From Europe News:
Sikh Support for the EDL Stronger Than Ever in the Midlands
English Defence League 22 June 2011
EDL Spokesman Guramit Singh on BBC West Midlands Radio Guramit Singh will be well known to EDL supporters for his honest and uncompromising approach to the threat posed by radical or fundamental Islam.
In this radio interview he explains why new mosques can be seen as potential breeding grounds for radical Muslims. Radical preachers are still granted audiences in British mosques, and the Muslim community are showing too few signs that they are either equipped or prepared to expel extremism from their religion.
We want Muslims to tackle extremism, and we want to be able to assist them in any way we can, but for this to happen we have to first ask, 'why Islam?'. What is it about this one religion which makes it so effective at breeding extremists and terrorists?
As Guramit says:
"I'm not saying every Muslim in the world is a terrorist, but it's funny how every terrorist is a Muslim. Why is that? Because their ideology tells them to kill."
It's a hard truth, but it's something that we cannot ignore. More importantly, it's something that British Muslims should not ignore.
The interviewer, Steve Dyson, kept returning to the same point - 'will Muslims not be offended?' That really isn't the point. If Muslims are offended by what Guramit has said in his speeches and videos then it's because he's helping to reveal uncomfortable truths - not because he's making accusations that are in any way baseless or unfair.
Muslims should be offended. They should be offended by what is said and done in their name.
They should be offended by the radicals, by Islamic terrorists, and by those whose support for Sharia Law undermines both respect for the law of the land and the basic rights of fellow Britons.
They should be offended by the self-imposed segregation of their communities, and by the religious leaders who preach only intolerance and hatred of non-Muslims.
They should be offended each and every time Islam is used as an excuse for the oppression of women, or the exploitation of young girls.
They should be offended by their fellow Muslims - by those who support terrorist organisations such as Hamas, by those who wish the Taliban victory over British soldiers, or by those who mourned the death of Osama bin Laden.
If Muslims are offended by what Guramit says then they need to do something about it - and we don't mean calling Guramit an extremist for daring to oppose extremism! They need to take a long hard look at their scriptures and at the behaviour of their fellow Muslims. They need to push for change, for modernisation. They cannot simply sit back and believe that they have the right not to be offended.
We are not talking about privately held beliefs, or about ideas that should not be open to criticism. We are talking about an ideology that kills, that ruins lives, and which divides our communities. People need to be provoked, they need to be shaken into action. That certainly doesn't mean violence, but it does mean saying things that some people really won't like. Refusing to talk about the problems with Islam would be a crime, because it would just make things worse - it would strengthen radical Islam, and would help ensure that we never manage to identify the root of the problem, or establish what can be done to safeguard our childrens' futures against the continued threat of Islamic terrorism.
But that's exactly what is happening - people are refusing to talk about the issues. Guramit's arguments that Islam had to be held accountable, and that individual Muslims have to start doing something about the violent passages in their scripture, went completely uncontested. The main arguments he faced were the same kinds of name-calling that many of us are familiar with - the sort of arguments used by those who really don't want to talk about the issues and would rather slander an individual for views that they allegedly (but almost certainly do not) hold.
In response to the question 'are you racist?' Guramit replies quite simply:
"I wasn't calling out against race, I was calling out against an ideology, against fundamental Islam"
It's not about race. It never has been. And you really need to question the motives of those who wish it were.
If it were about race then we'd be criticising something that has no bearing on the sort of things that we want to stop. The colour of someone's skin has absolutely no bearing on whether they believe that killing innocent people can be justified. Unfortunately, which religion an individual belongs to does. It may not be entirely true to say that all terrorists are Muslims, but no one can deny that there is not a particular problem with Islam. There is simply a correlation between extremism and Islam - one which needs to be explored and explained - but one that it would be offensive and quite wrong to claim exists between extremism and race.
But even worse, if the EDL were talking about race then we'd be criticising something that no one has the power to change. We believe that Islam must be held accountable. That means that it must change, and that individual Muslims must be willing to be part of that change. But we are not insisting that Muslims cease to be Muslims - that they give up on their beliefs entirely or convert to another religion - just that they turn their back on the radicals and on fundamental Islam. That is a perfectly reasonable request, and not one that could be made of someone's race.
Quite simply, it would be wrong to attribute any blame for hostile acts to someone's race, and it would be entirely nonsensical to ask them to them 'reform' their race. The supposed parallels between justified criticism of Islam and prejudiced racism therefore do not exist.
The one point that we should perhaps accept from West Midlands radio is whether we have a responsibility to ensure that people support the EDL for the right reasons. We believe we do. That is why we will continue to speak out against racism and against unjust discrimination against Muslims. It is not because we think our critics are right to call us racists or our supporters 'yobs' or troublemakers - far from it. It is because the EDL always has been, and always will be, dedicated to promoting real change, to defending our country, our people, and our children - Muslim and non-Muslim alike - from the threat posed by radical Islam, militant Islam, fundamental Islam, or whatever you wish to call it.
If that offends a few people along the way then so be it.
No surrender.
