Outrage over BNP leaflets

BNP leaflets about Muslim extremism have been slammed as an "abominable distortion of Islam" by Croydon Mosque leaders.

The leaflets - claiming that Islam is a "threat to us all" and calling on people to join the party's "crusade against Islamification of Britain" - were sent to residents in South Norwood last week, shortly after the attempted terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.

After getting one of the leaflets resident Mahmood Tufail said: "There's a lot of lies in the leaflet and I got the impression people are trying to stir up trouble - especially with what's been going on in the past few weeks."

Mr Tufail said people were now feeling "very nervous".

"I've spoken among my friends," he added, "We don't know what to do about this. I just hope the leaflets won't inflame non-Muslims against us. With all that is going on, people are very nervous. This leaflet creates the wrong stereotypes. The people who carry out these extremist acts are a tiny, fringe minority. Unfortunately, this backfires on everyone else."

A spokesman for Croydon Mosque called the leaflets "inflammatory" and said: "The vast majority of people will recognise it for the blatant scare tactics that it deploys and which have become the hallmark of the BNP."

He said the mosque in London Road, Thornton Heath, had been working hard to promote community cohesion.

"Although leaflets such as the ones being distributed by the BNP in South Norwood have the potential to be divisive, our firm expectation is that the leaflets will be ignored as the local community is ethnically diverse and vibrant, and furthermore benefiting from the very social and community harmony that the BNP seeks to destroy," the spokesman added.

A BNP spokesman said: "All we're trying to do is raise the issue that Islam is not compatible with the British way of life. We are a Christian country and Islam is destroying democracy."

Ealing Times