An irrational fear of Islam has been whipped up by governments and fundamentalist leaders to further their political and economic ends, a conference on Islamophobia heard yesterday.
Javed Aktar, president of Muslims for Secular Democracy, which advances a secular stance on issues relating to Indian Muslims, also accused some Middle Eastern countries of claiming to be Islamic states to cover up their unfair economic and social systems.
He was one of a panel of prominent Muslim intellectuals from Britain and India who discussed the nature of anti-Muslim prejudice at a conference, Meeting the Challenge of Islamophobia, in Dublin yesterday. It was organised by the Equality Authority, NUI Maynooth and the Royal Irish Academy.
"I believe this whole phobia is manufactured by people outside and inside the Islamic community. Those on the outside want to create an enemy so they have a reason to control their own society, while within the community the phobia is being used by extremists and religious zealots to 'keep the sheep in the herd'," he said.
Other speakers at last night's seminar, held at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, included Prof Ziauddin Sardar, professor of post-colonial studies at City University, London, and author of Why do People Hate America?, along with Shabana Azmi, an actress and social activist who rose to prominence in the alternative cinema movement in India in the 1970s.
Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, said that while allegations of discrimination on religious grounds accounted for just 1.5 per cent of case files last year, it was not necessarily a measure of the amount of Islamophobia in Ireland.
"Allegations of discrimination by Muslim people can also come forward under the race ground, and racism and sectarianism can be intertwined," he said. Some media reporting reinforced negative stereotyping of Muslims.