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Why did these men turn into murderous monsters? I try but cannot understand. Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed were not poor, ill-educated, vulnerable, gullible or victims of racism. Confidently middle class, they had everything going for them.
Tutors and bosses were generous with praise and support. Abdulla is the British-born doctor son of an Iraqi rheumatology specialist and a pharmacist; Ahmed's father and brothers are doctors in India and he was a Cambridge PhD student. Ahmed died of serious burns after he tried to launch a suicide hit on Glasgow airport last year; Abdulla was found guilty of masterminding that plot and another attack on a nightclub in London.
For liberal Muslims, this terrorist case is the most devastating to pass through our courts. Yet we have to keep our heads and optimism. On Tuesday I came out of an old church building in Bethnal Green feeling more uplifted than I have for months. I had run a democracy workshop with 12 Muslims, men and women from Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is a project run by the charity British Muslims for Secular Democracy and Praxis which helps integration into British society.
I asked them to think of one fundamental right they would fight to the death for. The heartening list included freedom of speech, autonomy, the vote, equality and the right to dignity. Then I asked them to say whether those rights were most safeguarded in their original countries or the UK. After an animated hour, they decided that this country, in spite of the racism they face, protects them better. The exercise drew the attendees into valuing what we have here. And by heavens they did. We spoke about dissent, British foreign policy, legitimate objection and unlawful opposition. I told them I had returned my MBE in protest against the war in Iraq and that I had not been imprisoned or "punished". That caused a stir and appreciation for our democracy.
They showed me the local newspaper with mugshots and manifestos of 24 young East Enders vying to be the next mayor of Tower Hamlets. Not one indigenous British candidate is standing; most are Muslims and most of those are female. Unlike the Islamic fanaticists above, these young minds are renewing their faith in civil society and democracy. Despite the doctors' trial, things are better than they seem even during the worst of times.
Reader views (3)
depressing. They want to live here but need an hours animated debate to realise why. It makes you feel that they are only here for the money. Not really what we need is it?
- Dudley, Brighton, United Kingdom, 22/12/2008 14:45
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After reading this article I am seriously going to leave the country. My country where my family have lived for 1,000 years.
- Andrew, London UK, 18/12/2008 14:11
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Stop giving them houses and cash - see much much they love it here then.
- Ed Hope, London, 18/12/2008 11:54
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