AhlulBayt News Agency: A former Muslim minister in the UK has criticized the increasing Islamophobic narratives being promoted by politicians and the media.
Baroness Warsi warned that these narratives are “deeply dangerous” and are shaping British public discourse in harmful ways.
Speaking at the Hay Festival, a major literary and arts event, Warsi compared the rise of Islamophobia in Britain to the treatment of Jews in 1930s Europe.
In a conversation with journalist Rachel Shabi, she expressed feeling “heartbroken” over the way Muslim communities are portrayed in the UK.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you serve and how many times you do what you do for our country,” she said. “You still don’t belong. You still don’t matter. You still can’t be trusted”.
Discussing her new book Muslims Don’t Matter, Warsi reflected on her upbringing in a working-class Pakistani family in Yorkshire.
She revealed that she and her husband had recently discussed whether they should prepare “exit routes” from Britain due to rising Islamophobia.
“I turned to him and I said, are we going to be like those Jewish families in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, who were always sitting back, looking at the writing on the wall and thinking, ‘No, we’re going to be all right. We’re very successful. We live in the right part of town. We’re part of the establishment.’ And then it will be too late”.
Warsi warned that negative portrayals of British Muslims are being driven by politicians and the media rather than ordinary citizens.
“The good news is this isn’t bottom up,” she said. “This isn’t ordinary people sat there thinking, ‘Oh, I really have an issue with Muslims and I’m now going to have quite hateful views about them’”.
She added that these harmful stereotypes poison public discourse and lead to widespread misconceptions about Muslim communities.
Warsi concluded her remarks with a call for solidarity, urging the British public to reject divisive narratives and stand against Islamophobia.
“It’s time for us to organize and it’s time for us to fight back, because all of our rights in the end will suffer,” she said.
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