Ravi Shankar By

The world is taking Imran Khan as seriously as a tabby cat would a dead rat. Malay Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir, who has accused the Indian Army of “invading and occupying the country of Kashmir”, heads a Muslim country which follows Pakistan in harbouring terrorists like Zakir Naik. But Islamic governments that matter—such as Saudi Arabia, which is investing billions in India—aren’t really worked up over India junking Article 370. So why is the Labour Party of the United Kingdom and its boss Jeremy Corbyn yelling for global intervention and UN inspections in Kashmir?

The answer: to protect its Muslim base. About 2.8 million Muslims live in Britain and pray in around 1,500 mosques, while the 2011 UK census counted 8,17,000 Hindus. In 2012, there were just 150 Hindu temples in the land. In the last election, the number of Muslim Labour MPs rose to 12 from nine. No other political party’s immigration, education and cultural policies have communally polarised Britain like Labour. From the Jews of antiquity to the Muslims of Armenia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, the persecuted immigrant is the tragic backstory of Western progress.

Often reviled and brutalised, they economically and culturally enrich their host nations. Ironically, it is the ugly, savage war within Islam that is driving millions of Muslims out of their countries to seek refuge in the West, whose values conflict with theirs. The real war of civilisations is between Islam’s cultural protectionism and Western mores. This social xenophobia has fundamentally changed the UK’s social and religious contours.

The Telegraph newspaper found that the number of British Christians has halved since 1983 while the Muslim population rose from one per cent in 1983 to six per cent in 2018. Many municipal councils in England have even rebranded Christmas as ‘Winterfest’ so as not to offend Muslims. The Muslim Council of Great Britain generously responded saying, “Who wants to ban Christmas? Not Muslims. None of us will be offended if you go ahead and enjoy the Christmas cheer.” One can almost hear Corbyn gratefully whispering, “Whew! Thank You.”

Labour’s philosophy is based on tolerance and liberal inclusion. But can Britain afford its humanism? Using a model which assumes median migration levels, Pew Research Centre concluded that the number of Muslims in Britain will triple from 4.1 million in 2016 to 13 million in 2050. London may have a Muslim mayor who twiddled his thumbs as Pakistanis vandalised the Indian High Commission.

But post the Brexit standoff, opinion polls predict a Tory victory. A YouGov/The Times survey in September gives Tories 32 per cent of the vote and Labour just 23 per cent. It seems Corbyn’s Kashmir rant would turn out to be just a mountain in labour.