Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, has serious questions to answer after he hosted an event in Parliament which featured a known anti-Muslim extremist, the Hindu nationalist politician Tapan Ghosh.
Ghosh, a far-right figure who has called all Muslims “jihadis” and defended the genocide of the Rohingya community in Burma, was given star billing at a ‘Tolerating The Intolerant’ event in the House of Commons last week, organised by the National Council of Hindu Temples.
In response, we have launched a national petition to condemn Blackman’s actions, which has already generated thousands of signatures, and will later be handed to those politicians who appeared alongside Ghosh in Parliament.
Ghosh has previously accused Muslims of raping a million British children and called for the UN to control the birth rate of Muslims.
One million white English children may have been the victims of Muslim rape gangs, better known as grooming gangs. https://t.co/HSqi2JYqEY
— Tapan Ghosh (@hstapanghosh) May 3, 2017
Ghosh earlier rubbed shoulders with several Cabinet members at a Diwali event, including Priti Patel, Damian Green, Sajid Javid, and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
He told the later meeting that he had created a “Hindu Defence Force” in his state, to protect Hindu communities against Muslim violence.
“Your girls and daughters are threatened by grooming but in our country our land is threatened and our existence is threatened,” he said.
This evening Diwali celebrated in UK Parliament at House Of Commons, London. Many MPs joined. I attended & addressed. pic.twitter.com/k6luchsEHb
— Tapan Ghosh (@hstapanghosh) October 18, 2017
Ghosh also appeared this week on Stephen Lennon’s (aka Tommy Robinson) far-right Rebel TV slot, after meeting him to discuss “demography and global resistance against Islamic violence and aggression” in London.
Blackman’s invite to Ghosh has led to widespread condemnation. The Muslim Council of Britain said:
“It is astounding that a Conservative MP seems to have welcomed to parliament with open arms a man who trades in propagating hatred against Muslims in India.”
“If we are to tackle extremism as the government has stated it wants to, then we should not see it emanating on its own doorstep and apparently condoned by its own MPs.”
Shame on Rohingya men. Shame on Islam. Seeing this reproduction rate, how can we blame the Myanmar Buddhists for driving them out? https://t.co/aA1vojtplh
— Tapan Ghosh (@hstapanghosh) September 19, 2017
Tell MAMA also heavily criticised Bob Blackman, saying:
“What makes matters even more unpalatable, is that Blackman is a member of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) committee. One of the functions of DCLG is to ensure the integration of communities and to ensure that British values of tolerance are protected, maintained and built upon.”
Last week’s meeting was organised by the National Council of Hindu Temples, which had invited Stephen Lennon to speak last year, until the invite was withdrawn following representations by HOPE not hate.
2016 @hopenothate advised National Council of Hindu Temples & they cancelled Tommy Robinson speech at event. Sad to see backwards step here https://t.co/Q3DuE6Opr5
— Jemma Levene (@jemma_levene) October 26, 2017
The Home Office has said Amber Rudd was not present when Ghosh gave his speech at the National Council of Hindu Temple’s event and stressed that she “fundamentally did not agree with his views on Islam”.
However, it shows extremely poor judgement that Ghosh was invited into Parliament at all and also reflects poorly on the leadership of the Hindu organisations involved.
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