Category: Newspaper Articles

Praise for Baroness Warsi: ‘Her action reflects the mood of Dewsbury – and of Britain’ The decision of the daughter of a local Pakistani mill worker, who attended a comprehensive school just a few hundred yards from here, to reject the trappings of power over her Government’s “morally indefensible position” on the Middle East, has turned her into a heroine in her home town. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/praise-for-baroness-warsi-her-action-reflects-the-mood-of-dewsbury-and-of-britain-9658042.html

Britain’s Foreign Office Minister, Sayeeda Warsi, has stunned everyone with her resignation over the UK government’s stand on Gaza. Will the powerful Zionist lobby forgive the first Muslim woman minister for her audacity?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/baroness-sayeeda-warsi-stirring-the-eton-mess-9256660.html

https://www.theasiantoday.com/m/article.aspx?articleID=3485

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/baroness-warsi_n_5036065.html Interview in Huffington Post, 29th March 2014

By Sayeeda Warsi Malala Yousafzai’s story begins with her parents being commiserated with after producing a baby girl. In their part of northern Pakistan, she says, rifle shots ring out in celebration of a baby boy’s arrival. But there is no such fanfare for females; their destiny is to cook and clean, to be neither seen nor heard. When Mr and Mrs Yousafzai were married, a small boy was placed on their laps to encourage the birth of a son. It didn’t work; their firstborn was a girl who ‘popped out kicking and screaming’. And that girl’s father was mocked by relatives for bothering to add her name to the family tree, which, of course, only featured men. So how did Malala, who barely warranted a mention in her family’s genealogy, become destined for the history books, a powerful symbol for girls’ universal right to an education? “I am Malala” tells us how. Almost one year ago, the world became aware of Malala when she was shot by the Taliban for what they deemed a crime: going to school, and fighting for that right. For fifteen years before that she had grown up with her two younger brothers (the boy-on-the-lap trick eventually worked) in Mingora, the biggest city of Swat Valley in Kyber Pukhtunkwa (KPK), previously known as the North West Frontier. Malala gained fame – and some notoriety among the strict, anti-Western mullahs – for writing an anonymous blog on girls’ education for BBC Urdu, before revealing her identity and campaigning more vocally on girls’ rights. But her story, written with renowned foreign correspondent Christina Lamb, starts with details of her upbringing, her grandparents’ and parents’ backgrounds, and her childhood. The narrative, however, soon becomes like a treacherous KPK road: unpredictable and full obstacles. En route to Malala’s attempted assassination, we read about the 1999 the military takeover of Pakistan; 9/11; yet another war in neighbouring Afghanistan; the assassination of Pakistan’s first woman Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto; and the killing of Osama Bin Laden – all through the eyes of a girl who is almost as young as this tumultuous young century itself. After Malala turns ten, Taliban rule hangs over the lives of the people of Swat, like the mountains of the Hindu Kush. She sees the fanatical, barbaric extremists destroy the cherished Buddhist landmarks of her city. She sees them brainwashing her neighbours and pocketing their wages. She also sees, with her own eyes, the beheaded victims of their purges. But the recurring theme of her tale is the assaults on the rights of women and girls. Every chapter seems to shed a glaring light on women’s subordination. Their situation deteriorates further when the Taliban gain control of Swat. Despite Islam’s rich history of women in public life, as scholars, politicians, businesswomen and doctors, the Taliban launches an assault on the very heart of equality, blowing up girls’ schools. Malala’s father, a prominent school owner, looks to be in grave danger. And yet, on October 9 2012, it is the very embodiment of girls’ education that is targeted: Malala. At point-blank range, she is shot in the head on her school bus, the bullet passing her left eye and going into her shoulder. Two of her friends are also hit. Amid the blood and the chaos and the confusion, the author does not miss a pertinent parallel: that while her attackers are seeking out this outspoken proponent of female education, her mother is, for the first time since she left school at the age of six, attending a class for lessons herself. This scene, and the ensuing chapters on her touch-and-go state and bit-by-bit recovery, make for harrowing reading. For me, what brought this closer to home was that Malala was the same age as my daughter. When news of her attempted assassination attempt hit, I was quick to make the case to Foreign Secretary William Hague for the UK to offer what assistance it could to help her. What was even more personal and poignant was reading her reflections on her country. I spent time living in Pakistan, and I am now proud to be the government minister with responsibility for that country – the country from which my parents originate. Like Malala, Pakistan is relatively young, but it has suffered a great deal in a short time. In recent years, Pakistan has suffered more than 40,000 losses from terrorist attacks. It has also endured some of the world’s worst natural disasters, from the 2005 earthquake to the 2010 floods. At the same time, its political pendulum has swung, shakily, between elections and military takeovers since its birth in 1947, with its first ever full democratic elections taking place only this year. Malala and her family have an answer to some of the man-made problems: education. As she says, describing her father: “Education had been a great gift to him. He believed that lack of education was the root of all Pakistan’s problems. He believed schooling should be available for all, rich and poor, boys and girls.” That is why the UK government is working with the government of Pakistan to deliver better quality and more widely available education. This will put four million children in school by 2015, recruit and train new teachers, and construct or rebuild more than 20,000 classrooms. As Malala says, education can transform Pakistan’s future. She may not have warranted an entry onto her family tree, but today Malala is known across the world. “I’m one of the few fathers known by his daughter,” her father is quoted as saying towards the end of the book. She has turned a potential tragedy into a positive – bringing to the world’s attention that crucial issue of girls’ right to an education. This is certainly not the last we have heard from Malala.

