The terror bombings in London last year have not demoralized Muslims in Britain who still see their adopted country as the "land of opportunity" that ensures justice and freedom to minorities and immigrants, says Lord Adam Hafejee Patel, Britain''s first Asian peer. "Post 7/7, both the home security and British Prime Minister (Tony Blair) issued a statement that this was not an act of the Muslims. Now, there is an increasing feeling that justice is not only done but is seen to be done," Patel told IANS in an interview here.
"For Muslims, Britain is still the land of opportunity. They accept the way we are," said Patel, who came here recently with a seven-member delegation of British Muslims.
Patel left his village in Bharuch in Gujarat and came to Britain over four decades ago. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Patel of Blackburn, of Langho in Lancashire in 2000.
Indeed it''s been a long journey for Patel from a time when there was hardly any political representation for British Muslims to the present when the community is organized politically and has weathered post-9/11 hostility successfully.
"Before 1997, there was not a single Muslim MP in the British parliament. Now, there are 11 Muslim MPs. In almost every government office, there are Muslims," he said.
"Members of minority are in every department in larger numbers. And they are no longer confined to inconsequential jobs, they are reaching the top."
What is uplifting is that despite attempts at racist and ethnic stereotyping in post-9/11 and 7/7 ferment, there hasn''t been a major of racist targeting involving the Muslims.
"There are occasional cases of racist insinuations and insults. For instance, somebody spits at times at Muslims while others raise slogans and occasionally plaster the walls with anti-Muslim graffiti.
"I don''t think there is any discrimination. The police are asked to deface slogans. If we approach the Commission on Racial Equality or any concerned department, they immediately take positive action," says Patel, who is full of admiration for the multicultural ethos of British society.
Patel, however, admits that there is still ignorance about Muslim culture that sometimes leads to misunderstandings and overt hostility, but the tendency, he points out, is towards amalgamation rather then ghettoisation.
"Britain is a very tolerant society. If you see the history of the country, you will find that the majority of them were immigrants. Every community faced some problems," said Patel, a pioneering figure in inter-racial relations who managed to get a Muslim prayer room set aside in the House of Lords within weeks of becoming the first Asian peer six years ago.
"Britain, home to two million Muslims, 400 societies and 1,500 mosques, was the only country where Prophet Mohammed''s satires were not published," points out the unassuming businessman.
"First, we became immigrants, then we became settlers and now we are full-fledged citizens of Britain. By the grace of the almighty, we have got equal opportunity in Britain," he said confidently.
(IANS)
