For and Against Extremism...

Had a call yesterday from 'Giles' at the BBC. He wanted a few reflective comments on the impact that the terrorism case being decided in Leicester's Crown Court might have on communities here in Brum. We met on the steps of the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi' and though I mumbled something vaguely coherent, this is what I would have liked to have said, had I not been running late for a mtg and thinking about 101 other things at the time:

Communities like Washwood Heath where the alleged assailants lived cannot be tarred with any brush. I have had the honour of sitting on 2 governing bodies of 2 secondary schools there and I have witnessed fantastic strides forward, not only in educational attainment, but in the aspirations and attitudes of their kids and families.

Great stuff....But there are other forces at work too, which nobody denies.

Militant extremist thinking exists. It's not prevalent by any means, but on dark street corners it finds a home, particularly amongst the excluded and marginalised. And it has fed not only on our failed foreign policies as government research claims, but also on our well intentioned domestic attempts in 'preventing extremism'.

Some folks may remember that immediately after 7/7, the Government set up a series of themed task forces that saw the best of the best coming together to devise proposals of how we can 'prevent extremism together' or PET as its endearingly now called. 70+ recommendations were formulated, and some pretty damn good ones at that, but only 2 ever saw the light of day. What made them so pregnant with the potential to really have an impact was that they were premised on 'empowering' people to do things for themselves.

What has actually happened is that huge amounts of 'PET' money has passed into the hands of Local Authorities who are getting busy with what they do best - empowering themselves and telling people how to do things. They are busy creating top down structures that say 'you can't do it for yourselves, so shut up, listen and we'll do it for you'. Many of us are sitting on the sidelines, unable to influence its course and watching yet more money being wasted, so more boxes can be ticked.

With 1 in 50 of every 'extreme' police raids resulting in no charges or apology to the traumatised families, relations between young people and state authority is at an all time low. This of course serves only to push more of them out of mainstream civil society and into the numerous underworlds of crime and lunacy.

I am not blaming anyone for anything. I am just saying that when x happens, y is the reaction. My responsibility as a citizen and indeed as a Muslim, is to help whoever I can move beyond the world of mere reactions and towards a higher state of awareness that breaks the cycle of distrust and blame. It's not an easy task. No one said it would be.

But it is made even more difficult by clumsy Council leadership that gives no value to the voices that have the power to make a difference. Be it the Learning Curve in Balsall Heath, women's groups like Ulfa Arts, or the work of inspirational youth leaders like Amir Karim - creating new structures like the 'Women's Alliance' or the 'Pakistani Forum' are meaningless because they are state run transplants into the body of a community that will reject foreign organs of state.

The body of this community is not dead and does not need transplants or boxes ticked. It is brimming with life and hope. This needs to be affirmed, not ignored.

So that's what I would have liked to have said to Giles from the BBC...I'll have to wait and see how it comes out tonight on Midlands Today...all 3 seconds of it probably!

F out.