Federation of Student Islamic Societies: Muslims are being targeted

Friday, 10, Nov 2006 12:00

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) has condemned comments made by the head of MI5 who said young Muslims were being radicalised at an alarming rate.

Head of student affairs Faisal Hanjra told politics.co.uk that Eliza Manningham-Buller's warnings were "very unfortunate".

Questioning "why she raised this now" – in the light of Tony Blair's tough anti-terror legislation – he said: "She would have known the press would have a field day with this."

And making young Muslims feel targeted "leads to isolation and a victim mentality which is unhelpful in the current situation", he said.

Mr Hanjra acknowledged there was "a wider issue – 7/7 happened", but warned: "We need to be sure this is not exaggerated.

"Currently it is not being addressed in the best and most meaningful way."

He called on the government to "listen to – and stop talking at – the Muslim community" if they wanted "to enter a meaningful dialogue".