ISTANBUL

According to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the language used by British politicians has fuelled recent right-wing extremist violence in the country.

“I am afraid when mainstream politicians use words like ‘invasion’ in relation to migrants, when they use words like ‘this is an Islamist country’ or ‘London is ruled by Islamists’. And this is something a senior conservative politician said,” he said in an exclusive interview with Anadolu.

“This leads to a dehumanisation of Muslims, a dehumanisation of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. They don’t think of us as human, they think of us as subhuman,” said Khan, who was born into a British-Pakistani family.

“That’s why I believe that politicians have a responsibility to be careful with language, because the result is that Muslims are frightened.”

Khan spoke about the measures taken against the far right in the city, possible steps to curb hatred and violence on social media and the impact of politicians’ language on right-wing extremist actions.

Following the knife attacks in Southport, England last month, which left three children dead and were falsely blamed on a Muslim asylum seeker, right-wing extremists have targeted Muslims and people of color, Khan said.

After anger was stoked by false claims about the attack online, Khan said, “people attacked a mosque and tried to attack other mosques. We know that people were stopped in cars and searched specifically to see if they were Muslim. We know that an asylum seekers’ home was set on fire.”

London Muslims are “afraid”

Meeting with Muslim community leaders in the wake of the violence, Khan said: “The community leaders I’ve just spoken to are scared. Many of their parents, whose children are going back to school, are scared. And my job as mayor, working with the police, with the government and with Londoners, is to make sure that Londoners, particularly Muslims, are not only safe but feel safe. Because they are British citizens, they have not broken the law, they have done nothing wrong and they are scared.”

“And that’s not right,” Khan said. “I know I’m being targeted because I’m a Muslim. I know that because that’s why I have police protection.”

Khan also commented on the indiscriminate nature of the attacks, saying: “You know, these racists, these extremists, they don’t differentiate between ‘this Muslim’ and ‘that Muslim.’ We are all targets.”

“What I would say to social media companies is: If you don’t take responsibility yourself, you shouldn’t be surprised by (new) regulations,” Khan said of the use of social media to spread discriminatory slander and far-right violence.

Hate crimes such as racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are exacerbated by the supposedly lawless environment of social media, he noted.

“Unfortunately, this hatred, this misinformation is amplified on social media and spreads before it can be refuted. Unfortunately, social media gives the impression that there are no rules there. The rules regarding misinformation, disinformation and incitement to hatred do not apply to it, although they should apply to it,” he said, adding that such incitement is “a criminal offense.”

*Written by Efe Ozkan

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