Home About Social Action Speeches Media Gallery Video Contact Sayeeda Guardian: This Ramadan we’ve shown Islam and Britishness are not incompatible by Admin on August 10, 2013 By Sayeeda Warsi This week British Muslims and Muslims across the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr. After a month of fasting, prayer and reflection there was a time to celebrate and enjoy family meals. Ramadan has been tough this year – not just because of the long, hot summer days, but because of the recent string of attacks on Muslim communities and the shadow of the terrible events of Woolwich in May. Since the horrific murder of soldier Lee Rigby on the streets of London, we have seen bombs set off at mosques, a school targeted by arsonists, and a Somali community centre razed to the ground. A month earlier we saw the terrible murder of 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham, a horrific crime for which a man has been charged and which police are treating as an act of terrorism. The reaction to these attacks among the British Muslim community was striking. Their response wasn’t to retreat; it was to reach out. This Ramadan, hundreds of community iftars (evening meals, when the fast is broken) have been held across the country. They have united people of all faiths and none, many of whom have never been in a mosque before, breaking bread in order to break down barriers. Many of these were part of the Big Iftar, which culminated with the prime minister’s visit to the Jamia Masjid in Manchester on Wednesday. For me, this was a heartening act of defiance: people who came under attack opening up their doors to the wider community. The Zainabia Islamic Centre in Milton Keynes was firebombed in May and only two months later they were reaching out and hosting a fantastic Big Iftar. Just over a month after a bomb went off nearby, the Aisha mosque in Walsall hosted dozens of people at their community iftar. And when the Muswell Hill Somali community had nowhere to hold their Big Iftar – their centre was burnt down in June – they linked up with their Shia neighbours, the Al-Khoei Foundation, and held their event at their centre in Brent. These events have been crucial in helping to demystify the faith of Islam – a necessary task. Suspicion of Muslims abounds in this country; excellent research by Matthew Goodwin revealed that around half of the people in Britain thought there would be a clash of civilisations between the west and Islam, and less than a quarter believed that Islam was compatible with the British way of life. We need to put a stop to this sentiment and any ideas that give rise to Islamophobia. During the prime minister’s visit, he was proud to state that this government has done more than any other to tackle anti-Muslim hatred: setting up a cross-government working group on anti-Muslim hatred; funding the first service to record attacks and support victims; encouraging the Association of Chief Police Officers to disaggregate their religious hate crime data, giving a clearer picture of the problem; changing our Prevent strategy to deal with all forms of extremism including far-right extremism and EDL activity – in fact the next extremism task force meeting, set up by the prime minister in the wake of Woolwich, will be focusing on anti-Muslim hatred. This Ramadan we also held the UK’s first Srebrenica memorial day, the first time the genocide of 8,000 Muslim men and boys has been commemorated outside Bosnia. But, of course, there is much more to do. Much of my work as minister for faith and communities is centred on showing that there is no conflict between being British and Muslim. One of the most powerful ways of doing that is highlighting the bravery and loyalty Muslims in the British Indian army – hundreds of thousands of them – who fought for king and country during the first world war. This is just one of the ways, like the Big Iftar, that we can change attitudes and strengthen communities. After all, the aim of those behind the recent attacks on Muslims, as with those behind the brutal murder of Lee Rigby, was to create division and to try to show that Islam and Britishness are not compatible. How they must have seethed when they saw so many people from all walks of life coming together this Ramadan, and so many Muslims doing what is so very British: keeping calm and carrying on.

