Student union to defy ban on Islamist debate
Student leaders at Middlesex University last
night vowed to go ahead and host a debate with the controversial Islamist group
Hizb ut-Tahrir despite their university's ban on the meeting.
Student leaders at Middlesex University last night vowed to go ahead and host a debate with the controversial Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir despite their university's ban on the meeting.
The Middlesex vice-chancellor, Michael Driscoll, yesterday ordered the union to cancel the question and answer session - scheduled to take place later this month - following a call from the education secretary last week for a crackdown on extremism on campus.
Today the student union said it would continue with the debate, but move it from a university building to its own student union.
I seem to recall that Britain’s resolve to fight Fascism didn’t disappear because of university debates before WW2.
In a statement the university said: "Middlesex University has instructed Middlesex University students' union to cancel its invitation to Hizb ut-Tahrir to take part in a debate at the students' union.
"The university has taken this step in the light of concerns about the reputation of Hizb ut-Tahrir for extremist views. The university does not rule out entirely that Hizb ut-Tahrir might be invited to take part in a debate in the future, but would only agree to this happening if it could be assured that Hizb ut-Tahrir were now a moderate organisation operating within the law and rejecting extremist views."
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But Keith Shilson, the student union president, said: "I'm very disappointed that the vice-chancellor feels it's acceptable to curtail freedom of speech simply because this group is being called extremist. I think the definition of extremism is being taken to mean different things.
"I can't remember the university ever banning a meeting before. We have now decided that we will continue with the meeting. We will change the location to the student union building."
The choice of free speech vs. government deciding what can be debated or discussed is a challenge to all modern societies. Governments don’t exactly start off suppressing debate about embroidery. Politics, religion, are always safe subjects for limiting speech. Then, the question remains -- who gets to make the decision?
Posted: Tue - September 20, 2005 at 07:12 AM