Senior university personnel throughout Britain have been asked to spy on Muslim or Asian students who are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, the British newspaper The Guardian reported Monday morning.
British Muslim woman
Photo: AP , AP
According to the report, police are enlisting university professors to help locate potential suspects who might be supporting terror. From now on, professors and other senior staff will be asked to look out for suspicious activity on the part of their Muslim and Asian students.
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"It sounds to me to be potentially the widest infringement of the rights of Muslim students that there ever has been in this country. It is clearly targeting Muslim students and treating them to a higher level of suspicion and scrutiny. It sounds like you're guilty until you're proven innocent," Wakkas Khan, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, told The Guardian.
The article also reported that the British government is convinced that a Muslim terrorist network is currently being established within univerity campuses.
The proposals are likely to stoke the debate in Britain on civil rights and the civic obligations of the British Muslim community. Just two weeks ago, former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw admitted that he had asked Muslim women who were entering his office to remove their head coverings.
British Education Minister Ruth Kelly is expected to meet on Sunday with the heads of regional councils and senior police officers with the hopes of creating a joint plan to fight against extremist organizations.
