Clashes erupt in Swedish city after another Koran burning

September 5, 2023 Article

Clashes have erupted in an immigrant neighbourhood in Sweden’s third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to the Koran, police have said.

Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set on fire, including in an underground garage, describing the events that started on Sunday and lasted overnight as “a riot”.

The clashes started after an anti-Islam activist Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Koran and an angry mob tried to stop him while police, some of them in riot gear, detained at least three people.

Early on Monday, an angry crowd of mainly young people also set fire to tyres and debris, and some were seen throwing electric scooters, bicycles and barriers in Malmo’s Rosengard neighbourhood, which has seen similar clashes in the past. There were several banners relating to the Koran burning.

Senior police officer Petra Stenkula said: “I understand that a public gathering like this arouses strong emotions, but we cannot tolerate disturbances and violent expressions like those we saw on Sunday afternoon.

“It is extremely regrettable to once again see violence and vandalism at Rosengard.”

Speaking at a news conference, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Regardless of the reason behind these riots, the car fires, the harassment, violence against police officers… regardless of the reason, I think that all Swedes find this completely unacceptable.”

In the past months, Mr Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has desecrated the Koran in a series of anti-Islam protests mostly in Stockholm that have caused anger in many Muslim countries. Swedish police have allowed his actions, citing freedom of speech.

The Koran burnings have sparked angry protests in Muslim countries, attacks on Swedish diplomatic missions and threats from Islamic extremists. Muslim leaders in Sweden have called on the government to find ways to stop the Koran burnings.

Sweden dropped its last blasphemy laws in the 1970s and the government has said it has no intention to reintroduce them.

However, the government has announced an inquiry into legal possibilities for enabling police to reject permits for demonstrations over national security concerns.

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Categories: Koran Burning, Malmo, News, Quran, Rosengard, Swedish city

Denmark takes al-Qaeda threat very seriously after Koran burnings

August 16, 2023 Article

Denmark is taking threats from the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda very seriously, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said on Tuesday, according to broadcaster DR.

On Monday, reports had emerged that al-Qaeda was calling on Muslims to launch retaliation attacks for recent desecrations of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark.

The Danish domestic intelligence service PET had earlier confirmed a new threat against Sweden and Denmark, in response to Koran burnings in the two countries.

Several anti-Islamic protests involving the damaging and burning of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark have triggered protests in Muslim-majority countries in recent months.

The reactions in Iraq were particularly strong. In July, the Iraqi government expelled the Swedish ambassador, while demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set fire to it.

The Koran burnings have been carried out by small groups seeking to provoke Muslims. The protests fall under freedom of speech in both countries and are legal.

Al-Qaeda is said to have posted an online statement calling for severe punishment against everyone involved in such acts, including blowing up Swedish and Danish embassies around the world.

But Hummelgaard reassured Danes that they should not be nervous. Police and secret services were keeping a very close eye on the situation, he said.

He reiterated that the government intended to ban the provocative Koran burnings, however it was initially unclear what steps would be taken.

The terror alert level in Denmark has not been raised, despite the multiple threats. It is currently on the fourth of five levels.

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Categories: Al Qaeda, Burning, Denmark, Koran, terrorism

Two million expected as Hajj pilgrimage starts in Saudi Arabia

June 26, 2023 Article

Muslim pilgrims in Mecca have circled the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, and then converged on a vast tent camp in the nearby desert, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The event is returning to its full capacity for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, more than 1.8 million pilgrims from all over the world have amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj, and the number was growing as more pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia joined, said a spokesman for the Saudi Hajj Ministry, Ayedh al-Ghweinim.

Authorities have said they expect this year to approach pre-Covid levels of more than two million.

Egyptian businessman Yehya Al-Ghanam said he was at a loss for words to describe his feelings on arriving at Mina, one of the biggest tent camps in the world, outside Mecca, where pilgrims will stay for much of the Hajj.

“Tears will fall from my eyes out of joy and happiness,” he said. “I do not sleep. I have not slept for 15 days, only an hour a day.”

