London attack

Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old British soldier, was brutally murdered in Woolwich, south-east London. According to witnesses, a meat cleaver was used to hack at the victim. Two men — 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo and 22-year-old Michael Adebowale — were arrested. Reports indicate that both men were known to the security services prior to the attack.

While the attack in London cannot be condemned enough, it must be investigated whether it was a pre-planned terrorist attack or a case of home-grown terrorism. With home-grown terrorists willing to slaughter their fellow civilians in Western countries, this dangerous trend has now become an ugly reality. The rise of religious fundamentalism in the UK is due to many factors, one of them being lack of assimilation. The third or fourth generation Muslims in the UK are trying to grapple with complex issues of identity of which there are many facets — religion being one, especially after 9/11. Britain, in itself, is responsible for the rise of fundamentalism, as it allowed radical clerics to preach in its mosques and madrassas over the years. Young people are influenced easily, as they are alienated by society at large because of high unemployment levels and racial issues. Fundamentalist groups have identified this problem and exploited it by attempting to influence disaffected youth. The hate material spewed by the clerics went far beyond the purview of  “freedom of speech”. The July 7 bombings brought forth this fact.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said that it was not just an attack on Britain and “on the British way of life; it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country”. Despite Cameron’s defence of Islam and Muslims, The Guardian reported that attacks on Muslims have spiked after the Woolwich attack. The government should ensure that apart from those involved in Rigby’s murder, the Muslim community is not targeted as a whole, and those attempting to do so are brought to book.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.