Cops Target Asians

THE POLICE are harassing Asians, particularly young Muslim men, more and
more. Recently released ‘stop and search’ figures show that New Labour is
clearly conducting its so-called War On Terror only against certain sections
of the working-class community.

Abdul Aziz

The total number of searches conducted under the Terrorism Act 2000 doubled
in 2002/2003 from 8,550 to 21,577. The number of searches of Asians went up by
more than 300%.

The establishment see Stop and Search as ‘necessary’. They see Britain as
‘at risk’ from terrorist actions, so Muslims ‘need’ to be stopped and searched
even if they’re innocent. But Stop and Search causes more hatred against the
police because it allows the police to pin Muslim youth on suspicion.

Harassment is quite commonplace. When I left work one day last February I
was followed by three undercover police officers who pinned me down outside a
shopping mall. One officer said I was being arrested for a suspected GBH
charge.

After I asked the officer when the offence was committed, I was pinned down
on the floor for 45 minutes and then carted off in a police van. For nine and
a half hours, I was detained in a cell by the Metropolitan Police, questioned
on my whereabouts when the crime took place and released on bail. The case has
now collapsed but my property has not been returned to me.

Establishment Muslim politicians such as Lord Nazir only give lip service
in dealing with issues of police harassment. Middle-class mainstream
politicians cannot resolve the problems that face young Muslims or other young
workers.

They have no interest in changing the law or condemning the establishment
or tackling such issues as lack of facilities for young people or the problems
of poverty and inequality or the lack of a future under this system.

Asian youth suffer most at present but all workers are threatened by such
police tactics. After high-profile pub bombings in 1974, a Labour government
introduced a Prevention of Terrorism Act which was used mainly against Irish
workers with no connection to terrorism.

We need to build a united working-class movement against this repression
and other aspects of a capitalist profit system which is once again reverting
to divide and rule.