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Fiyaz Mughal, who was poised to be UK PM Rishi Sunak’s Islamophobia advisor, stepped out of the race after he received threats from Islamists. (Image: X/Reuters)
Radical Islamists threatened him and called him a sellout. Fiyaz Mughal also a founder of an inter-faith charity.
Fiyaz Mughal, who was poised to become the UK government first anti-Muslim hatred tsar, dropped out of the race following threats from extremists. Mughal was the frontrunner to be Rishi Sunak’s Islamophobia advisor but on Sunday he stepped aside after the far-right and the Islamists called Mughal a “sell out”.
“I have suffered for more than a decade with abuse from extremist groups. I couldn’t take it anymore,” Mughal said. He further told UK-based news agencies that he was left “drained” by the level of attacks
Mughal also accused some UK civil servants of having sympathies towards these groups. “They have civil servants who have sympathies to these groups,” he said.
His exit comes as Rishi Sunak’s health secretary Victoria Atkins warned that extremist views must not be allowed to “percolate through society”. Michael Gove who is the levelling up and communities secretary is currently hardening up the UK government’s definition of extremism.
Atkins also said that the new approach would be a “balancing act” between “freedom of speech, but also the right of citizens to go about their daily lives”.
“There are some people, sadly, who hold views that are contrary to the values that we hold as a country. We should not allow those views to percolate through our society,” she was quoted as saying by Sky News.
Organisations falling under the new classification could face blacklisting by government ministers and public institutions, leading to the termination of public funding and involvement.
Gove will share with the public the new definition in the coming week amid a rise in extremist threats triggered by the war in Gaza. Gove said that his action will allow “good-hearted protesters decide whether to join pro-Palestine marches”.
“If we’re clear about the nature of extremist organisations, then I think some of the people — and there are good-hearted people who go on these marches, I don’t agree with them, but they’re moved by suffering and they want peace — but it may help them question who are organising some of these events,” Gove was quoted as saying by Sunday Telegraph.
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