UK: Muslim Conservative MP accuses Tory government of firing her for her ‘Muslimness’

British Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani says she was fired as a minister from the Boris Johnson government years ago because of her “Muslimness.” This is a timely accusation, given the mess the UK government is in. It’s also ironic that she would levy the specific accusation that her “Muslimness was raised as an issue.” The word “Muslimness” (whatever that means) was used in the peculiar definition of “Islamophobia” that the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, supported by the Muslim Council of Britain and other Muslim groups, came up with in 2018. This definition was understandably rejected by the party, and now returns to haunt it:

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.

What exactly does “Muslimness” mean ?

In Canada, the National Council of Canadian Muslims also helped define “Islamophobia” for the Toronto District School Board as “fear, prejudice, hatred or dislike directed against Islam or Muslims, or towards Islamic politics or culture.” The broad picture comes into focus.

So anyone who rejects the aspects of Islam that are incompatible with Western freedoms (beginning with speech that may be deemed offensive to Muslims), may be considered “Islamophobic,” or to be rejecting “Muslimness.”

The head of the Conservative Muslim Forum, Mohamed Sheikh, has now “called on Boris Johnson to explain whether Nusrat Ghani was sacked for her ‘Muslimness’ – after he ducked questions.”

Why does the Conservative party have a special Muslim Forum to begin with? Is there a Jewish Forum? Hindu? Christian? Buddhist? The Tories have been setting up their own problems, like many other so-called conservatives who are terrified of being judged as “Islamophobic.” To avoid this, they awarded special privileges to Muslim groups.

At the time when the definition of “Islamophobia” was still being deliberated, The Guardian reported:

Martin Hewitt, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which represents the leaders of law enforcement in England and Wales, issued a statement expressing concern about the definition on Tuesday. He said it was “too broad as currently drafted, could cause confusion for officers enforcing it and could be used to challenge legitimate free speech on the historical or theological actions of Islamic states”.

No Western country should support such vague definitions of “Islamophobia.” Canada. Such definitions undermine freedoms and values to an unknown and unspecified extent.

Ghani’s accusations against the Tories are being specifically levied against Conservative Chief Whip Mark Spencer, who denied them and called them “defamatory.”

Ghani, by all indications, was given ample time and encouragement to launch an official complaint, but did not. One wonders why the “Islamophobia” accusation is being raised now by Ghana. A possible hint:

BBC political correspondent Damian Grammaticas said the very public airing of this dispute was a sign of serious tensions among Tories ahead of a crucial week for Boris Johnson.

Whatever her reason, Ghana’s accusation that her “Muslimness” was a factor in her firing amounts to a timely accusation against the Tories for being “Islamophobic.” The world is rocked by Covid, an economic meltdown, worsening persecution of Christians, worsening anti-Semitism, and crisis after crisis in many Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Yet all the while, the “Islamophobia” canard is kept front and center by Muslims as a Western (not global) problem. China’s treatment of Muslims is not being significantly criticized by Muslims; nor is the issue of Muslims killing Muslims by the droves. Some 12,000,000 Muslims have been murdered by their coreligionists since 1948. That number has likely significantly risen now.

Ghani’s unsubstantiated accusations years after an alleged incident with the Tories should highlight the deep problems the UK and other Western countries have with Islamic supremacy, and the extreme lengths that its proponents are willing to go to achieve it.

Amid the stink created by Ghana’s accusations, the far-Left group Hope Not Hate has conveniently weighed in:

The anti-fascism campaign group Hope Not Hate said the Equalities and Human Rights Commission should open an investigation into Islamophobia within the Tory party. “Islamophobia runs right through the Conservative party, from its grassroots activists to its most senior figures. This has real life consequences for Muslim communities in the UK,” said Nick Lowles, the group’s chief executive.

Ghani has certainly proven precisely why it was important that the Tories rejected the broad definition of “Islamophobia” in the first place.

“Nusrat Ghani: Muslimness a reason for my sacking, says ex-minister,” BBC News, January 24, 2022:

A Muslim MP says her faith was raised by a government whip as a reason why she was sacked as a minister in 2020.

According to the Sunday Times, Tory Nusrat Ghani said that when she asked for an explanation it was stated her “Muslimness was raised as an issue”.

Conservative Chief Whip Mark Spencer said Ms Ghani was referring to him and added her claims were completely false and he considered them defamatory.

No 10 said the PM had previously met with Ms Ghani to discuss her concerns.

A spokesperson said Boris Johnson “then wrote to her expressing his serious concern and inviting her to begin a formal complaint process. She did not subsequently do so. The Conservative Party does not tolerate prejudice or discrimination of any kind”.

In response, Ms Ghani said Mr Johnson “wrote to me that he could not get involved and suggested I use the internal Conservative Party complaint process”.

She said she did not do this because it was “very clearly not appropriate for something that happened on government business”.

“I do not even know if the words that were conveyed to me about what was said in reshuffle meetings at Downing Street were by members of the Conservative Party,” she added.

“All I have ever wanted was for his government to take this seriously, investigate properly and ensure no other colleague has to endure this.”

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Ms Ghani was appointed to a post at the Department for Transport in 2018, becoming the first female Muslim minister to speak in the Commons.

She lost that job in a mini-reshuffle of Mr Johnson’s government in February 2020.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Ms Ghani said that when she asked for an explanation, a government whip had told her that “Muslimness was raised as an issue” during discussions about the reshuffle, and her status as a “Muslim woman… was making colleagues uncomfortable”.

The Wealden MP is quoted as saying she dropped the matter after being told that if she “persisted” in asking about it she “would be ostracised and her career and reputation would be destroyed”.

“I raised it several more times through official party channels…. I was extremely careful to follow procedure, and when the procedure ran out of road I had no choice but to get on with my career.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said her allegations were “very serious” but there would not be a formal investigation unless Ms Ghani made a formal complaint.

On Saturday night, Mr Spencer, in a series of tweets, identified himself as the person Ms Ghani’s claims were made about.

He said the accusations were “completely false and defamatory” and denied ever using the words Ms Ghani had alleged.

Mr Spencer went on to say it was “disappointing” that at the time she had declined to refer the matter for a formal Conservative Party investigation.

He said he had previously provided evidence to the Singh investigation – which examined how the Conservative Party dealt with discrimination complaints.

Initially Mr Spencer said the investigation “concluded there was no credible basis for the claims”, but later rewrote the post adding the words “to be included in the report” to the end of the sentence.

Prof Singh’s 2021 report found that while “not systemic” there was “evidence of discrimination” in the Conservative Party, and it called for the complaints process to be overhauled.

In a tweet, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said there was “no place for Islamophobia or any form of racism” in the Conservative Party, adding that the allegations had to be “investigated properly and racism routed out”….