Reading Muslim PVE Crisis Group
To: Mr. Michael Coughlin, Chief Executive, Reading Borough Council, Mr. Steve Kirk, Thames Valley Police
27th October 2008
Re: Position of the Muslim Community in relation to PVE in Reading
We are writing to you to explain the position of the Muslim community in Reading with regards to the Preventing Violent Extremism Fund (PVE) that Central Government has been rolling out to some Local Authorities. During the course of this year we feel that a large gap has developed between the perception of the Muslim community’s views in relation to PVE and our actual sentiments. As you will know the Home Secretary has taken the decision to appoint 300 PVE officers of which several have been assigned to Reading. Before this takes place we would like to take this opportunity to explain our principled position on the PVE strategy.
The reality of the PVE agenda has changed considerably from the time when the initial Reading Forum Against Extremism (RFAE) pathfinder was announced 2 years ago. The intention of this letter is to clarify our position and this letter should abrogate any other views which may have been attributed to the Muslim community in Reading. The initial RFAE was described as a short term project and was received with good will from the Muslim community. However we are now faced with an agenda that has evolved considerably and is so misguided that it is causing anxiety within the Muslim community, has the potential to cause mass alienation and is proving to be counter productive against some of its own stated aims.
The Muslim Community in Reading values and works towards safeguarding peaceful and positive community relations and have always denounced terrorist attacks as something that Islam does not permit.
Earlier this year (16th April 2008) a workshop was held at the Oakwood centre to discuss PVE in Reading. This was attended by representatives of different communities and senior members of the Local Authority (LA). It was mentioned in the introduction of this meeting that:
“The Muslim community has a long history of engaging with Reading’s statutory bodies and want to continue to do so. However, the PVE agenda raises a number of concerns that need to be addressed. Not addressing these concerns could undermine any work on this agenda. The Muslim community needs to be comfortable with how its concerns are dealt with. Addressing these concerns will serve to bring the vast majority of the community on board any program. This will enable the steering group to have unprecedented engagement across the community.”
Members of the Muslim Community also stated to senior members of the LA at the close of the event that any questions raised should be responded to sooner rather than later. However six months on we have not received any answers from the LA that address the issues raised, but rather there have been a number of developments and announcements related to PVE that have increased the level of concern related to PVE manifold. The latest of these announcements being a PVE school toolkit where Primary School teachers will be advised on signs of ‘radicalisation’ that may be prevalent in 5 year old Muslim students, something quite absurd and disturbing. There are a number of points in the PVE agenda which we have issue with. However four of the most damaging are:
1. Implementation of National Indicator 35 in Reading
A few months ago the Local Authority in Reading chose to adopt National Indicator (NI35).1 NI35 is a highly controversial indicator related to PVE which in effect singles out the Muslim community as a problematic community. Under the PVE agenda, and NI35, the Local Authority will be accounted by Central Government on how the Muslim Community is effectively being ‘reformed’. It has been mentioned in a number of national newspaper articles2 how controversial this indicator is. Only a minority of the 70 LA’s that are receiving the PVE fund have implemented NI35. The Chief Executive of Bradford Council, Kris Hopkins, an area with over 60,000 Muslims and 2nd on the governments PVE heat map, said in September 2008 that he rejected NI35 because local councils “should not become a wing of the security services”.3
We are also confused by the fact that at the same time the LA were pushing through NI35 in Reading, members of the LA were admitting to the Muslim community that they don’t feel there is an ‘extremism’ problem in Reading. This leads us to believe that the LA has prioritised PVE money from central government along with additional resources in the form of PVE Police offices over the safeguarding of community relations.
It also strikes us as odd that on the one hand members of the Local Authority have on many occasions tried to package the PVE work in Reading as something distant from the intention of Central Government but have now clearly joined the local work in Reading with the agenda of Central Government through NI35.
2. Undefined Terms of Reference
The PVE work relies on a number of volatile terms such as ‘extremism’, ‘violent extremism’ and ‘radicalisation’. These terms are undefined but have been used by members of the government to demonise the Muslim community by equating Islamic Values such as the desire for Muslim unity and adherence to Sharia law with ‘extremism’ or ‘violent extremism’. The PVE guidance to LA’s and Police officers is littered with these terms and it is unfortunate that the LA have not asked Central Government for a clear definition of these terms before adopting the NI35 indicator. In July 2008 The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in a speech on PVE explained how people’s political views, such as views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, fall under her definition of extremism.4
3. Government Narrative
Communities don’t commit crimes, individuals do. However the government narrative on the causes of the cycle of violence we see occurring in the context of PVE blames an ‘ideology’ as the overriding cause for peoples ‘radicalisation’. This is in stark contrast to the way that the political troubles in Northern Ireland, South African, and Sri-Lanka were identified. This narrative firmly puts the blame for the cycle of violence at the door of Islam and the Muslim community. This sets the tone and is found to be an inseparable part of the PVE philosophy.