By Baroness Warsi Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War? So goes the famous 1915 recruitment poster, aimed at coaxing fathers across Britain into joining up and playing their part in the ‘war to end all wars’. One year before we mark the centenary of that conflict, which, of course, didn’t end all wars, we are starting to ask one another a similar question: what did YOUR forefathers do in the Great War? For me, the centenary offers an opportunity to address the historical blind spot we have when it comes to recognising the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers. After all, think of the First World War and you think trenches and Tommies, poems and poppies. You don’t think of Aussies landing on the scorching shores of Turkey. You don’t think of men from the West Indies travelling to Egypt. And you certainly don’t think of sepoys in turbans, serving on the Western Front. But they deserve to be remembered. The largest volunteer army was the British Indian Army, which provided 1.2million men to fight. This is a staggering contribution; it’s thought that a tenth of the British war effort came from Indian soldiers. Despite the scale of sacrifice – 74,000 lost their lives in battle – knowledge of the contribution is sadly lacking. My mission is to make sure their bravery, and that of others, is not forgotten. Immediately after the outbreak of war, divisions from India were dispatched to Europe. Thousands of men travelled across the world to fight for King and country – a King who wasn’t from their land and a country which they’d probably never seen. It wasn’t just the propaganda that lured these men to battle. It was the glory that bravery would bestow on them, tribally and spiritually – and the 11-Rupee monthly salary. Why is it so powerful to tell these stories? When I visited the battlefields of France and Belgium earlier this year, I found it incredibly powerful to see the graves of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Hindus, lying together, side by side, just as they had fought side by side. Scanning the countless names of the war memorials, and seeing the Khans and Singhs listed on the Menin Gate, is the most powerful reminder that this was a truly global war. I don’t have any relatives who fought in that conflict. But both my maternal and paternal grandfathers fought in the Second World War. They were in the Bombay Royal Sappers and Miners Regiment serving, I believe, in Aden and Burma. I feel a great sense of pride knowing that my grandparents were fighting for this country long before my parents even came to these shores. I hope that uncovering the Commonwealth contribution to the First World War will have a similar impact on other people. What better way of showing that people of all faiths and all backgrounds can unite in the name of freedom than by illustrating a shared history, one based on unity, freedom and comradeship? This is particularly potent at a time when questions are regularly raised about loyalty and identity, about who genuinely belongs to this country and about our history. Groups like Al-Muhajiroun and the EDL argue you cannot be British and Muslim. The story of the Muslim soldiers during the First World War puts paid to this myth. It shows that just under 100 years ago we weren’t only rubbing along together, we were serving the British King together. I hope that, come 2018, after four years commemorating this war, there will be many more people who know what their relatives did in the First World War. And that many more will know just how many people – of all ethnicities, races and faiths – fought for the freedoms we Britons enjoy today.

