Kvinna i pakistanska Sparkhill, Birmingham. Foto: TN |
"BIRMINGHAM: Up to 25,000 British Pakistani men, women and children from across the UK gathered in Aston Park here to express their love for Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to call on the British government to introduce legislation that bars Islamophobes from insulting Islam under the garb of the freedom of speech (...) Hazrat Peer Alauddin Siddiqui, who is a renowned Sufi scholar, told Geo News: “Thousands have come together to show peacefully to the western world that the production and promotion of a recent film insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has caused hurt to Muslims all over the world. We are a peaceful community and we will do everything to protect peace and respect for all on equal basis. It’s not fair that some people insult Islam everyday and preach hatred through their actions and words but the lack of legislation encourages such elements. We want to tell our government that we welcome debate and constructive criticism of our religion but insults are unacceptable and inflammatory language is contributing to the rise of extremism amongst youth in western countries where youth mistakenly believe that the West hates Islam and Muslims.”
Som ni ser av ordvalen så är hela kränkthets-industrin samlad.
Du kan läsa hela artikeln - hämtad från en pakistansk tidning (jodå, de bevakar nog sina intressen långt hemifrån, men brittisk press, också lokalpressen i Birmingham tycks ha tigit om manifestationen) - om du klickar på denna länk.
Mobiliseringen av den här sortens reaktionära massor sker parallellt med en ny våg av islamistiska terrorattentat - eller planer på sådana - i USA, Kanada, Spanien, Frankrike och... ja, vi får se.
Det finns också all anledning att se det här nya avsnittet av BBC:s Panorama som handlar om shariadomstolarnas praktik i landet (ett ämne som jag också berör i min bok Black Country, se till exempel här):