rats just clicked correcting a typo!

cont...

In getting involved in a matter where he had neither the theology nor the political experience to deal with, Yusaf Islam left himself open to misinterpretation and played a small part in inflaming a very difficult situation.

The backlash against British Asian people living in the UK was dreadful, the media hyped the whole sorry mess I'm sure, but news film of book burning, protest marches British flags being burnt, also the counter demonstrations of skinheads chanting 'Ain't no Black in the Union Jack', mosques being defaced &c - no-one needed his ill informed comments.

During that time I knew one teenage girl who was attacked by a bunch of racists and had her pigtails cut off, while they called her a 'Paki bastard', that her parents were Indian and third generation Catholic to boot, made no difference to the folk who used the situation as an excuse to imply all Muslims were under the control of mad mullahs because, 'thats their religion innit?'.

Yusaf Islam is said to have softened his approach in recent years and I don't think he's a terrorist in any way, but he does practise an extreme form of his religion (he won't shake hands with women for example) and I deplore his views on segregated education. Integration is a far better way IMO, and most Muslims I know are neither so exteme in their faith or their politics.

fx