A review of the United Kingdom government’s plan to counter terrorism has recommended reforms to tackle Islamist extremism as a “priority threat” to the country and has also flagged other areas of growing concern, including Kashmir and Includes “Radicalization of UK Muslims”. Potentially virulent “pro-Khalistan extremism”. A review of the government’s counter-terrorism early intervention prevention strategy, published this week, warned that Pakistan’s rhetoric was affecting Muslim communities in the UK when it came to stirring up anti-India sentiment, particularly over Kashmi. It is U.K.’s caution against anti-India eloquence: over Kashmir, pro-Khalistan extremism
It also warns against false narratives being circulated by a small number of pro-Khalistan groups active in the UK. There is an element of crossover between those who try to impose boundaries around blasphemy and those who have incendiary rhetoric on Kashmir.
The review read “I have seen evidence of UK extremist groups, as well as a Pakistani cleric with a UK following, calling for the use of violence in Kashmir. I have also seen evidence demonstrating that flashpoints related to Kashmir lead to a significant surge in interest from UK Islamists,”
The issue of pro-Khalistan extremism still exists
It has been said that there was no reason to believe the issue would disappear as a grievance that Islamists would seek to exploit in the coming years. This has potential relevance for prevention, as there are examples of people convicted of terrorism offenses in the UK who previously fought in Kashmir. This includes people who later joined al-Qaeda.
On the issue of pro-Khalistan extremism, the report states, “Prevent should also be mindful of pro-Khalistan extremism emerging from the UK’s Sikh communities. A false narrative is disseminated by the tiny number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK that the government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs.”
A viperous cohesion
Narratives from such groups glorify the violence perpetrated by the pro-Khalistan movement in India. While the current threat is low, the glorification of violence abroad as well as the simultaneous belief in a state-led campaign of repression at home for the future is potentially a viperous cohesion. It comes as the review found that Islamic extremism represents the “primary terrorist threat” to the UK – “consistently accounting for the majority of terrorist attack plots both carried out and thwarted by the intelligence services”.
It was noted that currently 80 percent of the live investigations of the anti-terrorist police network are Islamists while 10 percent are from the extreme right.
What did UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman acquaint with on U.K.’s caution against anti-India eloquence: over Kashmir, pro-Khalistan extremism?
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the House of Commons on Wednesday that she intends to “rapidly implement” all recommendations from the review into the Prevention Strategy, a UK-wide system of early warning against terrorist threats. has been established.
Reviews are welcome. Major improvements are needed in prevention. The Indian-origin minister told MPs that we need to better understand the threats we are facing and outlined his ideology. According to her the truth is that there is nothing anti-Muslim about tackling Islamism, and we must continue to work closely with Muslim communities if we are to do so effectively.
