Rendition through the UK
Last week David Milliband the Foreign Secretary acknowledged the use of British Airports in flights of rendition by the CIA. Rendition or Extraordinary rendition is the out-sourcing of torture of what the media unfortunately would term as ’suspected terrorists’ implying guilt, before even a charge, never mind a judgment has been made! I would prefer to use the term ‘innocents’ for surely we still believe in innocent before proven guilty? Or have the rules of the game changed according to ex-PM Blair?
This leads me onto questioning the values that the west supposedly upholds so dearly, values of justice, of equality, of tolerance. I do not question whether these values are supreme, but rather how firmly these are held, or are they cast aside for more strategic interests when the need arises?
It is this need that Muslims like myself and other upright citizens of the world across the globe are now questioning and asking ourselves: Do the west truly believe in the ideals of justice, rule of law, accountability and rights afforded to their citizens or are these only espoused when convenient and seemingly ‘necessary’?
For surely if the west believed in an accountable and representative government then why does the west allow entrenched primitive and thoroughly repressive political structures aggregated to represent one of the most poorly governed regions in the world.
For surely if citizens were given due rights under the law then why are Muslims being made to live under a parallel system of law, where they can be charged and indeed sentenced for thought crimes?
For surely if the west believed in an independent judiciary they would not consent to nor support regimes like the Musharraf dictatorship in Pakistan who has made a mockery of the judicial system within the country.
Muslims are indeed beginning to ask: ‘If the west truly believed in these values above all else, then why would fundamental and doctrinal issues like the caliphate, which according to polls, 70% of Muslims aspire to, be off limits, to such an extent that Charles Clark said in 2005 that it is ‘non-negotiable’.
It is unfortunate that western views are premised on the belief that the liberal political model is built on a series of values deemed universal, and currently provides the most economically efficient and ethically desirable form of governance.
Millions of Muslims like I desire a system that has rule of law, a transparent, accountable and representative government, and an independent and efficient judiciary. What many either fail to realise or overlook is that this doesn’t de facto translate into a call for democracy.
For indeed the Islamic political system has its own independent configuration and a distinct constellation of political principles and ideas embedding many of the core principles and values mentioned above. And is called the Caliphate!
Asaf | 
Friday 29th Feb, 2008, 12:24 AM| 
The recent remarks by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams sparked an unprecedented and shocking response from British society. Because he made some comments that were interpreted as being supportive of Muslims and was critical of the ability of secular Britain to accommodate believers of any religion.
