Afghans in Britain voice concern

London community doubts wisdom of attack

Jeevan Vasagar

Tuesday October 9, 2001

The Guardian

Leaders of the Afghan community in Britain yesterday

expressed anguish and outrage at the bombings.

"This is not a matter of being pro-Taliban or anti," said Sayed

Tabibi, secretary general of the Society for Afghan Residents,

based in Acton, west London. "There are over 1m people living in

Kabul. Every single family has got relatives back home.

"This is why we are outraged. It is nothing to do with the political

stance of one side or another. This is our country and it is being

bombed." Uprooted by a series of conflicts from the Soviet

invasion to the Taliban takeover, Britain's 40,000-strong Afghan

community is drawn from a diverse background, encompassing

Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as ethnic differences between

Pashtuns from the south and Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazara tribes

from the north.

Now their attention is focused on the humanitarian disaster.

They questioned if the strikes would have any military effect on

the Taliban.

"That regime does not have a proper command structure like

Iraq," said Mr Tabibi. "Men armed with one Kalashnikov each

can easily disperse among ordinary people. Afghans have not

been engaged in any terrorist activity - it is all Arabs. Why are

we getting the punishment?"

Professor Abdul Ahmed Javid, a former vice-chancellor of Kabul

university and one of many intellectuals to have fled the country,

emphasised the awkward position faced by opponents of the

Taliban.

"It is a very difficult situation. From one point of view, this is my

country and it has suffered for 20 years. But from the other point

of view, we should get rid of these terrorist organisations which

cause devastation; Osama bin Laden and the Taliban who

harbour him. It's the people of Afghanistan who are the victims."

The majority of Britain's Afghans are settled in a stretch of

suburban north-west London between Acton and Harrow, though

the Home Office asylum seeker dispersal scheme means there

are now also small communities in Birmingham, Glasgow and

Leeds.

At the Afghan Association of London, based in Harrow, a

spokesman appealed to the international community to protect

civilian lives.

"The Afghan people have endured enough suffering, destruction

and casualties in the past two and a half decades," he said.

The group also fears further racist assaults on Afghans in

Britain, following the attack in London which left an Afghan taxi

driver paralysed.

Police in Essex said yesterday that a fire lit by the door of a

mosque was being treated as a racially motivated crime.

Damage to the front door of the mosque in Southend-on-Sea

was discovered by worshippers attending morning prayers

yesterday.

It is the second attack on the building since the terrorist attacks

in the United States, but police said they were unable to confirm

if the incidents were linked to the events of September 11.

Paint was thrown on the walls and windows smashed during the

previous attack on the mosque last month.

Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the leader of the Muslim parliament, said

the US should have given diplomatic efforts longer to take effect.

"The first casualty of this attack has been the rule of law," he

told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The Americans have lost their credibility. They had this

opportunity to somehow recover the moral high ground. The only

people who will be happy will be the American arms industry

and oil companies. It's a very, very sad day."