The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to.

For pilgrims, it is a moving spiritual experience that absolves sins, brings them closer to God and unites the world’s more than 1.8 billion Muslims. Some spend years saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the journey.

The rituals during the Hajj largely commemorate the Koran’s accounts of Ibrahim, his son Ismail and Ismail’s mother Hajar.

Pilgrims have been doing the ritual circuit around the Kaaba since arriving in Mecca over recent days. As the last ones performed it on Monday, the pilgrims made their way by foot or bus to Mina.

In Mina, soldiers sprayed pilgrims with water to cool them down in the heat in the desert plain, where there is little respite from the blazing sun.

The faithful set up in their tents, resting in the rows of cubicles and praying together to prepare for the coming rituals.

On Tuesday, pilgrims will move to Mount Arafat, a desert hill where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered his final sermon. Afterwards, they collect pebbles from a site known as Muzdalifa to be used in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil back in Mina.

The final three days of the Hajj coincide with the Eid al-Adha holiday, when Muslims around the world slaughter livestock and distribute the meat to the poor.

In 2019, more than 2.4 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj. In 2020, amid worldwide coronavirus lockdowns, Saudi Arabia limited the pilgrimage to a few thousand citizens and local residents.

Last year, just under 900,000 attended as Saudi Arabia allowed limited numbers of pilgrims from abroad.

Read relevant links: Saudi Arabia bans foreign pilgrims amid Covid-19 fears.

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Categories: Coronavirus, Hajj, Ka'aba, Pilgrimage, Prophet Muhammad, Saudi Arabia

Hate-filled financial analyst jailed over homemade explosives stash

June 12, 2023 Article

A financial analyst who made homemade explosives while harbouring “deep-seated” hatred against people he saw as “enemies” of Islam has been jailed for eight years.

Asad Bhatti, 50, from Redhill, Surrey, was convicted at the Old Bailey of having a stash of bomb-making materials after police received a tip-off from a computer repair shop.

On Monday, Mrs Justice McGowan jailed Bhatti for eight years with a further four years on extended licence after finding he posed a danger to the public in the future.

She said Bhatti had developed a “deep-seated hatred” for a group of Muslims he identified as “The Hypocrites” as well as other people based on their race and sexuality.

The judge noted that Bhatti had been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder and was a “compulsive individual” but was also intelligent, well educated, with a responsible job.

She told him: “You were not targeted or taken advantage of by others. You became interested and that interest may well have been obsessive because of your autistic condition. But the interest was real and caused you to experiment in a way that was highly dangerous.”

The court had heard how Bhatti was reported to police by the owner of a computer repair shop who became suspicious of the content on his laptop.

An analysis of the computer and other electronic devices seized by police revealed a library of materials on how to manufacture explosive devices.

A search of the defendant’s home and a rented storage unit uncovered precursor chemicals and circuitry for the construction of explosive devices.

Experts also identified an improvised explosive device and three quantities of an improvised explosive known as black powder.

The prosecution alleged Bhatti had the explosives for “a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.

An examination of Bhatti’s computer also revealed a 173-page document compiled by the defendant entitled The Mu’min’s Handbook.

Although unfinished, its contents page included sections on Islam, jihad and martyrdom followed by chapters on “a simple guide to explosives”, “hand-to-hand combat” and “handguns and sniper rifles”.

The 20th chapter entitled The Munaafiqun (The Hypocrites) identified a perceived worldwide “enemy” to Islam and its “true adherents”.

He wrote that the “evil human beings” included “corrupt heads of Governments, Black Magicians, Religious Scholars”.

When asked in police interview to explain the content, Bhatti said it was “just like educational documents, work documents, just like hobby documents, stuff that interests me”.

Bhatti explained that he had studied engineering and business management at the University of Greenwich, and that he was a part-qualified accountant working as a senior financial analyst.

Giving evidence at his trial, Bhatti claimed he had the materials for lawful experimentation and out of curiosity.

