As the election results showed a Conservatives landslide win, the Muslim Council of Britain urged Prime Minister Friday, December 13, to reassure British Muslims of their place in the country.
\u201cMr. Johnson commands a majority, but there is a palpable sense of fear amongst Muslim communities around the country,\u201d Harun Khan, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain said in a statement released Friday.
\u201cWe entered the election campaign period with long-standing concerns about bigotry in our politics and our governing party. Now we worry that Islamophobia is \u201coven-ready\u201d for government. Mr Johnson has been entrusted with huge power, and we pray it is exercised responsibly for all Britons.\u201d
Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservatives have won 364 seats \u2014 47 more than they won in the last election, in 2017.
The victory is the party\u2019s biggest since Margaret Thatcher captured a third term in 1987.
Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s Labour Party had to reach even farther back to find a more extreme result. It won 203 seats, down 59 from the previous vote, in its worst showing since 1935. It had not suffered a similar drubbing since 1983 when it took 209 seats.
Khan called on the Prime Minister and all political leaders to work towards national unity. \u201cWe must all redouble our efforts to heal the country and bring communities together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark Day As the election results showed a Conservatives landslide win, the Muslim Council of Britain urged Prime Minister Friday, December 13, to reassure British Muslims of their place in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong> On the other hand, Mehdi Hasan, a British political journalist, broadcaster, and author, described the election results as a \u201cdark day\u201d in Britain.
\u201cDark day for minorities in the UK. Especially for British Muslims who watched as a man who said \u201cIslam was the problem,\u201d mocked veiled Muslim women, & also turned a blind eye to massive anti-Muslim hatred in his party, was just given a landslide majority by their fellow Britons,\u201d he tweeted.
Others were more hopeful, calling for a new relationship for Conservatives and Muslims.
\u201cToday\u2019s #election marks a pivotal moment for Muslims in the UK. Our communities have finally taken their democratic participation seriously and voted. As a result \u2013 regardless of outcome \u2013 elected officials will now try to find out our needs and represent us accordingly,\u201d Adam Kelwick, a Muslim Chaplain in Liverpool tweeted.
Sayeda Warsi, former co-Chair of the Conservatives, echoed a similar message.
\u201cMy Party must start healing its relationship with British Muslims. Endorsements from #TommyRobinson & #KatieHopkins & colleagues retweeting both is deeply disturbing. Independent Inquiry into #Islamophobia is a must first step. The battle to root out racism must now intensify,\u201d she tweeted.
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