By: IBRAHIM Jaafar
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu destroy the credibility and reputation of the Police by promoting the toxic PREVENT programme and demonstrating a deeply problematic understanding of causes of violence as he lectures in Israel, one of the worlds most militarily violent countries.
The Prevent strategy includes a statutory duty on specified authorities, including those working in schools, health and social services, to report any signs of “extremism” and to make referrals to the government’s counter-radicalisation Channel programme.
Prevent, which has become a toxic brand for many within Muslim communities, with some viewing it as a state tool for spying on them.
During his speech, Basu urged Lord Carlile – whose appointment as independent reviewer of PREVENT has itself been met with controversy – to ignore “malign detractors” of the programme and rather only engage with ‘critical friends’. A clear indication that the review is nothing more than a shallow rebranding exercise to bolster the toxic policy.
“Critics are right to challenge ambiguity in the programme. It lacks clarity about thresholds for intervention – where safeguarding the vulnerable stops and pursuing a criminal starts,” added Basu.
Islamophobia is on the rise on daily basis. Its perpetrators are seen as hero. Murderers and attackers of Muslims were receiving light sentencing if at all they where charged---and were never labelled terrorist, a double standard?
“Neil Basu fails to acknowledge the growing body of research that establish that the causes of violence are rooted in unethical foreign policies, support for despots and hostile domestic laws which target and isolate minorities. PREVENT addresses none of this, it rather prolong its existence.”
“It is ironic that Basu speaks about PREVENT and countering terrorism in Israel, a country condemned by the UN for its policies of violence against civilian Palestinian populations and is the amongst the biggest arms dealers for India, which is engaged in its own violent campaign against a civilian population in Kashmir.”