Kent mosque backs Home Affairs committee calls to revamp community fight against radicalisation

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - One of Kent’s biggest mosques has supported recommendations by a government select committee to reshape the way communities tackle radicalisation.

Only this month, Welling-born preacher Anjem Choudary was convicted of encouraging support for terrorists following a trial at the Old Bailey.

The 49-year-old is believed to have been a recruiter and radicaliser for years but managed to avoid being arrested despite widespread knowledge of his influence on terrorists.

The Prevent strategy was launched in 2007 as the preventative strand of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, Contest.

In 2011 the agenda was relaunched to respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and aspects of extremism, provide practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support.

However, a Home Affairs Committee report published this week revealed significant concerns about Prevent and the way it is enforced among communities.

MPs said that the Prevent strategy must be reviewed to produce a new and different inclusive approach that is much more transparent — and it should be renamed Engage, to attempt to remove its already “toxic” associations in the Muslim community.

Allaying these concerns and building trust will require full and wide engagement with all sections of the Muslim community, including at grassroots level — and not just with groups which already agree with the government, they said.

The suggestions were backed by Anwar Khan of the Kent Muslim Welfare Association, based at Gillingham Mosque, who agreed a change in approach was needed.

“We have had concerns in the past, there was one young man who was raising some suspicion,” he told KoS.

“The problem starts with someone doing something differently or not attending the mosque or their school like they used to.

“So we always keep an eye out and the key is of course to try and address it as early as possible and we encourage others to keep a look out and talk with us.

“In that instance after we did, everything was okay.

“But I resisted Prevent when it first came in because the attitude was that it was looking for Muslims who will spy on the households of other Muslims.

“The whole approach was wrong and I resisted the police too, though once we started working together I found they were fantastic, but there needs to be more mutual consultation.”

MPs also demanded the government facilitate regular meetings of the leaders of the UK’s Muslim communities, claiming “these steps can contribute to an effective counter-narrative”.

The support made available to families of individuals who travel abroad to join terrorist organisations was described as “lamentable” and the committee said there needs to be an easily accessible

advice and counselling service, particularly for parents, who wish to raise concerns and ask for help when worried about their loved ones being radicalised.

“As a minimum, the government must change the name of the ‘anti-terrorist helpline’ which can be seen as too stigmatising and makes people apprehensive about expressing their worries,” MPs said.

Communities themselves were also called on to take a leadership role in tackling the issue head-on, with the committee suggesting the Muslim Council of Britain could do more to expose and remove those

who preach or advocate race hate and intolerance, and particularly those who draw young people into extremism.

Mr Khan added: “I think we do lead, we work closely with the police and the council and we are proactive in keeping an eye on people.

“We have written a comprehensive letter to the education secretary and are constantly trying to raise awareness not just amongst Muslims but all faiths.”

Kent County Council appears to also be preparing to work on a revamped scheme, after the report found that support from local authorities, Prevent coordinators and the police was inconsistent.

KCC chiefs were coy on specific details at this early stage but a spokesman told KoS this week: “As the lead authority on the government’s Prevent programme in the county, KCC has been co-ordinating work with district councils and other public bodies and partners on developing a strategy in line with the government’s objectives.

“The county has been selected to participate in a new Home Office pilot initiative and a funding bid has been submitted to supplement the team in preparation for that.

“Details of that initiative and the ongoing countywide strategy will be announced in the near future.”

The report also recommends that the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) should be upgraded into a high-tech, state-of-theart, round-the-clock, central ‘Operational Hub’ which locates the perils early, moves quickly to block them and is able to instantly share the sensitive information with other security agencies.

Quizzed on the possibility of Kent Police also being upgraded in terms of resources and responsibility to combat terrorism, the force told KoS it would be too soon to pass comment on mere suggestions.

A spokesperson said: “Kent Police works with local authorities, schools, education establishments and national bodies to both identify cases of potential radicalisation, and reduce the risk of it happening.

“Kent Police recently worked with the University of Kent to design a piece of software that simulates a social media website.

“The software can be used by teachers in the classroom to help educate pupils on extremism, radicalisation and internet safety.

“The public can also play their part in keeping the country safe from terrorism by being aware of signs of radicalisation, and reporting any concerns to the police.”

The software referenced is ‘Zak’ - a social media style simulation set up by the university in 2013, enabling young people to protect themselves and their peers against online grooming and radicalisation.

As they follow Zak’s posts and messages, and become immersed in the social media activities, they learn to analyse to spot early signs of grooming.

Detailed answers and links to research in the comprehensive training pack provide background, insight and ongoing support.

The software has proved a huge success and has been rolled out in a number of schools across the county over the last three years.

Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti, a Muslim himself, was presented with a gong at the Asian Voice Political and Public Life Awards back in March after leading a campaign which successfully convinced the government to officially adopt the term ‘Daesh’ when referring to the terrorist group widely referred to as “the so-called Islamic State”.

It was supported by 170 MPs from across the political spectrum and this week’s report also highlighted a responsibility of the media to also refer to the group as Daesh in future reporting.




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