Sadly, if there is one town which has become the focal point for the press and for child sexual exploitation – it is sadly the town of Rotherham. Many residents speak disparagingly about the way that their town has been viewed by people across the country, including extremist and far right groups overseas who regularly cite the town as an example of what they say has gone wrong with ‘multi-culturalism.’

Many of these online social commentators have never stepped foot in Rotherham to see a local population which is trying to get on and move past the vile commentary circulated by some, where Rotherham is quoted by far right groups as being the ‘grooming capital’ of the country. This narrative by far right sympathisers is used time and time again to promote bigotry against residents whose heritage is of a Pakistani Muslim background. Yet, in all of this, the town of Rotherham is still recovering from the wide scale abuse of young women that took place.

We understand the mistrust and frustration that Muslim communities feel locally in Rotherham. This has been highlighted through a statement on the British Muslim Youth’s web-site. Some of this feeling has come about due to the following reasons:

• Arrest warrants being issued after the recent Britain First demonstrations in Rotherham, where young British Asians of Pakistani heritage feel that they have been unfairly targeted for defending themselves from far right sympathisers who attacked them with bottles.
• Ongoing concerns about attacks on taxi drivers in Rotherham and where the perception has been that victims do not seem to get justice in cases which have involved some violent activity.
• A strong sense of distrust that has been rapidly building over community policing and the perceived lack of action on hate crime cases.
• Concerns that local British Asians of Pakistani heritage feel that they are made to feel a sense of ‘collective guilt’ over the grooming scandal when they tell us that they have stood up and actively demonstrated against child sexual exploitation.
• A sense of lack of strong and sustained engagement between South Yorkshire Police and the local British Asian community.

Given the focus by far right groups on the town and the breakdown in policing and community relations, we believe that immediate steps need to be taken by local organisations and by the police to bridge the divide. For our part, we are providing hate crime training to Rotherham residents this week and we will try and provide some re-assurance about the need to report in hate incidents and crimes that affect the British Asian community of Pakistani heritage.

Tell MAMA remains committed to the residents of Rotherham and we will work with local partners and civil society groups in ensuring that communities feel that their voices are heard on issues of anti-Muslim prejudice. We have also been active in recording incidents of anti-Muslim hatred and in supporting victims in the local area.

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A Prime Minister Who Laid Out A Heartfelt Vision To Tackle Extremism

We welcome the speech of the Prime Minister and the need to tackle both non-violent and violent extremism.

The Prime Minister’s approach to identifying the problem and putting in measures where grievances are both addressed and tackled was delivered in a heartfelt and robust manner. The Prime Minister also made clear that wider issues such as employment and training opportunities should be made available to young people as a means of giving them confidence in themselves and this progressive stance should be welcome by those working in the field of tackling extremism. 

Conspiracy Theories

We also welcome the picture that the Prime Minister drew of those who use conspiracy theories to corrode trust between the State and Muslim communities. Through the work we have done on tackling extremism, we have on numerous occasions come across such theories which suggest that organisations working on Prevent (Preventing Extremism), are extended versions of the Government’s intelligence agencies. Such smears, thrown at progressive organisations working in the field of Prevent, simply create a ‘them and us’ fuelling a narrative that the Government is somehow the real problem, whilst failing to address the dangerous phenomena of a small number of young Muslim men and women being drawn to ISIS and other extreme groups.

However, the oversimplification of the drivers towards radicalisation risk alienating swathes of British Muslims. Positing ideology as the main driver overlooks a multitude of factors that drives individuals towards violent extremism.

In our far-reaching report on the Prevent strategy we caution that “The 2011 Prevent strategy fixates on ideology and religiosity at the expense of understanding propensity for violence. It excludes and isolates groups that do not fit into its narrow definition of ‘British values’. By operating through a highly centralised approach to disrupting extremists, the Prevent strategy runs the risk of deteriorating the healthy liberal public sphere deemed necessary to opening counter-speech and debate that can challenge the intellectual basis of genuinely violent extremist opinions”.

We also welcome the Prime Minister’s comments about challenging individuals who peddle conspiracy theories of ‘Islamisation’ and race hate. On the issues of alienation, a search for identity and political grievances, we believe that projects that provide a ‘safe space’ for such discussions should be supported. Offering individuals a ‘safe space’ to discuss these issues in an inclusive manner creates two opportunities: to challenge these “grievance justifications” and let individuals speak without fear of censor. Without these spaces we potentially drive young people into the dark parts of the internet.  

Wider View

This speech is the start of a wider government response to radicalisation. A response that includes the Home secretary refusing to rule out the possibility of British troops and tanks being deployed against ISIS militants. It is a debate that contains both a domestic and international flavour. Moving forward requires partnerships; not a top-down approach towards Muslim communities. Overall though, this is a strong start where muscular liberalism is at the heart of the strategy. 

DCLG commissioned Faith Matters to promote and show good practice within different professional sectors that were employing Muslim chaplains. A generic guideline on standards for the recruitment of Muslim chaplains was produced for those sectors and institutions which may require such a resource.

The guidelines could not be more prescient than it is now. Chaplaincy development with Muslim chaplains is developing and guidelines on good practice can only support chaplaincy development. Some sectors in the UK are well developed in the provision of Muslim chaplaincy whilst others are not so well developed and the guidelines, it is hoped, will also promote existing best practice.

It should also be noted that chaplains are key workers in institutions like schools, further education colleges, prisons, hospitals and in the courts service. They are a resource and first point of contact for many vulnerable people and are therefore essential individuals providing pastoral care to such people.

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