kind of figures together with the fallout from the Iraq war have compounded the sense of disaffection among today’s British Muslims.”

Figures released in 2004 showed a 300 percent rise in the number of Asians stopped and searched by the police since 9/11 give his point substantial support.

Mr Bunglawala says that the current climate of Islamaphobia is prevalent even in schools, where taunts experienced by young Muslims about their faith and race are fomenting resentment and alienation.

“This is becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy. It enhances resentment among many young British Muslims who see the Muslim community as becoming too apologist and defensive, and are fed up with having to continually prove their innocence.”

He cites the “perplexing and bizarre” case of Shabina Begum, a pupil prevented from wearing her full length jilbab at a Luton school, a ruling upheld in the courts on the grounds of health and safety.

“The British must learn to make the distinction between integration and assimilation. The true test of tolerance comes not with those the same as we are, but when faced with those of different faiths,” he states wearily, as if quoting from a MCB press release.

On the theme of integration, Mr Bunglawala feels that recent comments made by Trevor Phillips on the divisiveness of multiculturalism were “unfortunate”.

“I think he [Phillips] was trying to say that we need to focus on what binds us together rather than what sets us apart, but with his experience he should have known that his comments would have been seized upon by the right wing press.”

Despite the many challenges and prejudices facing them, Mr Bunglawala still thinks that many British Muslims share a degree of collective identity and sense of patriotic pride in relation to their country.

“There is a recognition among British Muslims that they enjoy more rights here in the UK than their counterparts in other countries. More than France where the hijab [headscarf] is banned [in schools], more than Germany where the basic citizenship of many Muslims is not even recognized, and more than many Muslim countries in which you need a licence to form Muslim associations.”

He is careful to distinguish this pride from feelings of nationalism – a concept he says as a British Muslim he does not take easily to; partly because of Muslim experiences of nationalism in Bosnia and partly because of the political positioning of the BNP and it’s followers. In particular, the cross of St George he says needs to be reclaimed from the far right, something he is happy to see taking place during the present European football championships.

While on the subject of sport, Norman Tebbit’s infamous cricket test (which suggested that it was the responsibility of Asian immigrants to the UK to support England when playing teams from the sub-continent) meets with Mr Bunglawala’s unalloyed scorn:

“It was a cretinous test to set in the view of any impartial observer. [Supporting another team] is not a barometer of your patriotism, but a recognition that you have multiple identities,” he says.

But he sees more pressing issues than cricket matches for the 1.6 million Muslims who already hold citizenship in the UK. Mr Bunglawala calculates that if the Muslim community were to be fairly represented in parliament, there would be at least 25 Muslim MPs in the House of Commons, compared to the two which now sit. Conversely, he points out that the representation of Muslims in the prison population – seven per cent, compared to three per cent of the total population – is an indictment of a social and educational framework which is failing Muslims.

One may take issue with his arithmetic on the MPs, and it is a political moot point whether Muslims can be represented by non-Muslims in a democratic system, but his juxtaposition of these sets of statistics makes a powerful point.

Like Mr Lam at the LCCN (see part II of this series), Mr Bunglawala thinks that while the first generation newcomers may have difficulty in adapting culturally or linguistically, the next generation – people like himself – will have more connection and a greater sense of belonging if they are given the chance.

Unlike the Chinese community however, the main obstacle to integration of British Muslims is not lack of coverage or recognition – indeed it is quite the opposite. According to Mr Bunglawala, under-representation in Government and misrepresentation in the media are leading to a fate for British Muslims far worse than being ignored: being noticed and alienated as a result of deep-seated prejudice and events beyond their control.