A far-right British group has invaded mosques in Bradford to hand out anti-Islam leaflets and British Army Bibles, sparking wide range of condemnations from city officials, police forces and faith leaders as working against the city’s interfaith harmony.
“The initial approach of the group felt very intimidating, hostile and threatening, and they asked to speak to the imam in a raised voice,” Azhar Dim, secretary trustee at Cumbernauld mosque in Glasgow, told The Guardian on Tuesday, May 13.
“The event occurred out of the blue and shocked some of the worshippers present. However, when the imam appeared they spoke calmly, and the situation became calmer and people were less concerned.
“The leader presented the imam with some leaflets on ‘grooming’ and a bible and spoke very calmly, before leaving shortly after,” Dim added, recalling last Saturday’s attack.
The attack occurred last Saturday when member of Britain First, a far-right group, gathered to distribute Bibles and anti-Muslim leaflets at Bradford and Glasgow mosques.
Wearing matching flatcaps and green jackets embossed with the party logo, which features a crown and the legend: “Taking our country back”, the group has so far protested outside 10 mosques in the city, confronting Muslim youths and raiding the mosques to hand out their leaflets.
According to representatives of Britain First, an offshoot of the British National party which is contesting this month’s local and European elections, Saturday’s visit were part of a “Christian crusade” campaign against Islam.
Detectives in Bradford were trying to establish whether any criminal offences were committed when at least three of the city’s mosques were targeted.
“West Yorkshire Police are aware of a small group handing out leaflets in Bradford on Saturday,” Superintendent Ramzan Mohayuddin, of Bradford District Police, told Telegraph & Argus newspaper.
“We are currently assessing their content and the manner in which they were distributed to establish if any offences have been committed.
“We are working closely with our local community and religious partners to keep them informed of our investigation and if any offences have been committed, appropriate action will be taken.”
Faith Leaders
As a top police investigation was launched, Bishop Tom Butler, the Acting Area Bishop of Bradford, said the actions of Britain First were “most unhelpful” in a city he described as having worked long and hard to build good community relationships and mutual respect between faiths.
Zulfi Karim, vice-president of Bradford Council for Mosques, shared similar contempt, asserting Muslims cooperation with the police and Bradford Council.
“We can give reassurance that we have seen no evidence of any mosque being desecrated by these disrespectful and despicable incidents,” he added.
George Galloway, Respect MP for Bradford West, said he met senior police chiefs yesterday and paid a visit to the mosques that had been affected.
“I tweeted about this desecration of Muslim holy places and received an explicit threat from them (Britain First),” he said.
“I have handed over a screen grab of it to the police force.”
David Green, the leader of Bradford council, and his counterparts from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups, have also issued a statement against such attacks against worshipping houses.
“We stand together to condemn strongly this outrageous behaviour by outside agitators in some mosques over the weekend. We understand that nobody from Bradford district was involved in these incidents,” the statement reads.
“All houses of worship should be treated with respect by all members of every community, regardless of their faith or culture. Anybody who enters any house of worship must abide by the rules of that religion.
“An attack on any house of worship is an attack on everyone and the whole of Bradford district. We will not tolerate any place of worship being disrupted in an aggressive way and subject to disrespect.
“We have met with the police and the Council for Mosques and have stressed the absolute importance of all congregations and places of worship being safe. We have received reassurance from the police that: all places of worship are safe, including mosques, churches, temples and synagogues, no mosque has been desecrated, a high-level police investigation is under way and any breach of the law will be pursued vigorously.”
The attacks are not the first to raise controversy surrounding Britain First.
Recently, the group stirred ire after using “Remember Lee Rigby” as their party slogan, an act which saw the Electoral Commission change the rules on how political parties describe themselves on ballot papers.
Source: OnIslam
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