Many of Britain's sizable two-million-strong Muslim minority are dispirited by their government's failure to tackle surging anti-Islam hostilities in the European country and want to see divisive action being taken to address that. "Amongst many British Muslim communities, there is a growing disenchantment at the lacklustre response from our political leaders to speak out against anti-Muslim hatred," Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), wrote in a letter to the Home Secretary and posted on the group's website.
He accused politicians of either keeping their silence or riding the bandwagon of the anti-Islam trend.
"Whether this exists in explicit form through the actions of far-right groups, or implicitly with hysterical headlines in our media, the policy response to any of these has been far from satisfactory."
Anti-Muslim march by the far-right English Defence League (EDL) last Saturday in Stoke-on-Trent city, Staffordshire, turned violent.
Over 17 people were arrested and at least four police officers injured after scuffles between the protesters and police.
The protest coincided with a meeting by hundreds of British Muslim leaders in Birmingham to discuss the growing anti-Muslim hatred trend.
The meeting urged fellow British Muslims, estimated at nearly two million, to cooperate with authorities to help tackle this issue.
It urged them to join coalitions with people of all faiths and none to seek strong law enforcement measures against those who indulge in violence and intimidation and in spreading the poison of hatred on faith or racial grounds.
Surging
The umbrella MCB, which groups around 500 affiliated national, regional and local organizations, mosques, charities and schools, said the past year witnessed a growing trend of anti-Muslim hysteria and hatred.
"In 2009 alone, scores of Muslim institutions, centers and persons have been targeted in violent attacks."
Scotland Yard warned last July that far-right extremists were plotting terrorist attacks to stoke racial tensions in the European country.
In August, a Scottish racist threatened to kill Muslims until all mosques in the country are demolished.
Abdul Bari, the Muslim community leader, urged the Home Secretary to take divisive action to face this trend ahead of the coming elections.
"We ask you to take leadership in this matter, especially in a year where divisive elements may well flourish in the run-up to the next general election."
Last November, local councils across Britain raised the alarm that the government was too much focused on combating radicalization among Muslims while ignoring the growing threat of far-right extremism.
"Their inaction is facilitated by the insatiable appetite of a hysterical media, keen to paint a picture of a British Muslim community that is somehow foreign, suspect and disloyal," said the MCB.
"British Muslims are none of these."
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