Campus Extremism, Freedom and Security Conference

12 March 2013, 4pm – 7:30pm, at the New Theatre, East Building, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

In light of the increased opposition among student groups and university lecturers around the government's counter-terrorism strategy, the LSE Students' Union is convening this conference to provide a forum for dialogue and discussion between key stakeholders in the debate around campus extremism, freedom and security.

Speakers:

1) Trevor Phillips, Former Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
2) Dr Phyllis Starkey, Former MP and Chair of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee
3) Professor Ian Cram, Head of the Law School at the University of Leeds
4) Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE, The East London Communitites Organisation
5) Jonathan Birdwell, Head of the Citizens Programme at Demos
6) Hicham Yezza, Editor-in-chief of Ceasefire Magazine and the 'Nottingham Two'
7) Pete Mercer, Vice President of the National Union of Students
8) Michael Chessum, President of the University of London Union
9) Omar Ali, President of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies

Chaired by: Dr Kai Spiekermann (LSE) and Dr Jasmine Gani (LSE)

This Conference is supported by the University of London Union (ULU) and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS)

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #LSExtremism

For further information, visit: http://bit.ly/14gctyY

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Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, warns against the trivialisation of anti-Islamic tendencies and right-wing extremist violence, both of which are increasingly posing a threat to social peace in Germany.

Qantara.de, 23 January 2013

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Pakistan is currently the flashpoint of international politics due to numerous reasons. Among the broad array of factors that make Pakistan highly essential and important country in world politics, the two main factors are the geographic location of Pakistan as well as the international War on Terror. Pakistan is located right in the middle of some great powers of the world that are Russia, India, China, similarly the country like Iran is also a neighbor of Pakistan. The presence of the United States along with International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries has also significantly increased the importance of Pakistan in World Politics. Other factors that make Pakistan the central point of interest in world politics are the alleged presence of wanted extremists across the Pak-Afghan border, Nuclear Capability, State of the Art Missile System, one of the most professional and capable Military and Spy Agency and the hub of international trade.

Keeping in view the above mentioned factors, world is highly concerned about the rising extremism and anti-west sentiments in the people of Pakistan. Let us have a quick look upon various causes and factors responsible for extremism in Pakistan. The first and the most important factor of extremism in Pakistan is the “War against Terror”. Most of the Pakistanis consider this war to be a paid war of the United States and other Western Power, they believe that Pakistani authorities are killing Muslims for dollars; they consider current political and military leadership to be the puppet of the United States that is the reason why extremism in Pakistan is increasing day by day. If you look at the statistics you will find that in three full scale Wars with India, Pakistan did not lose the lives of as many soldiers as by their own people just because of the label of US puppets. The general headquarters of the Military, the Navel base, offices of spy agencies and other military bases have been attacked by the extremists. The only way to deal with this extremism is to get rid of this extremism in Pakistan is to take military out of this paid war of so-called terror.

Another significant cause of extremism is the too much interference of the United States in Pakistan. Pakistanis feel a sense of humiliation when they see that even after having the great military and sophisticated nuclear program they are not able to stop American drones or the interference of American agents in Pakistan. This added to the already rising extremism. Today, the biggest cause of hatred and Anti-American sentiment is the drone attacks by the United States across the border of Pakistan & Afghanistan, most of the people killing in such drone attacks are Children and Women, killing of one innocent in drone attack produce a number of extremists who want to take revenge for their murdered families. Thus, ever drone attack across the Pak-Afghan border is giving rise to numerous extremists which are direct threats for both the western world as well as Pakistani Military.

About the author

Jawad Ahmad

I am 24 years old and i have done Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from a recognized university.
Right now i am doing freelancing and writing articles on different projects.

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An investigation into a mosque's alleged links with extremists was prompted by false accusations from "bitter" former members following an internal row, it is claimed.

The Charity Commission said last week it was looking into claims made about the Madrasah Al-Tawhid Trust, which runs a place of worship in Leyton High Road.

A letter containing details of the complaint was widely leaked to the London and national media, suggesting someone involved wanted high-profile publicity of the allegations.

The document said the probe was examining whether the mosque leadership "allowed individuals with potential links to terrorist organisations to use the charity to promote and/or express extremist views".

But Hanif Qadir, co-founder of the Active Change Foundation (ACF) charity which aims to tackle extremism in the borough, said such claims had been widely ridiculed by many in the Muslim community.

He said: "A group which has been running the mosque for the last 25 years were recently forced to leave during a lot of in-fighting.

"When I saw the news reports I found it quite amusing. There's so many conflicts and arguments that have been going on there – it is clearly sour grapes from someone.

"It's true that many at the mosque are quite conservative but it's been blown completely out of proportion."

Tensions at the mosque got so bad in recent months that an independent arbitration hearing was held in May. The mosque's website reports that it ended with the mass resignation of trustees including Imam Dr Usama Hasan, Ebrahim Patel, Nisar Ahmed and Arif Saleem.

Dr Hasan caused controversy at the mosque last year when he said Muslims needed to accept evolution.

He claimed to have received death threats and later withdrew the comments and apologised.

Mr Qadir said many worshippers had been offended by the comments and a struggle over the mosque leadership then ensued.

It is claimed that al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US air strike in Yemen last year, came to the mosque in 2003 for a series of lectures.

And in 1998 radical cleric Abu Qatada, who is currently locked in a fierce deportation battle with the government, also reportedly came to the site to host a "study session".

But Mr Qadir said such "nonsense" happened under its old leadership and he was confident it would not happen now.

He added: "We do have a problem with extremists in the borough. It's reduced in recent years but it hasn't gone away. But there's no real threat from that mosque."

No-one from the mosque has been available for comment.

East London and West Essex Guardian, 13 June 2012

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