By Baroness Warsi This weekend, mosques have been opening their doors to people of all faiths, and none, to share iftar, the meal Muslims have when they break their fast each evening during Ramadan. These events have been taking place in scores of community centres, living rooms, parks – even flash mobs – across the country. It’s all part of the “Big Iftar”: a month-long opportunity to show Islam in practice. It comes at a time when myth-busting is more important than ever; research earlier this year showed that nearly half of all Britons thought that a clash of civilisations between the West and Islam was inevitable, and less than a quarter thought that Muslims were compatible with the British way of life. Regrettably, it proves what I said two years ago: Islamophobia has passed the dinner-table test. Suspicion can spur some – a small, abhorrent few – into committing acts of hatred. We have seen a worrying spate of incidents over recent weeks and months, with bombs found in West Midlands mosques, arson attacks on a north London centre and a Kent school, all of which followed the tragic murder of Mohammed Saleem, who was stabbed to death in Birmingham as he walked home from evening prayers in April. A person has been charged in connection with some of these incidents, so we can’t comment on them. But these acts have been treated as acts of terrorism – and rightly so. This response, as Home Secretary Theresa May wrote last week, shows violence against Muslims will not be tolerated in this country. Meanwhile the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, wrote to Muslim organisations, outlining the Government’s determination to tackle Islamophobia. It follows our unprecedented crackdown on anti-Muslim hatred. We have set up a cross-government working group to advise us on the issue. We are the first government to fund an organisation to record anti-Muslim attacks and support victims. And we are warning of the consequences of hatred taking hold, by supporting the first Srebrenica Memorial Day. We are also demonstrating the positive contribution of Muslims to Britain, past and present, by commemorating the thousands from British India who fought for the Allied victory in the First World War. We should not allow any let-up in our fight against hatred and prejudice. As the Prime Minister said after the horrific murder of Lee Rigby in May, our country will never give in to terror. This means we must stay true to our British tradition of making this country a place where people are free to worship without fear. We can take inspiration from the Somali community of Muswell Hill, whose centre was razed last month. With the help of the Al-Khoei foundation, they held their own Big Iftar this weekend, to which they invited Mr Pickles. This is a community which has defied those who tried to create division; it has kept calm and carried on. And there couldn’t be anything more British than that.

