We, the Muslim residents in Harrow, are very concerned about the increase
of Islamophobia in the borough.

In the past year alone there has been an alarming increase of 92% of
recorded Islamophobic hate crime.

Just last month, local and national press reported that Kamaljit Chana,
also a Harrow councillor, has been found guilty of religious discrimination
and harassment in the workplace: (“I do not like Muslims” the Times
reported, and that the tribunal also found that in a one-to-one meeting
with Alipourbabaie in February 2017, Kamaljit Chana said: “Muslims are
violent” and “Pakistani men are grooming our girls”.)

Last November LBC reported “Anjana Patel, a councillor in Harrow, who
tweeted angrily at Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, asking her “how are
you going to help?” after Hindu girls in India were molested and converted
to “her religion” (Islam). As if it was somehow Malala’s responsibility.”
We are calling for the Harrow council to take immediate action against
Islamophobia including fully and meaningfully recognising November as
Islamophobia Awareness Month and taking part in the national Islamophobia
awareness campaign.

We ask for specific inclusion of Islamophobia in the implementation of the
council’s motion for ‘commitment to fighting systemic racism’ (July 2020).

We have learnt of a private event taking place with Harrow community
leaders to speak about the challenge of Islamophobia organised by the
leader of Harrow council Cllr Graham Henson.
It is highly concerning and unacceptable that the council is not engaging
with the local Muslim community about this serious issue. Why is the
council not strongly deploring this hatred in all its forms on a public
platform?

We call for council Leader Cllr Graham Henson to put out a public statement
in support of the Islamophobia Awareness Month campaign. We ask him to work
with legitimate grassroot Muslim organisations like MEND and the MCB to
help tackle this problem in the borough of Harrow.