I was told that a student had made a complaint about my appointment, and that the complaint was being investigated. The complaint related to some things I had said in a recent by-election.
I was a little taken aback, not so much because there was a complaint but because it warranted an investigation that would unnecessarily use up taxpayers' money.
This was also a concern from the perspective of the important right to freedom of speech. We were here, after all, talking about matters spoken during an election campaign, which ought not in a democracy, be subject to censure.
What had come out in the by-election was my statement that Islam was 'morally flawed and degenerate in its treatment of women’.
This was supported by the following statement of facts: that Sharia courts now operate in the UK where a woman’s evidence is worth significantly less than a man's and where women are not afforded the right to speak in divorce proceedings.
It was also highlighted that the Equality and Human Rights Commission had pointed out that a disproportionate number of Muslim women were unemployed (75%) and it was not right that they were missing out on employment opportunities due to the likely rigidly subservient role women play in Islamic, and also other ethnic minority cultures.
This was not in keeping with the strong movement towards female equality in this country going back to Wollstonecraft, and more recently, Emmeline Pankhurst. The latter fought hard to get women the right to vote.
Sharia courts were desired by immigrants in the UK, due to mass immigration without assimilation. Some immigrants had no need or desire to assimilate, and instead wanted what should be unacceptable, their own laws and culture to govern them.
However it was accepted, and even promoted, by the Labour party as a part of the grand multicultural project for a diverse (i.e. divided) Britain. » | Abhijit Pandya | Tuesday, October 04, 2011
HT: Marisol @ Jihad Watch »
