Robert Jenrick: A Disgrace
Robert Jenrick remarked that anyone who says 'Allahu Akbar' should be 'immediately arrested'. This is a man standing to be the next Conservative Party leader. He said that it is a 'genocidal chant'. How is this acceptable?
THIS is textbook Islamophobia. If I as a Pakistani Muslim said that saying 'Amen' should lead to arrests, there would be uproar, and rightly so, because it says the Christian faith is akin to terrorism. That is what Jenrick is doing here - he's equated Islam to terrorism. And this is why the far-right riots are happening, because of this example, this rhetoric the Conservative Party and other far-right parties such as Reform have reinforced.
This language and behaviour from senior politicians speaks volumes - it is ok to be Islamophobic, it is ok to attack Muslims and non-white people because they are all immigrants and should not be here in the first place.
It disgusts me to hear what Jenrick said - criticism is not enough, he must retract his comments and be removed from the Conservative Leadership ballot. How can the Conservatives in good faith elect a man who is openly Islamophobic? Can you imagine if Keir Starmer was anti-Christian, or anti-Hindu? Only recently was there outroar over the Labour Party and anti-semitism - where is the outroar for the Conservative Party and Islamophobia, which has persisted for years?
How hard is it to respect people's religions and backgrounds? At a time when every single politician across the political spectrum should be calling for unity, some are choosing to add fuel to the fire, to previously sewn seeds of hatred. Jenrick did not just make a comment or two; he has given a license for far-riot rioters to do as they please, because Muslims are fair game. Why isn't Jenrick trying to diffuse
riots rather than ignite them?
Jenrick must step down because it just isn't acceptable. We keep saying '2024' and expecting that to be synonymous with increased rights for women, people of colour, trans people, gay people etc. And while there may have been small steps of progress, we keep revisiting the same issues. The BLM movement was in 2020. And now in 2024, people of colour in the UK are fearing for their lives because of far-right rioters who are essentially domestic terrorists. How is this progress? I am worrying about the same issues my grandparents did when they first arrived - that someone may attack me or treat me differently because of the colour of my skin and the religion I practice.
The UK's power lies in its diverse population, its multicultural society. This is under attack and once again, we need leaders to step up, call this out for what it is, and ensure Muslims and people of colour are adequately protected. This starts with Jenrick retracting his Islamophobic comments and stepping down because he is not fit to represent anyone, given the extreme views he has.
*Image obtained from BBC, all rights reserved: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53246900 
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