In March, a jury rejected his explanation and found him guilty of two counts of possessing explosives, making explosives and two counts of possessing articles for terrorist purposes on or before January 8 2021.

In mitigation, Edward Henry KC told the court that Bhatti was “sad” rather than “bad” and had not sought to share his writings with others.

Mr Henry said: “He wanted to reduce the world to pure reason, a reason of his own understanding.”

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Categories: Asad Bhatti, Mu'min handbook, Munaafiqun, Redhill

German city allows mosques to broadcast call to Friday prayers

October 11, 2021 Article

The German city of Cologne will start permitting mosques to broadcast muezzin calls for prayer, the city said.

The calls can be broadcast for five minutes every week for the Friday prayer around noon and audible outside the Muslim houses of prayer, city spokeswoman Katja Reuter said.

Cologne mosques need to apply for a special permit in order to be able to broadcast the call.

The initiative will be limited to two years and then be re-evaluated.

The city’s mayor welcomed the decision, saying that “if in addition to the sounds of the church bells we also hear the call of the muezzin, it shows that in Cologne diversity is valued and lived”.

“Permitting the call of the muezzin is a sign of respect,” Mayor Henriette Reker tweeted last week.

Christian church bells ring out daily in many German cities and towns.

Cologne, a western city of one million, has one of Germany’s biggest Muslim communities and about 35 mosques.

Most Muslims initially came from Turkey as guest workers 60 years ago and then later brought their families.

Only few other Muslim houses of prayer across Germany, like in the western towns of Oer-Erkenschwick and Dueren, have been broadcasting the muezzin’s call for years, sometimes despite the protests of Christian neighbours.

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Categories: call to prayer, Cologne, News, Turkish Muslims

Derbyshire Teenager Threatened to Plan Attack in Dover Against Muslim Refugees

August 2, 2021 Article

A 15-year-old boy set up an extremist right-wing group after spending a “concerning amount of time online” during the first national lockdown, a court has heard.

The teenager, from south Derbyshire, ran the openly racist channel, which had 38 subscribers, on the encrypted Telegram app from August 5 last year, when he was 14.

He vetted others into private chat groups where they talked about “doing something” against ethnic minorities, and discussed weapons, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

The boy downloaded a video of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, in which gunman Brenton Tarrant shot and killed 51 people, and saved an image of a “leader board” of right-wing terrorists, including the number of people they had killed.

In one post, he wrote in capital letters: “I am planning a(n) attack against the Dover coast where every Muslim and refugee has been given safe(t)y if your interested tell me now.”

The youngster, who cannot be identified because of his age, pleaded guilty in June to possessing a terrorist publication called the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000, disseminating a terrorist publication, and encouraging terrorism, in August and September last year.

A 16-year-old boy, from Kent, who was a member of the Telegram chat group, admitted disseminating a terrorist publication called the White Resistance Manual by sending an electronic link in August which allowed others to access it.

During a sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutor Alistair Richardson said: “Both defendants’ messaging, and analysis of their devices, demonstrates a deep-rooted, extreme right-wing, racist ideology of an abhorrent, entrenched and concerning nature.”

The 15-year-old received a caution in September 2019 for sending pictures of bombs to a fellow school pupil over Snapchat.

He has previous convictions for hate crimes, after threatening to blow up a mosque on January 20 last year, and assaulting an emergency worker, by headbutting a police officer who came to his home.

The court heard he also made a string of phone calls to mosques across London and was twice referred to the Government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme.

Mark Luckett, defending, said his client has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adding: “It is clear at some point he had been manipulated.

“The offences occurred during the first national lockdown. (He) appears to have spent a concerning amount of time online during which has unfortunately led him down a very dark rabbit hole.”

The lawyer said the boy “lacks maturity”, his “primary focus was on computer games”, and he “didn’t understand what he was doing”.

He told the court the boy was “encouraged by the number of responses he has from other members of the group”, who referred to him as “the commander”.

