Muslim MPs Offer Advice on Political Response to Addressing Extremists

July 14, 2005

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1528109,00.html

On July 14, 2005 The Guardian reported, "The four Muslim MPs who went to see Tony Blair told the Guardian what political response was needed in the wake of the attacks. Sadiq Khan, Labour MP for Tooting and formerly a civil liberties lawyer, [said]: 'Some of the solutions need to come from the Muslim community, but they cannot all come from it. I don't think a community 30, 40 or 50 years old here has the skills or resources or infrastructure to deal with these things on their own'... Mr Khan warned against treating the Muslim community as something separate from wider society." Other MPs, Mohammed Sarwar, Khalid Mahmood and Shahid Malik offered additional recommendations, saying (among other things) that everyone in the Muslim community must cooperate in eradicating extremism from within. Mahmood also mentioned a concern with the unmonitored religious education of children in mosques.