https://arab.news/ctru4
- Plans to update definition follow govt claims pro-Palestine marches ‘organised by extremist organisations’
- Muslim groups say move attacks free speech, civil liberties
LONDON: Muslim groups in the UK have warned the government that its plans to redefine extremism will stoke division and “vilify the wrong people.”
The government revealed proposals on Thursday to update legislation that currently defines extremism as “vocal or active opposition to British values.”
The new definition will add that it includes “promotion or advancement of ideology based on hatred, intolerance or violence or undermining or overturning the rights or freedoms of others, or of undermining democracy itself.”
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, the architect of the new definition, warned in a statement earlier this month that pro-Palestine marches in London “have been organised by extremist organisations.”
CAGE International, Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Muslim Association of Britain, Muslim Engagement and Development, and 5Pillars said the proposals are “an attack on civil liberties” that target “law-abiding individuals and groups that oppose government policy by labelling them as ‘extremist.’”
A spokesperson for the five groups said in a statement: “This new extremism definition is a solution looking for a problem. It attacks one of the cherished cornerstones of our pluralistic democracy — that of free speech.
“Anyone, regardless of faith or political colour should be free to criticise the government of the day without being labelled as ‘extremist.’”
Earlier this week, the archbishops of Canterbury and York said the plans could “disproportionately” target British Muslim communities.