Politicians' language stokes far-right violence: London Mayor Sadiq Khan

By Behlul Cetinkaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - The language used by politicians in Britain has fueled the recent far-right violence that has plagued the country, according to London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

“I'm afraid when mainstream politicians use words like, in inverted commas, ‘invasion’ when it comes to migrants, use words like ‘this is an Islamist country,’ or words like ‘London is run by Islamists,’ which is something said by a senior conservative politician,” he told Anadolu in an exclusive interview.

“That leads to a dehumanization of Muslims, a dehumanization of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. They don't think we're human, they think we're subhuman,” said Khan, who was born to a British Pakistani family.

“That's why I think politicians have a responsibility to use language carefully, because the consequences are Muslims are being scared.”

Khan spoke on the measures taken against the far right in the city, steps that can be taken to curb hatred and violence on social media, and the impact of the language used by politicians on far-right extremist actions.

After last month’s stabbings in Southport, England, which took the life of three children and were falsely blamed on a Muslim asylum seeker, right-wing extremists targeted Muslims and people of color, Khan said.

After anger was stoked by false online claims about the attack, said Khan, people “attacked a mosque, they tried to attack other mosques. We know people in cars have been stopped and targeted to see if they're Muslims. We know a hostel housing asylum seekers was set on fire.”

- London Muslims are 'scared'

On a meeting he had with Muslim community leaders in the wake of the violence, Khan said: “Leaders I've spoken to just now ... their congregations are scared. Many of their parents whose children returned to school are scared. And my job as the mayor, working with the police, working with the government, working with Londoners, is to make sure Londoners, particularly those who are Muslim, aren't just safe, but they feel safe as well. Because these are British citizens, they've not broken the law, they've done nothing wrong, and they're feeling scared.”

“And that's not right,” said Khan. “I know that I'm targeted because I'm a Muslim. I know this because I have police protection as a result.”

Khan also commented on the indiscriminate nature of the attacks, saying: “You know, these racists, these far extremists, don't discriminate between ‘this Muslim’ and ‘that Muslim.’ We're all targets.”

“What I'd say to the social media companies (is) unless you take responsibility yourself, don't be surprised if there's (new) regulations,” Khan said about the use of social media to spread discriminatory smears and far-right violence.

Hate crimes such as racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism are amplified by the perceived “no rules” environment of social media, he observed.

“Unfortunately, though, this hatred, (this) misinformation is amplified on social media and it spreads before there's a chance to rebut it. Unfortunately, social media has given the impression of being a no-rules environment. The rules don't apply to them, and they should apply to them, about misinformation, disinformation, incitement to hatred,” he said, adding that such incitement is “a criminal offense.”​​​​​​​

*Writing by Efe Ozkan