Author: Agencies/ London
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 3, 2003
British Home Secretary David Blunkett
wants Islamic preachers in the country to learn English to help combat
the "clash of cultures" suffered by young British Muslims. This was crucial,
he said, in the interest of race relations, because teachers and community
leaders shape youngsters' attitudes to help them identify with the country.
He praised Muslim, Hindu, Jewish
and Sikh communities around Britain who have supported local schemes but
recalled that in France 60 percent of Muslim preachers did not speak that
country's language.
He warned that Britain should not
"go down the same road". Last year Blunkett provoked anger when he called
for Asian parents to speak English at home to prevent "schizophrenia" between
the generations.
The Home Secretary returned to a
similar theme in the annual Heslington lecture at York University on religion's
place in modern society Wednesday. He said: "It is a worrying trend that
young, second-generation are more likely than their parents to feel they
have to choose between feeling part of the UK and feeling part of their
faith - when infact they should feel part of wider, overlapping communities.
"The issue here is identity - whether
people identify with the actual world in which they live, or with another
world they are taught about, which offers the absolute certainties which
day-to-day interaction can never do.
"We need to join those within faith
communities who are trying to resist this tendency, working together to
isolate extremism." He said: "Teaching in religious communities whether
evangelical, Christian, or Islam, is rarely spoken about, but it is vital.
"This is not just a problem for Britain; our European partners are wrestling
with the same questions. In France, which has five million Muslims, a real
debate is under way.
"At the moment in France, 60 percent
of Muslim preachers do not speak French. We should be working together
with the Muslim community in Britain to ensure we are not going down the
same road.
"It is crucial those who have this
key role in shaping the world view of our young people should be in a position
to help them relate to the world in which they live, rather than turning
them away from it.
"This is absolutely central for
the development of the Muslim community itself and for the life chances
of young Muslims, but also has a wider impact on social cohesion and race
relations", he said. Blunkett insisted that he was not calling on faith
groups to become involved in politics.
"I simply want all of us to recognise
that in an increasingly complex,connected world we all share the challenge
to find solutions to our common problems."
