The Muslim Council of Britain has called for the Conservative Party to launch an inquiry into Islamophobia within its ranks.
The call comes after the Tories conducted what has been described as the most Islamophobic campaign in British election history during the London mayoral contest.
Dr Shuja Shafi, Secretary General of the MCB, said: “I call for an urgent review of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. Just as the Labour Party is rightly conducting an inquiry into anti-semitism, it is important for the Conservative Party to reflect upon the extent of Islamophobia in its own ranks. We should have zero tolerance for both anti-semitism and Islamophobia.
“We urge the Conservative Party to reflect and learn from this disreputable period of campaigning so that we can all draw a line and move on.”
The London mayoral campaign has been roundly denounced by virtually all sides of the political spectrum, including many Tories. The Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith repeatedly tried to smear the centrist Labour candidate Sadiq Khan with accusation that he was close to “Muslim extremists” and would be soft on terror.
Both the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon associated Khan with Shaykh Suliman Gani, whom they falsely accused of being an ISIS supporter. Both were forced to apologise yesterday after Gani started legal proceedings.
Dr Shuja Shafi commented: “I welcome the Prime Minister’s long overdue apology to Imam Sulaiman Ghani, a London imam who has thus far been unable to challenge claims made in Parliament that he supports Daesh or terrorism. As a result of these smears, we understand that Imam Ghani has been subject to abuse and threats on his life.
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“I call on both the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary to make that apology in Parliament as well. Imam Ghani became the innocent casualty of a wider Islamophobic attack on the now Mayor of London and the Conservative Party needs to apologise for this too.
“Such smear-by-association has become all too common for Muslims and Muslim organisations. It is a cancer blighting sections of our political and media class and has infected the solemn business of government.”
“For the real extremists we are all opposed to, such tactics will only provide fresh new examples of a society not willing to accept Muslims for who they are.”
