Kris Hopkins, Tory MP for Keighley, and the Labour peer Lord Janner (pictured), quit the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia after failing to persuade their colleagues to sack a body called iEngage as the group’s secretariat.
According to parliamentary records, iEngage's head of research, Shenaz Bunglawala, has been granted a Commons pass in her capacity as the all-party group's secretary. The records also state that iEngage "acts as the group's secretariat", a role which involves taking minutes of its meetings and heavily influencing its reports and speaker programme.
The Commons pass allows Mrs Bunglawala to enter Parliament without having to go through security checks and mix freely with ministers and MPs. It gives her the right to invite guests and to use Commons facilities. There is no suggestion that Mrs Bunglawala has been involved in any act of terrorism.
Mr Hopkins and Lord Janner acted to remove iEngage within days of the all-party group's first meeting in November, after its political sympathies were drawn to their attention.
They claim that iEngage is an organisation of Islamist sympathisers which has repeatedly defended extremists, pointing out that iEngage has defended fundamentalist organisations such as the East London Mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe and routinely attacks all criticism of such organizations as "Islamophobia".
They also pointed out that last June iEngage's chief executive, Mohammed Asif, wrote to Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to protest against her ban on the extremist preacher, Zakir Naik, who has stated that "every Muslim should be a terrorist".
In an email sent to members of the all-party parliamentary group on Friday, and obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hopkins and Lord Janner defended their resignation as follows:
- The Group needs to be seen as above reproach and political leaning in order to maintain trust and confidence in its work.
- Whilst iEngage are perfectly entitled to express their views, we did not believe it appropriate for them to do so whilst continuing to act for the group.
- An orchestrated lobbying campaign on behalf of iEngage since we issued our statement has only served to reinforce our opinion.
- However, after consulting with several colleagues since Parliament’s return from recess, it appears that this campaign has also persuaded some that iEngage should remain in place.
- Whilst it is obviously a matter for members to decide on what – if any – role iEngage should play in the Group, we no longer feel able to remain a part of it.
Among those who opposed iEngage's participation in the parliamentary group is Haras Rafique, of the anti-extremist thinktank, Centri. He said: "If iEngage is promoted, it will not only undermine any attempt to tackle anti-Muslim bigotry, but will boost precisely the kind of extremist Islamist groups whose activities fuel anti-Muslim hatred."
Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Simon Hughes, however, resisted iEngage's sacking.
Mr Hughes defended iEngage, saying: "Engage is an organisation which promotes the participation and engagement of young Muslims in the public sphere. Occasionally this may mean that the group represents views that others may disagree with. But as long as they stay within the law and enter into the sprit of a democratic dialogue, I have no problem with them providing support to the APPG on Islamophobia, a group which exists precisely to advance reasoned debate on faith issues in our country."
The group iEngage said the attacks on it were "nefarious" and "deranged" attempts to "create a Britain of unequal citizenship for its British Muslim citizens".
They also warned that their dismissal would:
- Only reinforce the view that has taken hold in sections of the British Muslim community that some Muslims are more equal than others and if you don't happen to be with the "in-crowd" your disenfranchisement and marginalization from mainstream politics is of no great concern.
- It will be a sad day indeed for our democracy and for Muslim engagement with the political process beyond the sham of the "non-Islamist Muslim" prism if this were to happen.
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