Addressing Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring, the 15-year-old said he wants to go to university to study veterinary medicine or zoology.

“I don’t hold those views and I don’t know how I got to hold those views. That’s not the person I am,” he said.

“I spent a lot of time in my bedroom doing nothing. I think I need to be a normal child again.”

The 16-year-old said: “I’m really sorry. I will never touch that aspect of belief in my life and I will stop anyone I can from even trying to touch it.”

Mr Goldspring adjourned sentencing to September 9, remanding the 15-year-old into youth custody and granting the older boy conditional bail.

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Categories: Attack, Derbyshire teenager, Dover, Far Right groups, News, refugee

Four-fifths of Muslims in Scotland ‘directly experienced Islamophobia’

June 28, 2021 Article

Four-fifths of Muslims in Scotland have directly experienced Islamophobia, according to a new report.

The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Tackling Islamophobia organised the first public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland and gathered 447 responses.

Of those, 83% of Muslim respondents said they experienced Islamophobia directly with Muslim women more likely to encounter it than men.

The inquiry also found 75% of Muslims said Islamophobia is a regular or everyday issue in Scottish society with 78% believing it is getting worse.

That figure rises to 82% of Muslim respondents with a Glasgow postcode.

Individuals warned that verbal and physical assaults are intensifying, particularly on public transport.

Asked about where Islamophobia takes place, the street was the most common answer ahead of public spaces such as shops or restaurants and public transport, then at work and places of education.

Just under a third (31%) said they have experienced Islamophobia at work, 18% at school and 13% at college or university.

The report has made a series of recommendations including that the Scottish Government should work towards adopting a formal definition of Islamophobia to promote understanding, to encourage reporting and to indicate its commitment to addressing it.

It also calls for proactively adopting a “no tolerance” approach; supporting initiatives to recruit more police officers from within Scotland’s diverse communities; integrating an understanding of Islamophobia into compulsory components of the Scottish education curricula and teacher training education; and funding and supporting initiatives that educate Scots about the damage Islamophobia does to Scottish society.

CPG chairman and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “We pride ourselves on being a welcome and tolerant country, but it’s clear how much more work we have to do.

“There are people in Scotland who feel scared to leave their homes for fear of verbal of physical attack; are withdrawing from public services with devastating knock-on consequences on their health and education; and feel they are outsiders in their own country.

“This should shame us all.

“It is clear to me that we must redouble efforts to challenge and overcome hatred and prejudice.

“This requires politicians to come together on a cross-party basis, because the fight against hate is a fight for all of us.”

The report was authored by Professor Peter Hopkins of Newcastle University, who has been researching issues of racism and Islamophobia in Scotland for 20 years.

He said: “The evidence submitted to this inquiry makes it clear that Scotland has a very serious set of issues to address in relation to everyday Islamophobia and racism.

“Inquiry evidence included numerous references to verbal and physical abuse, attacks in and around mosques and religious buildings, and experiences of threatening behaviour on public transport.

“Almost four fifths of respondents were fearful of experiencing Islamophobia and this had real consequences for how they lived their lives.

“Islamophobia permeates all domains of Scottish society; it is not only restricted to one context. It threatens education, limits employment prospects, and impacts everyday issues including health, well-being and housing.

“It is time to address the issue of Scotland’s Islamophobia rather than denying its existence.

“The recommendations make it clear that we all sectors, agencies and departments need to make long-term changes to eradicate Islamophobia from Scottish society.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to tackling hate crime and prejudice, including Islamophobia in all its forms and we will carefully consider this inquiry’s recommendations.

“New hate crime laws ensure our police and courts will have the powers they need so those who would deliberately target others due to their religion or other characteristics can be prosecuted.

“Later this year we will report on the progress of our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan, which was published in 2017 and included actions on raising awareness of hate crime and encourage reporting.

“We will develop a new hate crime strategy later this year in consultation with stakeholders.”