Posted June 22nd, 2011 by pk
Sikh Support for the EDL Stronger Than Ever in the Midlands
English Defence League 22 June 2011
EDL Spokesman Guramit Singh on BBC West Midlands Radio Guramit Singh will be well known to EDL supporters for his honest and uncompromising approach to the threat posed by radical or fundamental Islam.
In this radio interview he explains why new mosques can be seen as potential breeding grounds for radical Muslims. Radical preachers are still granted audiences in British mosques, and the Muslim community are showing too few signs that they are either equipped or prepared to expel extremism from their religion.
We want Muslims to tackle extremism, and we want to be able to assist them in any way we can, but for this to happen we have to first ask, 'why Islam?'. What is it about this one religion which makes it so effective at breeding extremists and terrorists?
As Guramit says:
"I'm not saying every Muslim in the world is a terrorist, but it's funny how every terrorist is a Muslim. Why is that? Because their ideology tells them to kill."
It's a hard truth, but it's something that we cannot ignore. More importantly, it's something that British Muslims should not ignore.
The interviewer, Steve Dyson, kept returning to the same point - 'will Muslims not be offended?' That really isn't the point. If Muslims are offended by what Guramit has said in his speeches and videos then it's because he's helping to reveal uncomfortable truths - not because he's making accusations that are in any way baseless or unfair.
Muslims should be offended. They should be offended by what is said and done in their name.
They should be offended by the radicals, by Islamic terrorists, and by those whose support for Sharia Law undermines both respect for the law of the land and the basic rights of fellow Britons.
They should be offended by the self-imposed segregation of their communities, and by the religious leaders who preach only intolerance and hatred of non-Muslims.
They should be offended each and every time Islam is used as an excuse for the oppression of women, or the exploitation of young girls.
They should be offended by their fellow Muslims - by those who support terrorist organisations such as Hamas, by those who wish the Taliban victory over British soldiers, or by those who mourned the death of Osama bin Laden.
If Muslims are offended by what Guramit says then they need to do something about it - and we don't mean calling Guramit an extremist for daring to oppose extremism! They need to take a long hard look at their scriptures and at the behaviour of their fellow Muslims. They need to push for change, for modernisation. They cannot simply sit back and believe that they have the right not to be offended.
We are not talking about privately held beliefs, or about ideas that should not be open to criticism. We are talking about an ideology that kills, that ruins lives, and which divides our communities. People need to be provoked, they need to be shaken into action. That certainly doesn't mean violence, but it does mean saying things that some people really won't like. Refusing to talk about the problems with Islam would be a crime, because it would just make things worse - it would strengthen radical Islam, and would help ensure that we never manage to identify the root of the problem, or establish what can be done to safeguard our childrens' futures against the continued threat of Islamic terrorism.
But that's exactly what is happening - people are refusing to talk about the issues. Guramit's arguments that Islam had to be held accountable, and that individual Muslims have to start doing something about the violent passages in their scripture, went completely uncontested. The main arguments he faced were the same kinds of name-calling that many of us are familiar with - the sort of arguments used by those who really don't want to talk about the issues and would rather slander an individual for views that they allegedly (but almost certainly do not) hold.
In response to the question 'are you racist?' Guramit replies quite simply:
"I wasn't calling out against race, I was calling out against an ideology, against fundamental Islam"
It's not about race. It never has been. And you really need to question the motives of those who wish it were.
If it were about race then we'd be criticising something that has no bearing on the sort of things that we want to stop. The colour of someone's skin has absolutely no bearing on whether they believe that killing innocent people can be justified. Unfortunately, which religion an individual belongs to does. It may not be entirely true to say that all terrorists are Muslims, but no one can deny that there is not a particular problem with Islam. There is simply a correlation between extremism and Islam - one which needs to be explored and explained - but one that it would be offensive and quite wrong to claim exists between extremism and race.
But even worse, if the EDL were talking about race then we'd be criticising something that no one has the power to change. We believe that Islam must be held accountable. That means that it must change, and that individual Muslims must be willing to be part of that change. But we are not insisting that Muslims cease to be Muslims - that they give up on their beliefs entirely or convert to another religion - just that they turn their back on the radicals and on fundamental Islam. That is a perfectly reasonable request, and not one that could be made of someone's race.
Quite simply, it would be wrong to attribute any blame for hostile acts to someone's race, and it would be entirely nonsensical to ask them to them 'reform' their race. The supposed parallels between justified criticism of Islam and prejudiced racism therefore do not exist.
The one point that we should perhaps accept from West Midlands radio is whether we have a responsibility to ensure that people support the EDL for the right reasons. We believe we do. That is why we will continue to speak out against racism and against unjust discrimination against Muslims. It is not because we think our critics are right to call us racists or our supporters 'yobs' or troublemakers - far from it. It is because the EDL always has been, and always will be, dedicated to promoting real change, to defending our country, our people, and our children - Muslim and non-Muslim alike - from the threat posed by radical Islam, militant Islam, fundamental Islam, or whatever you wish to call it.
If that offends a few people along the way then so be it.
No surrender.
Posted June 22nd, 2011 by pk
