Radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched a campaign to stop young Muslims being corrupted by Western “liberal values”. The organisation, which Tony Blair wanted to ban in Britain, has planned a summer PR campaign against Western “attacks” on the religion. The move comes as Hizb ut-Tahrir’s British arm slammed Government plans to combat Islamic extremism and to take on the preachers of hate. The group claims the Government is trying to build a compliant British Islam, and complains no other religion is subjected to such state interference.
Its campaign, focusing on such areas as Oldham, Manchester, Bradford and Leeds, carries the motto “Don’t Sit And Take It”. It claims attacks by politicians and media in the West are part of a campaign to present Islam as a backward, medieval religion. In Britain, it cites the furore caused by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, when he suggested that introducing elements of Sharia law in Britain was unavoidable. The campaign includes football tournaments, graffiti and rap contests, youth conferences and seminars. A debate tonight in Coventry asks how Muslims should respond to calls to ban the Koran.
Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said: “Three years ago the Government vowed to ban this group and have simply failed to do so, speaking volumes about their approach to countering radicalisation. It is vital we stand up to attacks like these on our values and the British way of life.”