It is vital that the role of Empire troops in the First World War is acknowledged, says Baroness Warsi By Jane Merrick, Kashmira Gander The contribution of 1.2 million soldiers from the Indian subcontinent and others from the Commonwealth who fought for Britain in the First World War must be recognised when the nation marks the centenary of the start of fighting next year, Sayeeda Warsi, the Communities and Foreign Office minister, says today. Remembering the “forgotten heroes” who fought for the Allies is essential to bringing different ethnic communities in Britain together for the 2014 centenary, particularly in the wake of the Woolwich attack, Baroness Warsi says. The minister has written to Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, who is in charge of the Government’s commemoration programme, asking her to ensure that the “shared heritage” of today’s generation of young Britons whose ancestors fought on the Western Front is a key part of next year’s events. One plan being looked at is to send servicemen and women into schools to tell the stories of Commonwealth soldiers. A huge contribution was made by the 74,000 from the Indian Army who died in the war, among whom were Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus from India and what later became Pakistan and Bangladesh. Officers and infantry from the Indian Army were the first foreign force to fight alongside Britain on the Western Front. They also fought in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, Gallipoli, and East Africa. There were also 15,000 soldiers from the Caribbean recruited into the British West Indies Regiment. Plans for the 2014-2018 commemorations were launched earlier this month and include educational programmes to ensure today’s schoolchildren learn about the horrors and lessons of the Great War. While the launch of the programme was overshadowed by a row over whether Germany could be criticised, there have been efforts behind the scenes to ensure soldiers from the wider Commonwealth are remembered. Lady Warsi, the first Muslim to sit at the Cabinet table and whose own grandfathers fought alongside Britain in the Second World War, says that many young people, including British Muslims, may not be aware that their ancestors fought for king and country nearly 100 years ago. “Every person who lives in this country owes a debt of gratitude to those who fought for the freedoms we enjoy today,” she says. “Their legacy is our liberty. But there are lots of people whose ancestry lies beyond this island who may feel disconnected from the Great War commemorations. “A Muslim lad in Bradford or a girl whose parents are from Jamaica may think, ‘What has all this got to do with me?’. Revealing to people that their forefathers fought too – that they saw their loyalty to the British crown as synonymous with their duty to their god or guru – shows that this was a truly global war, where people of all nationalities and religions came together in the name of freedom.” Lady Warsi, who visited war graves in northern France and Belgium earlier this year, has commissioned projects actively to promote the role of the “forgotten heroes”. These include Mir Dast, an officer in the 57th Rifles of the Indian Army, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry. Coming under a German surprise gas attack at Ypres in April 1915, Dast, who had no gas mask, dipped the end of his turban into chloride of lime and held it over his mouth as he held the line against the enemy. Despite being wounded in the hand and gassed, he saved the lives of eight officers. Later, in hospital in Brighton, he wrote to his family in the North-West Frontier Province: “I am in England. I have been twice wounded, once in the left hand, of which two fingers are powerless. The other injury is from gas. The men who came from our regiment have done very well and will do so again. The Victoria Cross is a very fine thing, but this gas gives me no rest. It has done for me.” The determination to recognise Commonwealth soldiers has been given extra momentum by the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last month, allegedly by two Muslims who denounced Britain for sending soldiers to Afghanistan. Lady Warsi says: “The fact that, less than 100 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Muslims fought for the freedoms we enjoy today puts paid to any myth that Muslims do not support our Armed Forces or the values they stand for. There is no better riposte to those who say that there is a clash of civilisations between Islam and the West than remembering the fact that Tommies and Tariqs fought side by side on the battlefields. “Seeing the graves of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lying side by side with their Christian and Jewish comrades on the fields where they fought together and died together was incredibly powerful. “We often imagine how hard it was for the lads from Britain, who knew little of life beyond their own towns and villages, arriving in Flanders fields. Think, then, what it must have been like for the thousands who sailed over from the Indian subcontinent, arriving in a landscape so sodden that people actually drowned in the mud. “Our boys weren’t just Tommies – they were Tariqs and Tajinders too, and we have a duty to remember their bravery and commemorate their sacrifices. I have made it my mission to ensure that the centenary is a chance for everyone to learn about the contribution of the Commonwealth soldiers and those who might otherwise be forgotten.” Britain’s record in the Empire may be inglorious, with the most recent reminder being the compensation paid out to victims of torture and abuse by British soldiers in the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s. Richard Smith, lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and author of Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War, said: “The war should be remembered as a truly imperial war. People from all corners of the Empire not only served as soldiers, sailors, aircrew, labourers and carriers, but also produced the raw materials essential for the war effort such as rubber, oil, timber and food. “At the same time, we also need to commemorate the war in ways relevant to the multicultural nature of contemporary Britain. While those with Indian, African and Caribbean backgrounds may have ancestors who fought for the Empire, many will have ancestors who fought in opposing forces or who lived in non-combatant countries. “We should also remember that the discrimination experienced by many volunteers for the Empire forces led them to campaign for independence after the war.” Jahan Mahmood, a historian who teaches children from South Asian backgrounds about their ancestors’ contribution to both world wars, said that, despite the British Empire’s record, it was essential to pay tribute to Commonwealth soldiers. He said: “To feel a sense of belonging and connection, there has to be something more than just a passport. Why was it that certain communities came to Britain, from South Asia and the Caribbean? They were part of the Empire. “Their contribution to the wars is a story that we seem to have completely forgotten. After Woolwich, there were stories being passed around about the Muslim contribution to Britain. We seem to have forgotten that when Britain was in a state of war, they came to assist us in our battle against, initially, Germany.”