LONDON: Britain’s diverse democracy is under threat, a UK government-commissioned report into social cohesion says, owing to extreme levels of harassment against people for their legally held views.
“This form of harassment is creating a chilling impact on freedom of expression,” it states.
The report “Threats to Social Cohesion”, by Dame Sara Khan, a government adviser, found there is “a growing and dangerous climate of threatening and intimidating harassment” in the UK of politicians, journalists, academics, artists and the public, which is leading to self-censorship.
It found ethnic minority Britons nearly twice as likely to have experienced this harassment in comparison to white peers and found “appalling levels” of intra-faith harassment and abuse and a failure of authorities to understand it.
A Sikh community activist targeted by British Sikh fundamentalists for years, who has to take different routes home each night for fear of being followed, told the report’s authors: “They have sought to discredit and undermine my work claiming I’m a traitor to the Sikh faith, that I’m not Sikh and that I seek to destroy the Sikh faith — even though I am very much a Sikh. They claim I’m a stooge of both the British and Indian govts. These fundamentalist organisations and activists have initiated hate campaigns against me… to get me de-platformed… I’ve received a lot of abuse, including death threats. Attempts have been made to try blackmail me.”
The report also features an imam who has had 18 months of police protection from Islamist extremists. It condemns the school, council and police for “appeasing protesters” and allowing the Batley Grammar school teacher to be forced into hiding following blasphemy accusations.
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that harassment towards British Indians has increased in the UK in recent years, reflecting increased tensions in particular between Hindu and Muslim communities originating in India and Pakistan,” the report adds. “After violent clashes in Leicester last autumn between Hindus and Muslims, more than 180 British Indian organisations warned that hatred towards the Hindu community was at an all-time high.”
The report recommends the establishment of a new Office for Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience to identify threats to social cohesion and find out who the perpetrators of extreme harassment are.
“This form of harassment is creating a chilling impact on freedom of expression,” it states.
The report “Threats to Social Cohesion”, by Dame Sara Khan, a government adviser, found there is “a growing and dangerous climate of threatening and intimidating harassment” in the UK of politicians, journalists, academics, artists and the public, which is leading to self-censorship.
It found ethnic minority Britons nearly twice as likely to have experienced this harassment in comparison to white peers and found “appalling levels” of intra-faith harassment and abuse and a failure of authorities to understand it.
A Sikh community activist targeted by British Sikh fundamentalists for years, who has to take different routes home each night for fear of being followed, told the report’s authors: “They have sought to discredit and undermine my work claiming I’m a traitor to the Sikh faith, that I’m not Sikh and that I seek to destroy the Sikh faith — even though I am very much a Sikh. They claim I’m a stooge of both the British and Indian govts. These fundamentalist organisations and activists have initiated hate campaigns against me… to get me de-platformed… I’ve received a lot of abuse, including death threats. Attempts have been made to try blackmail me.”
The report also features an imam who has had 18 months of police protection from Islamist extremists. It condemns the school, council and police for “appeasing protesters” and allowing the Batley Grammar school teacher to be forced into hiding following blasphemy accusations.
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that harassment towards British Indians has increased in the UK in recent years, reflecting increased tensions in particular between Hindu and Muslim communities originating in India and Pakistan,” the report adds. “After violent clashes in Leicester last autumn between Hindus and Muslims, more than 180 British Indian organisations warned that hatred towards the Hindu community was at an all-time high.”
The report recommends the establishment of a new Office for Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience to identify threats to social cohesion and find out who the perpetrators of extreme harassment are.