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Categories: Anas Sarwar, anti-Muslim hate, Muslim women, News, Scotland

Statement: Compulsory voter ID in future elections

May 11, 2021 Article

Evidence shows that voting across the UK is safe and secure as plans to introduce ID risks disenfranchising marginalised communities.

In a wide-ranging report published last year, the Joint Committee on Human Rights spoke of their “serious concern” that 25 per cent of Black voters in Britain are not registered to vote, relative to the 17 per cent average across the population. In evidence for the report, Lord Woolley described how hundreds of thousands of young Black and minority ethnic people still see our institutions, particularly the police, as against us and not for us,” who speak of a “rigged system” that do not see politics working for them.

There are significant disparities amongst ethnic groups when it comes to possessing a driver’s licence – as governmental data shows – 38 per cent of Asian people, 48 per cent of Black people, 41 per cent of mixed-race people, and 39 per cent of those categorised as ‘Other’ do not hold a full driving licence, compared to 76 per cent of white people. Women are also far less likely than men to have a driving licence.

Data from the 2011 Census revealed that Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) communities are far less likely (66 per cent) to hold eligible passports, which evidence from grassroots groups like The Traveller Movement that community turnout is disproportionately low, owing to ongoing anti-GRT discrimination.

The Electoral Commission has previously warned that limiting accepting forms of ID to passports and photographic driving licences risks leaving almost one-quarter of the electorate without acceptable photographic ID to vote.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission warned that voter ID trials in 2018 would have a “disproportionate impact on voters with protected characteristics, particularly older people, transgender people, people with disabilities and/or those from ethnic minority communities.”

For older generations, the Mirror newspaper revealed how one-third of those aged 70 and over do not possess a drivers licence (including 55 per cent of women), as just over one third (35 per cent) of the age group not owning a passport.

In consultation with the Electoral Commission, charities representing people with disabilities, GRT, LGBT+ groups, and those from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups, and those with no fixed address had general concerns about the broader ramifications of such an introduction. Barriers include difficulties in access services requiring proof of identity – including ease of access to the internet. In addition, individuals without a fixed address are less likely to possess non-photo forms of identification, like utility bills. A trans or non-binary person’s ID may not reflect their gender expression or identity (and as Stonewall notes, they face challenge from staff if the name on their ID differs from that of their Deed Poll).

For people with learning disabilities, it raised questions about the availability of accessible information to ensure they are informed about ID requirements and could access ID. Finally, the consultation feedback added that the “cost, inconvenience and time required to obtain ID may be prohibitive for some people.”

A pilot scheme in Derby, for example, found a strong correlation between the proportion of each ward’s population from Asian backgrounds with those not issued with ballot papers. In contrast, in Pendle, another pilot area, it found a weak correlation between each ward’s population and those from Asian backgrounds arriving at a polling station either with no form of ID or the wrong ID.

The Electoral Commission noted that a 2018 pilot in Watford indicated “a strong relationship between the proportion of Asian residents and the number not issued with a ballot paper.” It did not, however, see such correlations in Woking and Watford a year later, cautioning against drawing broader conclusions from the data available.

Awareness was a big issue in the 2019 pilots, as white respondents (46 per cent) were far more likely to know about the need to bring ID to vote than those from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups (27 per cent).

Age proved a factor. Those aged over 55 were also far more likely to have heard something about the scheme (54 per cent) than those aged 18 to 34 (31 per cent).

Awareness about the need for ID in the 2019 pilots proved lower amongst first-time voters (73 per cent) compared to those who had voted before (87 per cent).

When asked about how easy it would be to show ID, those from Black, Asian, and minority backgrounds were (87 per cent) less likely than white electors (92 per cent).

Black, Asian, and minority ethnic households across the UK are more than twice likely to live in poverty compared to white counterparts, experiencing disproportionate job losses and pay cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic, demonstrating how the pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and discrimination, which can make the fees for driving licences and passports harder to gain.

Regarding electoral fraud, there were just four convictions and two cautions in 2019, as almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of outcomes saw no further action. Just over one-third had a local resolution, as more than half of reported cases that year concerned campaigning offences.

