Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Muslim Defence League originally formed in 2006 by Aki Nawaz of Fun-Da-Mental

anon | 14.10.2010 09:29 | Anti-racism | Repression | Terror War | Sheffield | World

In his first interview about MDL in 2006, founder Aki Nawaz (pictured) said it was time British Muslims were more assertive of their rights – like the way black Americans behaved when faced with racism in the past. He said MDL was a reaction to the post 7/7 Islamophobia sweeping Britain, during which racist attacks on British Asians have increased dramatically.



The original MDL interview with Aki Nawaz from Fun Da Mental is as follows [with amendments due to changes since 2006]

 http://forum.mpacuk.org/showthread.php?t=20531

THE new Muslim Defence League (MDL) will take inspiration from the black power movement of 1960s America.

In his first interview about MDL, founder Aki Nawaz (pictured) said it was time British Muslims were more assertive of their rights – like the way black Americans behaved when faced with racism in the past. He said MDL was a reaction to the post 7/7 Islamophobia sweeping Britain, during which racist attacks on British Asians have increased dramatically.

Nawaz warned that MLD had martial arts experts as members who would train Muslims in self-defence as a last resort if the police did not get a better grip on racist attacks.

He said: “It’s apparent that Muslim women are being attacked and everybody has the right to defend their community.

“If the authorities won’t protect us, then we will have to protect ourselves.

“It’s a grassroots movement to tackle the ignorant, arrogant, and contrived assaults on the Muslim community. It will look at international issues.

“We want to assert, not ask, about our rights, an arena to discuss and confront these pathetic policies. Look at the way Tony Blair says about us, it is not acceptable.”

Nawaz was referring to the governments message that ethnic minorities had “a duty” to integrate or should stay away [2006]. David Cameron has since likened Muslim extremists to neo Nazis.

The outspoken star of hip-hop act, Fun Da Mental, will be head of MDL, which he says gains some inspiration from the notorious Black Panthers group, a civil rights and self-defence organisation set up by blacks in America in the 1960s.

They will hold monthly meetings nationwide, organise protests and campaigns, and hold debates. The first meeting was in Nawaz’s hometown of Bradford on December 23, at the Marlboro Cinema.

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, journalist Yvonne Ridley, and soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan were among the chief guests.

The Muslim Council of Britain, (MCB), Muslim Safety Forum (MSF) and Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK) were also been invited.

Nawaz, who has spent the last six months setting up the project, said he would fund the MDL himself .

The organisation’s mantra includes rejecting the Government’s claims that their foreign policy has nothing do with events like the July bombings and that Tony Blair stand trial as a war criminal,

MDL also believes that Muslim MPs should not be automatic spokesmen for all Muslims, and they should be free to practise Islam without the Government interferance.



The new Muslim Defence Leagues that have formed in 2010 appear to be seperate from the MDL formed by Aki Nawaz in 2006. Aki Nawaz was criticised for lyrics that "seemed to glorify terrorism" and "gave bomb making instructions from the Anarchist Cookbook in All Is War."

anon
- Homepage: http://forum.mpacuk.org/showthread.php?t=20531

Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. The latter formed MDLs are different groups. Very confusing.... — anon
  2. Beslan school massacre — anon
  3. Aki Nawaz said he'd spent 6 months bulding the MDL in 2006. Just to clarify — anon

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech