Page - 103 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/01

Images of the Muslim Woman | 103www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/1, 91–110 engage “ethnic minority communities” in the political process. The deliberations led to the sanctioning of a multiracial, multicultural approach that recognised different ethnic communities and needs in society. What followed were policies that emphasised the importance of “different cultur- al backgrounds in determining people’s identity” and the necessity to “engage with community groups on this basis”.40 A shift was occurring in the public space, moving away from the “liberal tradition of dealing with people in a ‘colour-blind’ way” and to- wards “differential treatment according to their cultural identities”.41 Equality would now require cultural recognition and respect. For “a person’s culture” not to be “af- firmed and given status” would be “considered to be a denial of equality”.42 The ideas of Charles Taylor had found their home in the British policies of difference. Gradually, local and national authorities adopted and moulded a range of services to accommodate the supposedly different needs of citizens and clients all across soci- ety. Over time, the nation has established ethnic housing associations and healthcare, arts and cultural along with voluntary support, radio channels, public broadcasting, and policing units, all based on ethnicity.43 Ethnic and cultural groups were encour- aged to make demands based on their differences and cultural exclusion from the mainstream. Their ability to access resources from the public purse was often de- pendent on their being unfairly disadvantaged because of their “difference”. Slowly but steadily, over the decades, ethnically and culturally specific lobbying groups have emerged, “each arguing their own corner for more money, resources and support for their particular identity”.44 As some of my interviewees recounted, the outcome has been the demarcation of people into visible cultural and religious “communities” headed by state-picked com- munity “leaders”. The communities rub against and compete with each other, living apart, looking at each other with suspicion, if not hatred. In fact, Britain inaugurated a multicultural policy that in reality imposed a religious identity on communities (plural) and inadvertently facilitated the creation of a Muslim community (singular): an invented community, not an imagined one, to use Benedict Anderson’s term.45 As a government creation, this invented community did not to celebrate diversity within a British context; instead, a group of loud Islamists was el- evated as community leaders. They did not represent the majority within their com- munities. Several people I interviewed, people knowledgeable about political Islam and extremism in Britain, emphasised this point. The community did not choose these so-called leaders, nor did the leaders, at the time, enjoy the support of the members. 40 Mirza/Senthikumaran/Ja’far 2007, 23. 41 Mirza/Senthikumaran/Ja’far 2007, 23. 42 Mirza/Senthikumaran/Ja’far 2007, 24. 43 Mirza/Senthikumaran/Ja’far 2007, 24. 44 Mirza/Senthikumaran/Ja’far 2007, 24. 45 Anderson 1991.