Right after the London bombings, Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain called on Muslims to cooperate with police. I expressed skepticism at the time, because the loyalties of Muslims to the coreligionists generally run deeper than their loyalties to secular non-Muslim states. This is a problem that Sir Iqbal has not confronted. And here we see this confirmed by the complaint of a “senior Muslim police officer”: Muslims accused of failing to help police,” from the Financial Times, with thanks to Filtrat:
Muslim communities are failing to help the police identify radical preachers promoting militancy and young people who are vulnerable to extremism, according to the most senior Muslim police officer.
Assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur of the Metropolitan police, who is responsible for community policing in London, predicted it would take “several years” for Muslim communities to become engaged in wider British society.
He acknowledged Muslim communities were becoming concerned with police stop-and-search techniques, but denied there was active racial profiling taking place and defended the power as “an operational tactic”.
He also wanted powers to close down mosques known to be promoting militancy. Mr Ghaffur said although Muslim communities had been virulent in condemning the July 7 and July 21 London bombings, they had not responded to police appeals for intelligence.
In the aftermath of the July 7 attacks, Sir Ian Blair, the Met’s commissioner, called on Muslims to “find ways of identifying those preachers of hate and who they”re talking to”.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Ghaffur said: “It’s not happening.” He identified three reasons. First, communities did not know in practical terms how to help the police. Second, they were in retreat from the “hysterical and hostile” public reaction to the bombings. The third reason, Mr Ghaffur said, was that Muslim communities were unable to identify “the tipping point between right and wrong, where hate becomes a criminal offence”.