The outcome being that the views of members of the Muslim Community are constantly scrutinised (Mapping) to determine those who are deemed more Islamic and Political. We feel that these members of the Muslim community will be unfairly seen as a threat.
4. PVE Police Officers
The day after the Oakwood centre workshop in April the Home Secretary announced that 300 PVE officers5 will be allocated in the UK to police areas of ‘radicalisation’ such as ‘community centres’. The allocation of specific police officers along with the misguided government narrative and undefined PVE terminology is in our opinion a cocktail for disaster.
We have already seen the first ‘PVE raids’ that have occurred in Stoke-On-Trent6 (a pilot area for PVE like Reading) where 5 Muslim households were raided under the guise of preventing the promotion of ‘extremist views’. We further note that PVE guidance for the Police calls for an ‘interventionist’ approach towards those who may be ‘moving towards extremism’ but not breaking any criminal law.7
In light of the above four points and other concerns we would like to state that the PVE work in Reading does not have the support, consent or credibility from the majority of Muslims in Reading.
At the Oakwood centre workshop in Woodley on the 16th of April 2008 it was mentioned in the introduction that there exists a petition with over 1,000 signatures from members of the Muslim Community in Reading. This petition states the desire of those who wish to publicly distance themselves from PVE in Reading but are still committed to dialogue. This petition was gathered in only 2 weeks and is an unprecedented statement considering there are only 10,000 Muslims in Reading. Never has such a petition been arranged in such a short space of time in the history of the Reading Muslim community.
In addition to this it should be noted that the following Muslim organisations in Reading are on the record as having distanced themselves from PVE funding in Reading:
· Reading Islamic Centre (South St Mosque)
· Central Jamme Mosque (Waylen St Mosque)
· Bangladesh Association Greater Reading
· Pakistan Community Centre
· Sri-Lankan Muslim Association
· South East Education Network
· Reading Muslim Scouts
· 1Ummah FM – Ramadan Radio Reading
· As-Sabeel Bookshop
· Planet Islam
· Imaan FC
· West Reading CC
We are committed to dialogue and we invite you to meet with the Reading Muslim PVE Crisis group at 8pm on Monday 3rd November 2008 in Reading. The above list of organisations is only a selection. There are more Muslim organisations that want to distance themselves from PVE funding in Reading and will be represented at the meeting on 3/11/08. It should also be noted that the number of organisations from the Muslim community who may be willing to undertake projects under the PVE fund is negligible. It has already been communicated to the LA that our community believes that the overwhelming majority of the 7 PVE objectives are unworkable.
Our Recommendations
1. The LA did not have to apply for the PVE fund. In the interests of safeguarding community relations we would recommend the LA withdraw from PVE.
2. We hope this letter helps to clarify the position of the majority of Muslims in Reading and recommend this position to be cited in further PVE discussion and reports.
3. There is a need for a community cohesion forum to be established in Reading which we would like to participate in. This however must be completely independent of PVE. Any talk of cohesion under the PVE fund where one community has in effect been labelled as a problem community needing reform makes all talk of cohesion unworkable.
We will be sending this letter to other faith groups and interested parties in the interests of the transparency of our principled position and look forward to meeting with you.
Yours sincerely
Reading Muslim PVE Crisis Group
E: pvecrisisgroup@googlemail.com
T: 07876 623643
W: pvecrisisgroup.com
The Reading Muslim PVE Crisis Group is made up of Muslim organisations, Mosques and individuals from Reading who share concerns about PVE in light of Community Cohesion.
1. http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-publications/publication-search/prevent-strategy/prevent-strategy-part-2?view=Binary
2.http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/public_sector/article3520995.ece
3. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vNYiVXAWnwI
4. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/Events.aspx?id=688
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/17/islam.religion
6. http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2008/7/5/muslims-after-police-raid-we-feel-betrayed.html
7. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2008/07//403360.pdf
