Harry’s Place launches crazed witch-hunt

Under the heading “Sabin Khan: the Islamist ally in the Home Office” the terrorism-supporting blog Harry’s Place has launched another anti-Muslim witch-hunt.

Their target, Sabin Khan, is a civil servant who they claim “has been busy promoting some rather dubious outfits in the Home Office”. The article appears under the pseudonym of Hafeez Gupta, who seems likely to be some disaffected Home Office employee with an axe to grind.

The charges against Khan are so feeble that they can only provoke ridicule. According to Gupta, the supposedly dodgy organisations she has been supporting “includes the group ‘Inspire’ which is also partly run by her sister Sara Khan” and which “holds conferences in venues favoured by Salafi-Jihadists”. Sabin Khan once went so far as speak at an Inspire conference that was held at the London Muslim Centre.

Gupta continues: “Other groups being promoted by Khan are: The Islamic Society of Britain (ISB) – which was set up by Islamists linked to Jamaat-e-Islaami and the Radical Middle Way – a group which has also given platforms to extremists. We also hear she has also been promoting Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of Hasan Al-Banna, and founder of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.”

Even by the standards of Harry’s Place, this is completely crazed. Inspire, the ISB, the Radical Middle Way, Tariq Ramadan – we’re seriously being asked to believe that these are dangerous extremists?

I realise it’s very unpleasant for individuals who are targeted in this way, but in the broader scheme of things I think this particular witch-hunt will probably play a positive role. It will surely destroy any remaining shred of credibility Harry’s Place might have. And I would imagine that it can only have the effect of shoring up Sabin Khan’s position at the Home Office.