https://arab.news/8v2e6
- House of Lords member, ex-minister 鈥榟eartbroken鈥� over negative portrayals of British Muslims
- She discussed with her husband whether to prepare 鈥榚xit routes鈥� from country
LONDON: Baroness Warsi, a Muslim former minister in the UK, has warned that 鈥渄eeply dangerous鈥� Islamophobic narratives are being promoted in British public discourse, The Independent reported.
The House of Lords member, who was speaking at the Hay Festival 鈥� a prominent literary and arts event 鈥� compared rising Islamophobia in Britain to the treatment of Jews in 1930s Europe.
In conversation with British-Israeli journalist Rachel Shabi, she described feeling 鈥渉eartbroken鈥� at the way Muslim communities are increasingly portrayed in the UK.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how many times you serve and how many times you do what you do for our country,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou still don鈥檛 belong. You still don鈥檛 matter. You still can鈥檛 be trusted.鈥�
Warsi, who was discussing her new book 鈥淢uslims Don鈥檛 Matter,鈥� described growing up in a working-class family of Pakistani origin in Yorkshire.
The former co-chair of the Conservative Party said she had recently discussed with her husband whether it was necessary to prepare 鈥渆xit routes鈥� from Britain.
鈥淚 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, 鈥楴o, we鈥檙e going to be all right. We鈥檙e very successful. We live in the right part of town. We鈥檙e part of the establishment.鈥� And then it will be too late. Should we be doing what everybody else around us seems to be doing right now, which is putting in place plan Bs and exit routes?鈥�
Warsi warned that negative narratives surrounding British Muslims are being driven by politicians and the media.
鈥淭he good news is this isn鈥檛 bottom up,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 ordinary people sat there thinking, 鈥極h, I really have an issue with Muslims and I鈥檓 now going to have quite hateful views about them.鈥�
鈥淭his is people in power and people with big platforms constantly telling us, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 trust Muslims. They鈥檙e all dangerous, they鈥檙e violent, the men are sexually predatory, the women are traditionally submissive.鈥欌€�
She added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 these tropes which we鈥檙e constantly being told about Muslim communities which, in the end, poisons the public discourse to a point where we start seeing this community in the worst possible light.鈥�
Warsi ended the discussion with an appeal for solidarity, and called on the British public to reject divisive narratives.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time for us to organize and it鈥檚 time for us to fight back, because all of our rights in the end will suffer,鈥� she said.