Concerns

By Mark White, "Fears Pakistan Crisis Used For Recruitment" - Sky News - UK
Monday, March 23, 2009

Community leaders are warning that the on-going political turmoil in Pakistan could become a more effective rallying call to extremism than either the conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan.

They fear radical groups could use Pakistan as a means of recruiting disaffected youth because of the close family ties many British Muslims retain with Pakistan.

Haras Rafiq from the Sufi Muslim Council told Sky News that recruiters have played on the idea of a global Muslim brotherhood when using Iraq and Afghanistan to win over impressionable minds.

But he said the difference with Pakistan is that many feel a loyalty to the country that goes beyond religion.

"The lack of understanding among some young people about what is happening in Pakistan but the emotional links that are still there from a family and ethnicity perspective is a key enabler for actually radicalising youngsters that way...

"There's likely to be more pay-back for extremist organisations in terms of their propaganda investment because of these emotional links."

It is a view many who work in youth organisations for the Muslim community seem to agree with.

Mohammed Shafiq from the Ramadhan Foundation said: "It's real. We have family there. My in-laws are living in Pakistan, so there's that sense of connection, not just in terms of the wider religious significance, but in that cultural ethnic origin.

"I think that's what makes the threat more real and why watching the events in Pakistan over the past few months has been very worrying for the British Pakistani Community."

Controversial political groups, such as Hizb ut Tahrir, are now also focusing their campaign efforts on the situation in Pakistan, calling for the establishment of an Islamic state in Pakistan, governed by Sharia Law. This development has left some fearing more radical groups could use the turmoil in Pakistan to target people, because of the unique significance the country has for many British Muslims.

Amjad Malik, a solicitor in Rochdale and an officer of the High Court in Pakistan, says although those with a radical agenda are a minority, their potential influence should not be underestimated.

"The number of people going to training in Pakistan and Afghanistan may be few in numbers but radicalisation of the mind where you have distrust about government, about policies and the way things work is more dangerous."

Last week's reinstatement of Pakistan's judiciary has been seen by many as a significant step towards stability. Yet the growing strength of the Taliban in the country's north west frontier makes it clear Pakistan's future continues to hang in the balance and that will only heighten concerns that a volatile situation there, may lead to a volatile situation on the streets of Britain.

Picture: Supporters of Hizb ut Tahrir Britain on London march in January. Photo: Sky News.

[Visit the Sufi Muslim Council website http://www.sufimuslimcouncil.org/].