UK PROFS DECRY “DRACONIAN” ANTI-TERROR MEASURES
London, 14 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/4 Fberuary 2015 (MINA) – Hundreds of British university professors have urged the home secretary Theresa May to reconsider “draconian” campus measures in anti-terrorism bill, urging officials to ensure that academic freedom remains uncompromised.
“The best response to acts of terror against UK civilians is to maintain and defend an open, democratic society in which discriminatory behavior of any kind is effectively challenged,” read the letter, signed by more than 500 university professors, The Guardian reported on Tuesday, February 3.
“Ensuring colleges and universities can continue to debate difficult and unpopular issues is a vital part of this, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
In the letter sent to the Guardian, the professors described May’s proposed counter-terror legislation as “unnecessary and ill-conceived”.“Draconian crackdowns on the rights of academics and students will not achieve the ends the government says it seeks,” it added.
They added that urgent steps need to be taken to ensure that academic freedom remains uncompromised by efforts to tackle extremism in Britain.
The home secretary’s counter-terror plan places a duty on professors to prevent students from radicalization, requiring the revision of all visitors’ speeches in advance.
The plan will face a key vote on Tuesday in the House of Lords which is expected to be opposed by a wide spectrum of peers, including a former head of MI5
The professors who have signed the University and College Union letter include Sir John Ball, the Oxford mathematician, Sir Tom Kibble, co-discoverer of the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson, and Professor Paul Gilroy, the author of Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack.
British Muslims are estimated at nearly 2.7 million. UK Muslims have repeatedly complained of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim, citing the routine stop-and-search operations.
More recently, a new counter-terrorism measure that requires UK nursery staff and childminders to report toddles at risk of becoming terrorists was introduced.
The proposed legal requirement for teachers to spy on toddlers was slammed by UK educationists and rights activist.
It said such a duty “means in practice that nurseries, for example, will be expected to monitor, detect and report signs of extremism amongst toddlers if they are ‘vulnerable to be drawn to terrorism’,” MCB spokesman said. (T/P011/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
