Extremism – Barrister Advises Against CJ Pakistan’s UK Visit Protests

Extremism and protests have often been linked together. People all too often do not realise the risks assocated with getting involved in protests. In this circumstances and based on the picture poster below, you will see and read the issues I have raised, in a simple and straightforward manner.

You will see that there is a clear risk. Particularly, if you want to protest against the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s visit to the UK. Because of the issues I raise, taking part in a protest could lead to you being labelled as an extremist, fundamentalist, or worse still, a terrorist! That is why I decided to write this short article to create awareness and as a result, to prevent people from falling victim not to misinformation. More importantly, to prevent people from victim to extremism due to a lack of information.

Accidental Extremism – Barrister Tahir Ashraf advises ‘Not to Participate in Protests Against Chief Justice of Pakistan’s UK Visit as it Could Lead to Labels of Accidental ‘Extremism’

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice Mian Saqib Nisar is visiting the UK in November 2018 and people are seeking to create support for protests. I accept, and do not deny that in a just and democratic society, people have the right to peaceful protest. Though the problem is how to prevent extremism and people being labelled as ‘extremists’ due to not fact checking basics. So using the poster picture above, here are a few quick tips to prevent yourself and your loved ones from falling victim to being labelled, with the wrong sort of label.

Preventing Extremism By Identifying The Problem

Preventing extremism by identifying the problem is far easier said, than done. The problem that I see with the poster above is that those people that are organising the protests and wanting people to protest at various locations across the UK are failing to identify themselves. As a result, this raises all sorts of questions concerning the credibility of those seeking to organise the protests.

So, before you decide to go and join a protest or pass on the information to others to get them to join a protest, I say, pause. Pause for moment. And think. Think to yourself: “do I really want to risk being associated with those people at the expense of being associated with extremism”? The answer to that question should be in the negative. In other words, “no, I do not want to be associated with extremism”.

Accidental Extremism

Most people would think that the words ‘accidental’ and ‘extremism’ do not go hand in hand. If anything, most people would think that the word ‘accidental’ is so far from the word ‘extremism’ that there has to be an element of intention involved. Of course, this short article is not intended to provide the answers to many a question concerning extremism. It is though, intended to raise awareness on how ordinary people might fall victim to being labelled as extremists and fundamentalists, quite unwittingly.

For example, in July this year, I came across a poster. Rather, it was a work up of a poster. As is quite common in this technological day and age, the poster was doing the rounds on social media. That poster, sought to invite people to protest under the banner of Hizb ut Tahrir (“HT”). The HT poster was inviting people to gather together in a protest to take place in September in front of the Pakistan High Commission in London. HT, according to proponents ‘is an islamic political organisation’. So, to my mind, the issue was that HT and groups of that nature, are banned in many countries. That is why I say that people should not fall victim to the ideologies of such groups. Instead people should participate in the proper democratic process of a country. I have dealt with that in another post, here. Every person reading this should aim to forward this post to others if they think it might help to prevent extremism.

Preventing Extremism – Read!

One way to prevent yourself or your loved ones from falling victim to the underhanded tactics of unsavoury characters is to read the information. So here is the information that I came across ‘requesting people to join in protest against the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s visit to the UK.

The text is broken into three sections and the most relevant are the first and last sections. The first section suggests that there will be ‘his victims’ uniting from various faith and ethnic backgrounds uniting in protest. This is just mis-information plain and simple, seeking to play on identity politics.

The second is just information on the venues so that doesnt trouble me. However, the third section, is loaded with the sort of language commonly used in reference to dictators. Even then, my perspective is to keep it even simpler than that! That is why, the most troubling content of all, is the lack of contact information. The ‘workup’ clearly has no contact details and there is no information concerning who has organised the protest. If nothing else, that should be sufficiently categoric evidence to set off alarm bells. That is why my advice is not to engage in protests unless you are certain that of at least some of the most basic information. And as much as we have become a society obsessed with labels, I am not convinced that in a just and democratic society, ‘extremism’ is a label of with which anyone should be proud to be associated.

Be The Change You Want To See

Ultimately the best advice I could give to someone is instead of joining protests, get involved with helping people within your neighbourhoods without discriminating. Give charity. Even a smile, is charity. Get involved and the democratic process, to make the world a better place. Be the change you want to see – Be The Change.