London, NU Online
Britain has decided to outlaw a Muslim group that planned but dropped an anti-war march through a town symbolizing Britain's commitment to its war dead, a move slammed by the group as a failure to tolerate freedom of expression.
"Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course we take lightly," Home Secretary Alan Johnson said in a statement cited by The Independent on Tuesday, Jan<>uary 12.
He said banning Islam4UK, which had planned to march through the town of Wootton Bassett in southern England to protest the Afghanistan war, will take effect Thursday.
The decision makes it a criminal offence to be a member of the group, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The order will ban the group under all the different names it uses, including Call to Submission, Islamic Path, Al-Muhajiroun and London School of Sharia.
"We are clear that an organization should not be able to circumvent proscription by simply changing its name," said Johnson.
The Muslim organization was already banned under two other names -- Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect.
Islam4UK, led by Anjem Choudary, declares itself as a group of sincere Muslims who aim at forming "a platform to propagate the supreme Islamic ideology within the United Kingdom."
It is linked to controversial Muslim preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed who co-founded Al-Muhajiroun group with Choudary.
He was banned from Britain in 2006 as part of what the government called a crackdown on "preachers of hate".
Freedom of expression
The Muslim group condemned the ban as a flagrant breach of the concepts of democracy and freedom of expression in Britain. "I challenge anyone to authentically prove that any of our members have been involved in any violent activities or promoting violent activities," Choudary, a former solicitor, told BBC Radio 4's Today program.
"The word 'terrorism' has been defined in the dictionary as the use of violence against a community or a section of the community.
"I have been campaigning to say that that is precisely what the British Government is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and even domestically," he added.
"Oddly, we are now being targeted as an extremist or terrorist organization and even banned for merely expressing that. I feel this is a failure of the concept of democracy and freedom."
After a media outcry and criticism from politicians, the group dropped on Monday plans to march through Wootton Bassett to protest the Afghanistan war.
The marchers had plans to carry empty coffins to represent thousands of civilians killed since the 2001 US-led invasion of the Muslim country.
"Ultimately, what the people will see is if you don't agree with the Government and you want to expose their foreign policy, then freedom quickly dissipates and turns into dictatorship," argued Choudary.
Muslim groups, which oppose Islam4UK and had spoken out against the controversial march, did not agree with the government ban.
"The appropriate way to deal with the actions of al-Muhajiroun members is surely transparently and through our legal system, Inayat Bunglawala, founder and chair of Muslims4UK, wrote in The Guardian.
"If individuals are known to have incited violence then they should be prosecuted.
"But we should be very wary of giving our government the arbitrary power to ban entire organizations." (dar)
Britain has decided to outlaw a Muslim group that planned but dropped an anti-war march through a town symbolizing Britain's commitment to its war dead, a move slammed by the group as a failure to tolerate freedom of expression.
"Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course we take lightly," Home Secretary Alan Johnson said in a statement cited by The Independent on Tuesday, Jan<>uary 12.
He said banning Islam4UK, which had planned to march through the town of Wootton Bassett in southern England to protest the Afghanistan war, will take effect Thursday.
The decision makes it a criminal offence to be a member of the group, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The order will ban the group under all the different names it uses, including Call to Submission, Islamic Path, Al-Muhajiroun and London School of Sharia.
"We are clear that an organization should not be able to circumvent proscription by simply changing its name," said Johnson.
The Muslim organization was already banned under two other names -- Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect.
Islam4UK, led by Anjem Choudary, declares itself as a group of sincere Muslims who aim at forming "a platform to propagate the supreme Islamic ideology within the United Kingdom."
It is linked to controversial Muslim preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed who co-founded Al-Muhajiroun group with Choudary.
He was banned from Britain in 2006 as part of what the government called a crackdown on "preachers of hate".
Freedom of expression
The Muslim group condemned the ban as a flagrant breach of the concepts of democracy and freedom of expression in Britain. "I challenge anyone to authentically prove that any of our members have been involved in any violent activities or promoting violent activities," Choudary, a former solicitor, told BBC Radio 4's Today program.
"The word 'terrorism' has been defined in the dictionary as the use of violence against a community or a section of the community.
"I have been campaigning to say that that is precisely what the British Government is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and even domestically," he added.
"Oddly, we are now being targeted as an extremist or terrorist organization and even banned for merely expressing that. I feel this is a failure of the concept of democracy and freedom."
After a media outcry and criticism from politicians, the group dropped on Monday plans to march through Wootton Bassett to protest the Afghanistan war.
The marchers had plans to carry empty coffins to represent thousands of civilians killed since the 2001 US-led invasion of the Muslim country.
"Ultimately, what the people will see is if you don't agree with the Government and you want to expose their foreign policy, then freedom quickly dissipates and turns into dictatorship," argued Choudary.
Muslim groups, which oppose Islam4UK and had spoken out against the controversial march, did not agree with the government ban.
"The appropriate way to deal with the actions of al-Muhajiroun members is surely transparently and through our legal system, Inayat Bunglawala, founder and chair of Muslims4UK, wrote in The Guardian.
"If individuals are known to have incited violence then they should be prosecuted.
"But we should be very wary of giving our government the arbitrary power to ban entire organizations." (dar)
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