An assessment of ‘Prevent’, one of the four strands of the United Kingdom government’s anti-terrorism strategy ‘Contest’, released on Wednesday has declared Islamist terrorism as the “primary threat” to the country, “consistently accounting for the majority of terrorist attack plots both carried out and thwarted by the intelligence services.”
Further noting that currently, 80 per cent of the Counter-Terrorism Police network’s live investigations are Islamist, the report offered recommendations to combat it.
‘Prevent’ is one of the four main areas of the UK government-led programme- Contest, to prevent British people from being drawn into terrorism. The other three strands of the program are: Pursue, Protect and Prepare.
The independent review of the UK’s scheme to prevent terrorism was carried out by Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross and published Wednesday (February 8).
Islamist terror termed the deadliest and greatest threat in UK
The report identified pro-Khalistan extremism and the radicalisation of British Muslims by rhetoric emanating from extremist clerics in Pakistan relating to blasphemy and Kashmir as among the emerging terrorist threats facing Britain.
The report cautioned that Pakistani rhetoric is “inflaming anti-India feeling, particularly around the subject of Kashmir” in UK Muslim communities. It also warned against a false narrative being spread by a small number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK.
“There is an element of crossover between those who seek to impose limits around blasphemy with those who voice incendiary rhetoric on Kashmir. I have seen evidence of UK extremist groups, as well as a Pakistani cleric with a UK following, calling for the use of violence in Kashmir. I have also seen evidence demonstrating that flashpoints related to Kashmir lead to a significant surge in interest from UK Islamists,” Shawcross said in the review.
On the issue of pro-Khalistan extremism, the report added, “Prevent should also be mindful of pro-Khalistan extremism emerging from the UK’s Sikh communities. A false narrative is disseminated by the tiny number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK that the government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs.”
“Such groups’ narratives glorify violence carried out by the pro-Khalistan movement in India. While the current threat is low, praise for violence overseas and a simultaneous belief in a state-led campaign of repression domestically is a potentially toxic combination for the future.”
Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross, who carried out the review, suggested 34 recommendations to counter Islamist terrorism, which the report said remains the primary and the deadliest terrorist to the UK.
The review was commissioned by Priti Patel when she was home secretary, and current home secretary Suella Braverman has accepted all the recommendations.
Taking to Twitter, Suella Braverman said she intends to “swiftly implement” all of the recommendations from the review into the Prevent strategy. She said that the review underlined where real reform is required to strengthen the nation’s fight against radicalisation. The recommendations suggest a need to better understand the Islamist ideology which underpins the predominant terrorist threat facing the UK.
“I wholeheartedly accept all 34 recommendations and am committed to quickly delivering wholesale change to ensure we are taking every possible step to protect our country from the threat posed by terrorism,” said Suella Braverman.
Islamic terrorism has become an emerging problem in the United Kingdom. Last year, amidst the anti-Hindu attacks in Leicester, British MP Bob Blackman had come forward in support of the community and raised concerns about the Islamist attacks in Leicester.
Attacks on Hindus in Leicester and Birmingham
The Hindu community in the UK, particularly in Leicester and Birmingham, is under attack by the Islamists. What initially appeared to be a clash between the two communities following the T20 match between India and Pakistan turned out to be a well-planned and well-organized attack on Hindus, their homes, businesses, and properties in Leicester.
Several arrests were made by the Police following the attack on Hindus in the city. Later, calls were made by the “Islamist influencers” to gather in Birmingham to circle a Hindu temple to mark a “peaceful protest” against an event where Sadhvi Ritambhara was scheduled to appear.
Despite the event being postponed a week before the scheduled date, the Islamists circled the Hindu temple, hurled abuses, and threatened to attack Hindus if they were followers of BJP and RSS.