Reyhana Patel examines the case of Talha Ahsan.
Category Archives: UK
National Front plan Skegness demonstration against halal abattoir
A nationalist political organisation opposing multiculturalism and immigration has planned a demonstration against proposals for a halal abattoir in Skegness.
The National Front has invited its members to walk through the town distributing flyers and displaying banners opposing the Muslim practice of slaughter on Saturday, September 15.
Man who left pig’s head with ‘Allah’ written on it at Cheltenham mosque is jailed
A former soldier who tied a pig’s head to the gates of a Cheltenham mosque has been jailed for four months.
Simon Parkes, 45, from Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire, also sprayed racist graffiti during the attack in November 2010, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
Parkes, who had admitted racially aggravated criminal damage, said he was angry that Muslim extremists had burnt poppies at a Remembrance Day service.
Yorkshire: £1.5m mosque to create jobs and act as community beacon – EDL not happy
A purpose-built mosque will promote religious integration and help to create jobs in Yorkshire by becoming a major community facility, according to a leading supporter of the project.
Shazad Hussain, who is overseeing the scheme to create a new mosque in York, said he hoped local material and labourers would be involved in the building work, at a time when many construction firms were struggling due to the slump caused by the global financial crisis.
The proposal for a £1.5m mosque has been backed by City of York Council, and the local Muslim community is raising funds to pay for the building costs. The mosque is due to be built in Bull Lane, York, after previous concerns over flooding at the site were addressed.
The project will see the existing mosque, which has been on the site for 27 years, replaced with a new building. The current facilities are struggling to cope with the growing numbers of people who are using them.
Preston: work starts on new mosque
Work is to start on controversial plans to build a multi-million pound mosque in a Preston conservation area.
Trustees at the Masjid-e-Salaam, on Watling Street Road, Fulwood, have also applied for permission to build a temporary mosque for worshippers just yards away. They want to build on land at Sharoe Green Lane, earmarked for a second large mosque, while building work gets underway in the Fulwood conservation area.
The mosque secured planning permission after a four-year battle which saw it accepted and then thrown out, before winning an appeal against the city council’s rejection.
Shock at racist abuse sparked by Hereford mosque plan
Racist messages have been sent to fundraisers working to set up the county’s first Muslim place of worship. Although no location has yet been confirmed, the very idea has been met with abuse on internet sites.
Members of Hereford’s small Muslim community currently meet at the Kindle Centre near Asda but say that this venue is too small. They have so far raised £40,000 towards a purpose-built community centre that would be dedicated solely to the Muslim faith.
A group was started on the social network site, Facebook, to garner support. But racist comments posted on the Hereford Masjid Fundraising Campaign’s (HMFC) page resulted in the page being shut down on Tuesday. One abusive message posted on Sunday threatened to contaminate any land identified as a potential site and referred to the group as vermin.
Police refuse to apply for ban on Waltham Forest EDL march
Anti-EDL campaigners outside Waltham Forest Town Hall yesterday
Police have told the Guardian they have no intelligence to suggest that a controversial march by the far right English Defence League (EDL) this weekend will be violent or disrupt the community.
The extremist group, which describes itself as a movement against Islamic extremism but which critics say is racist, is set to protest in Walthamstow this Saturday (September 1) despite widespread opposition from residents.
A meeting of councillors, community leaders and police was held on Tuesday evening (August 28) to discuss the possibility of banning the march, but the Met has declined to apply to the government for such a move and the protest is still due to go ahead.
Waltham Forest: community mobilises against EDL
Thousands of people were set to take the streets to stop the racist English Defence League (EDL) in Waltham Forest, east London, this Saturday.
Determination to oppose the EDL has united people in the area – and left the racists running scared. The EDL had originally planned to march there on 18 August but postponed it.
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, spoke to Socialist Worker. “The EDL moved the date because it is not confident marching through Waltham Forest,” he said.
The We Are Waltham Forest campaign, which was set up to stop the EDL, has widespread support. Trade unions, community groups, churches, local Labour councillors and local MP Stella Creasy pledged support for the counter demo.
Vile racist graffiti sprayed onto family’s new home
A family has had racist graffiti sprayed on to the home it moves into today.
Andre Bell and his wife Elly were shocked to discover their new home in Scholes, Holmfirth, was pelted with eggs, and had a Nazi swastika and the acronym for a far-right party spray painted on to the doors and walls. Just days after the couple got the keys to the home, offensive words were daubed onto the exterior walls and doors of the council house.
Sacked Muslim immigration officer sues Home Office
An immigration officer sacked over alleged links to Islamic terrorism has attacked the Home Office for not allowing him to defend himself against the unspecified allegations.
The Arabic interpreter, who helped Special Branch interview terror suspects, had his security clearance removed in 2005, a month after returning from a year-long sabbatical in his native Yemen.
He was suspended on full pay for five years then sacked after the Home Office deemed him a risk to national security.
The 44-year-old father of three claims it was only because of his race and the fact that he is a Muslim that he was suspected of associating with terrorists, and is suing the Home Office for discrimination and unfair dismissal.