Daily Times

The recent illegal phone-hacking scandal in the UK is considered to be a great intelligence failure as several officers from New Scotland Yard were found involved. Those who hacked the voice-mails and phones of the 7/7 victims, Sara Payne (whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000) and soldiers killed in Afghanistan brought great shame to the country. The London police chief resigned abruptly and said, “As commissioner, I carry ultimate responsibility for the position we find ourselves in. I did not and that is it.” Moreover, the new chief of Scotland Yard will face questions about his force’s handling of the phone hacking and police bribery scandals. Home Office Minister James Brokenshire demanded for police reforms to tackle the networks of extremists and jihadi groups across the country.
On July 30, 2011, Islamist fanatics claimed that residential areas in East London were under the control of shariah law and held marches on the streets. Months ago, homophobic posters declaring Tower Hamlets a “gay-free zone” were put up across the borough. People belonging to another group told them that if they wanted to live in a country that abides by shariah law, they should get out and move to the Middle East or a Muslim state. The press association on July 31, 2011 reported Lord Carlile as saying that the UK has become a hub for the development of terrorists. In his recent comment, Lord Carlile said that the majority of terrorists in the UK were home-grown, and had not been trained abroad.
The recent terror attacks in Norway and its links with sectarian groups from Northern Ireland raised many questions as a US-based British citizen sold the “Hazmat” suit to the Norwegian killer, which he wore to mix chemicals for the fertiliser-based bomb. Keeping in view the looming security threat, Prime Minister David Cameron took serious notice while Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper urged the home secretary to review the anti-terror prevention strategy.
The threats of international terrorism and home-grown extremism in the UK have recently caused major changes in its intelligence and security infrastructure. The government has published a new version of its counter-terrorism strategy, known as CONTEST. The aim of CONTEST is to reduce the risk of terrorism but the four strands called PPPP (known as pursue, prevent, protect and prepare) have not been too successful as violent clashes in Northern Ireland left many police officers injured in 2011.
The intelligence and security committee (ISC), in its annual report for 2010-2011, and the joint terrorism analysis centre (JTAC) warned that the threat of international terrorism was ‘severe’ but the strength of the terror and extremist networks was evident from the changing levels of security in the country. The recent arrests of some extremist elements across the UK and prevailing sectarian tendencies have threatened the national security of the country. On November 9, 2010, the home secretary announced a review of ‘prevent’, but terrorism experts criticised the newly updated prevent strategy as it does not reflect national security demands.
The Whitehall administration has badly failed to confront extremist groups and their networks across the UK. The most interesting thing is that British police, counter terror infrastructure and the government are all complaining against the prevailing extremist culture in the country on the one hand but avoid any violent action against them due to fear of a backlash from African and Asian communities on the other.
Political commentators believe that Britain is losing the battle against extremists and the sectarian mafia. Home Secretary Theresa May is extremely disturbed by the re-emergence of extremism and sectarianism in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron once said that his country would not tolerate Islamic extremism but, notwithstanding his harsh stand, the PM eats with them at the same table. Experts view this apologetically adapted policy of the Cameron government as a major cause of the ineffectiveness of CONTEST.
Another interesting story making headlines in UK newspapers is the presence of 400 war criminals in the country suspected of war crimes, torture and genocide. Anti-genocide campaigners complain that hundreds of war criminals from across Asia and Africa are living there with “impunity” because the country’s legal loopholes are the biggest firebrand in prosecuting them. In the immigration department, a special war crimes unit recently recommended action against 400 war criminals. On February 4, 2011, The Guardian reported on 383 war criminals including 105 from Iraq, 75 from Afghanistan, 73 from Sri Lanka, 39 from Rwanda, 32 from Zimbabwe and 26 from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Northern Ireland and Scotland, religious sectarianism, fanaticism, extremism, racism and discrimination are scratching and biting at the beautiful and colourful body of the state. Sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland has taken different forms at different times, but has consistently been fuelled by extremism. As the most divided society in the world, sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland is adopting a frightening form.
The level of persistent poverty in children residing in Northern Ireland is more than double that of those in the UK. One in 10 children in Northern Ireland (about 40,000) lives in severe poverty, according to research commissioned by Save the Children. The BBC reported that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland rose again to hundreds of thousands. People living in Northern Ireland suffer some of the worst poverty in Western Europe, a consumer watchdog report reveals. Education groups are concerned about the level of violence in schools, which leads to the permanent expulsion of 13 students a day.
The department for education figures show that students were suspended on 166,900 occasions in 2010 for assault or abuse, with 2,460 expulsions. According to a Belfast Telegraph report (July 28, 2011), the number of people made homeless in Northern Ireland has increased by around 1,500 in the last year. Family breakdowns or relationship disputes were the most common reasons for people seeking help from the authorities.

The writer is the author of Afghanistan Beyond 2014 and Punjabi Taliban. He can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com