UK counter-terrorism report warns of extremist influence of Pakistan group

LONDON: Responses to perceived acts of blasphemy in the UK are more organised than ever and some of the most prominent voices involved have links to violent anti-blasphemy extremists in Pakistan, a new UK counter-terrorism report has found.

'Understanding and Responding to Blasphemy Extremism in the UK', an independent report commissioned by the British government’s Commission for Countering Extremism and released on Monday, documents the emergence of a UK wing of the extremist Pakistani anti-blasphemy political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP).

“Blasphemy-related incidents in the UK which involve extreme sectarianism, intimidation, and threats of violence have increased in frequency over recent years,” the report notes.

“The reactions to each incident have been orchestrated by anti-blasphemy activists in the UK, some of whom have associations to violent anti-blasphemy extremists in Pakistan,” it said.

The report specifically highlights three major “flashpoints”, mostly in northern England, which have "inspired" British anti-blasphemy activists since 2021.

These include protests in 2021 against a teacher at a school in Batley after they allegedly showed students a picture of Prophet Mohammed, protests against the screening of a so-called Shia-influenced film ‘Lady of Heaven’ in 2022, and protests against schoolboys in Wakefield for allegedly disrespecting a copy of the ‘Quran’ last year.

“None of the activists linked to these three incidents call for violence in the UK and expressly call on British Muslims to express their anger in peaceful and democratic ways. However, their rhetoric and the support some of them have expressed for violent anti-blasphemy extremists in Pakistan has the potential to radicalise their audience around the issue of blasphemy,” the report points out.

“Anti-blasphemy activism in the UK is focused on what is perceived to be two of the major threats Islam faces: the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, whose beliefs are viewed by activists as blasphemous, and non-Muslims who insult Islam usually by disrespecting either Mohammad or the Koran (Quran),” the analysis reads.

According to the study, before he died in 2020, TLP founder Khadim Rizvi had a long record of calling for and supporting vigilante violence and murder against accused blasphemers. It flags worrying signs for the UK as since his death, there have been three annual events in the country organised by TLP-UK commemorating Rizvi and celebrating his work to violently eliminate blasphemy against Islam.

Among its recommendations for the government, the report calls for a review of the charitable status of bodies and organisations linked to anti-blasphemy extremism, especially those linked to supporters of blasphemy violence abroad, such as in Pakistan.

It concludes: “As part of its counter-extremism work, the government should investigate principal actors and the existence or role of coordination activities and connections to violent anti-blasphemy extremists in Pakistan.

“Related to this, the government should consider proscription of groups associated with anti-blasphemy extremism, such as the TLP; and a ban on their non-British members and supporters entering the country.” The report comes as the UK government is said to be preparing to table a revised definition of extremism in Parliament later this week.