Q&A: Visibly Muslim Britons are still 'othered' in the UK

Zara Mohammed describes herself as “a third-generation British Pakistani representing the largest Muslim body in the UK". The description is apt since she holds the key position of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).  

Zara is currently in Istanbul attending a two-day International Seminar on Human Rights Violations faced by Muslims. She shared her views on the UK during a plenary session titled  “The Situation of Muslims in Europe,” highlighting a range of challenges Muslims are facing in the country.

Zara also spoke about the challenges she personally faces as “a very visibly Muslim woman,” wearing a headscarf and shared some anecdotes on how it came as a  shock to the British media to see her being elected by Muslims to one of the prestigious leadership positions. 

On the sidelines of the conference, Zara sat with TRT World for an interview. 

TRT WORLD: What are the major problems faced by British Muslims today?

ZARA MOHAMMED: I think what we are finding is despite being here, now in our third generation, we are still being treated like the first immigrant communities. So when our parents came to this country, they faced a lot of racism, they struggled to get jobs.

But we are born here and yet we are facing challenges when it comes to getting employment because we look visibly Muslim, we are still “othered”, people are afraid of us, they are afraid of our religion, they don’t understand it so in some ways the biggest challenge is still being accepted with our British national identity and fully participating in public life, being employed, economic potential but also negative media portrayal.

Over 60 percent of media coverage is negative towards Muslims as well as our politicians who talk about Muslim women wearing burqas looking like letterboxes so that reflects that the racism is still within the institutions, very much there creating challenges for us all today.

So what Muslim Council of Britain is doing to solve these problems?

ZM: The MCB has been operating for 25 years now and we were created on the back of the satanic verses and many issues in which Muslims were finding the conflict in Bosnia and other examples where Muslim issues, the faith was being challenged, where we felt that there needs to be a strong voice. 

So the MCB lobbies, pushes and campaigns and advocates for British Muslims to parliamentarians, decision-makers and we are calling for a definition of Islamophobia, we are working with a cross-section of society to say that “this is not just a Muslim problem, this is society issue.”

We are lobbying for a definition of Islamophobia, we hosted a session in the parliament with over 44 members of parliament across all parties attended and supported. We supported the debate in parliament too and we were cited as a key authority. So we have been working hard and actively in this space.

We are also helping Muslim communities to open their mosques, we have our #VisitMyMosque project where 250 mosques opened their doors to British communities to see “this is who we are and this is who we are not, we are neighbours and friends.” So I think it is just not the political side but it is the everyday people. So we are campaigning, advocating and also holding the media to account.

Can you tell us more about the UK government’s new bill to revoke the citizenship of people with immigrant backgrounds?

ZM: Most people do not realize but the state at least in Britain has always had the ability to revoke your citizenship under certain conditions. Number one being the national security and threat so this issue was more of a problem maybe 10 years ago when there was a specific individual who the UK was trying to extradite but couldn’t. 

Most recently with Shamima Begum who went to Syria and then wanted to come back in, they said “you have been involved in terrorism-related activities, how can we take you back?” She said “I am a British citizen,” so that is what created this recent discussion. What people don’t know is, this is beyond this present government. This is part of the state trying to strip away your identity.

The current bill is the government’s ability to revoke your citizenship and not tell you that they are going to do it. And that is what makes it very sinister. 

The MCB has been lobbying on this and we are campaigning currently, working with civil society organizations, interfaith organizations to see what can be done for decision makers to take it seriously. 

Even though the UK government could always revoke your citizenship, now they do not need to notify you. We are saying “let’s get rid of the whole clause”, there are more problems in this bill than just that but that is the biggest issue that people are coming together on. 

The problem with this bill is that your citizenship shouldn’t be at the privileged hands of the state to do as they please. It needs to be protected as a human right by the court and the legal system.

[NOTE: The article came from TRT World’s Eyes on Discrimination (EOD) Centre, which monitors and reports on offences, hate crimes and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin and religion, or other related social categories. We promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.]