In 2017, Almost half (165 cases) of all cases of alleged electoral fraud reported were a campaigns issue, a major of which concerned imprint offences (96 cases). Eight cautions and one conviction occurred that year.

In 2018, the police investigated 266 cases, resulting in four convictions, and two suspects faced police cautions.

Alternative plans, including automatic voter registration, which the Electoral Commission explored in 2017, should be looked at, reducing registration gaps and increasing democratic participation from marginalised and under-represented communities. The lessons of Windrush show the stark and unjust treatment faced, including access to public services due to a lack of formal ID.

Instead, we must protect fundamental rights when voting and cultivate an understanding of how best to meaningfully improve voter participation amongst marginalised groups, which should work in tandem with reducing existing structural barriers and inequalities in voting, including exploring the use of alternative schemes – like automatic voter registration.

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Categories: democracy, News, Parliament, statement, voting

Dozens hurt as Palestinians and Israeli police clash at Al-Aqsa Mosque

May 7, 2021 Article

Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police on Friday evening at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City as tensions soared again.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 53 people, mainly Palestinians, were wounded in clashes with police there and elsewhere in Jerusalem, including 23 who were taken to hospital.

It says most were wounded in the face and eyes by rubber-coated bullets and shrapnel from stun grenades.

The clashes were the latest in a deadly day that saw Israeli forces shoot and kill two Palestinians after three men opened fire on an Israeli base in the occupied West Bank.

They erupted when Israeli police deployed heavily as Muslims were performing evening prayers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan.

Video footage from the scene shows worshippers throwing chairs, shoes and rocks toward the police and officers responding by opening fire.

Israeli police also closed gates leading to Al-Aqsa inside the walled Old City.

Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The unrest has drawn attention from across the region, with neighbouring Jordan warning Israel against further “provocative” steps, and Iran seizing on the sensitivities around Jerusalem and encouraging the violence.

In the attack on Friday morning, Israeli police said three attackers fired on the base near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

The Border Police and an Israeli soldier returned fire, killing two of the men and wounding the third, who was evacuated to a hospital.

Some 70,000 worshippers attended the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, the Islamic endowment that oversees the site said.

Thousands protested afterwards, waving the green flags of the Islamic militant group Hamas and chanting pro-Hamas slogans before dispersing peacefully.

Israelis and Palestinians are bracing for more violence in the coming days.

Credit: PA News

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Categories: Al Aqsa, Israelis, News, Palestinians, Ramadan, Settlers, Silwan

New charity aims to erect war memorials to recognise Muslim contribution

April 23, 2021 Article

A new charity launched to recognise the sacrifices made by Muslims who fought in the British military in the past century is aiming to erect war memorials to commemorate their contributions.

The National Muslim War Memorial Trust (NMWMT) said it also wants to educate both students and adults about the role of Muslims in the Armed Forces, to dispel misconceptions and help create good relations between different people and communities.

The organisation’s chair, the Conservative peer Lord Sheikh, said the “heroic contribution” of Muslims in the British Armed Forces during both World Wars has been “undervalued”.

He said: “One of the key reasons we have set up the charity is to combat Islamophobia, and people should realise the sacrifices Muslims made to keep the Union Jack flying.”

He said those associated with the trust “very much hope to draw attention to and get more public recognition for the sacrifices made by Muslim personnel in the British Armed Forces”.

He added: “The War Graves Commission report illustrates how long overdue this is.”

An investigation published this week found the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) did not properly commemorate potentially hundreds of thousands of black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire.

The NMWMT said the first memorial it will be involved in erecting will be at a location in London which is yet to be agreed.

So far, £29,000 of a £2 million target has been raised to erect a permanent memorial, the trust’s website shows.

According to the trust there were at least 400,000 Muslims fighting in the British Indian Army during the First World War, and this had grown to around one million by the time of the Second World War.

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Categories: British Indian, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Lord Sheikh, National Muslim War Memorial Trust, News