Time to listen!
British
Pakistan Youth Council Achievements and Successes
British Pakistani Youth Council are a national Group of
young people who, whilst recognising our faith and ethnic heritage, focus on
the present and look to the future. We focus on issues affecting our lives as
British Young People. Great Britain is our Adopted motherland and therefore our
future and our interests are forever intertwined.
We are inclusive and welcome young people who share our
values from all parts of Great Britain. The BPYC is an inclusive group and
seeks out people from all backgrounds, in particular the youth and those from a
working class background. In other words we are not elitist, unlike other
“Muslim representative” organisations that fail to include the voices of young
British Pakistan people.
Terrorism and radicalisation appears kind of ‘just beyond’ and such throw away lines by the former US President such as “if we don’t fight ‘em over there, they’ll come here” rings a little untrue if not down right devious, even if it happens to be a understandable assumption. Rather than looking the other way and thinking such things do not concern us – we together must be willing to have a dialogue on these and other issues that concern not just British Pakistanis or British Muslims but all of us in the United Kingdom.
Terrorism and radicalisation appears kind of ‘just beyond’ and such throw away lines by the former US President such as “if we don’t fight ‘em over there, they’ll come here” rings a little untrue if not down right devious, even if it happens to be a understandable assumption. Rather than looking the other way and thinking such things do not concern us – we together must be willing to have a dialogue on these and other issues that concern not just British Pakistanis or British Muslims but all of us in the United Kingdom.
Much of what the police and security
services are engaged in United Kingdom around the issues of terrorism
and extremism remains classified for a reason, we are not saying that
this information should be shared but we are asking the politicians and
civil servants as well as the media to be more open and aware of
sensitivities that can drive further alienation. Extremists – both
religious and political not just from Islamic backgrounds feed on those
unaware.
Deradicalisation of Pakistan’s existing
radical Islamic community is a struggle, but preventing the further
isolation and radicalisation of British Pakistanis is achievable with
engagement at local community levels by all those who are willing to
seek proactive solutions to the issues that drive extremism. At the BPYC
we are already engaged with deradicalisation experts as well as Islamic
scholars from all schools of thought within this British and Pakistani
community and are seeking to open the British Pakistani community to
engage all communities in the UK in dialogue and we aim to work together
for a stronger awareness and British identity.
Most British Pakistanis aren’t radical or
extreme and never were and they dislike radicalism but this information
is not getting out not just to the wider community of British Pakistanis
but also others – for example the media carries such stories that the
next 9/11 type attack on the US will be likely be by British Pakistanis!
We waited for some British Pakistanis or indeed others to respond to
this – yet no response was made by any mainstream organisation or group
that represented British Pakistanis. Indeed as British Pakistanis we
have a growing problem generally with extremism and intolerance as with
many other issues such as crime and so forth – like many other
communities in the UK – but this can be dealt with over time with
maturity and positivity from not just this community but all communities
that make up our nation the United Kingdom. Many of the arrests made in
the UK were of British Pakistanis – and regardless of whether most of
them were released afterwards – we as British Pakistanis need to be able
to discuss these issues openly and without fear.
Most British Pakistanis and Pakistanis are
not extremists and the United Kingdom is not fighting Islam – its time
for engagement – its time listen to each other, its time to work with
each other on a common ground and with a common focus – we can begin
this by dialogues within this community to increase awareness of common
issues such as extremism.
The British Pakistani Youth Council is here and we will listen to you and in turn we hope you will listen to us.
