Chapter 2
extremism. If that is indeed the case then banning Sayeedi from the UK… will, instead, be warmly welcomed” [DOCUMENT 7].
The position of the Bangladeshi human rights organisation is backed by genuinely mainstream members of the Muslim community. Murad Qureshi, a prominent Bangladeshi-British politician currently serving as a Labour member of the London Assembly, has repeatedly petitioned the Foreign Office to exclude Sayeedi. But his calls have gone unheeded as Sayeedi has returned to Britain regularly for the annual lecture season. “Sayeedi is a hugely controversial figure in the Bangladeshi community,” Qureshi told me. “He brings along a lot of baggage. Characters like him are certainly not mainstream. They come from a particular Islamist tradition and I don’t think it helps to have bigots like him coming along and espousing his views.”18
The Government has declined to confirm whether Sayeedi or al-Qaradawi have been granted visas of late, although both men have been regular visitors in the past. But it is worrying that the man responsible for advising Foreign Office ministers about “Islamic Issues” is prepared to advocate the entry into the UK of the likes of Sayeedi. Some of those who are responsible for drawing up policy towards Muslims at home and abroad stubbornly refuse to see that they are labelling the wrong end of the spectrum as mainstream. AlQaradawi and Sayeedi are radical populists, who have a significant following in the Middle East and South Asia. But they are not mainstream figures in Britain. Unfortunately those urging caution, such as Eric Taylor, do not always do so loudly enough. The suggestion that these extremist views are mainstream is an affront to the vast majority of peaceful, largely apolitical Muslims in Britain.
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