Police called to Ilford Town Centre after Allah-hu-akhbar Chant played during Christian event set off terrorist panic

From the British Pakistani Christian Association blog

While Christians celebrated the birth of Christ in Ilford Town Centre on Saturday 16th December 2017, after having applied for permission for a Christmas celebration, a local Muslim group caused a panic by playing a Muslim chant, that triggered concern of a terrorist attack.

The peaceful family event which was held in Ilford Town centre on Saturday was organised by local churches in collaboration, and was both well attended and appreciated by local residents.  However at around 2pm during a prayer that was being said on the stage, a Muslim chant was heard causing alarm to the many Christians and non-Christians attending the event.

It was soon established that a local Muslim group had decided to hold a religious stall in the town centre at the same time as the Redbridge Christian festival if not in spite of it.  When approached by the event organisers of the Christian event the Islamic group refused to stop the chant being played.  The Christian group were joined by many passersbys who were offended by the inappropriate amplified chant, that was interfering with the Christian event and had caused a scare.

When asked if they had sought permission for their event through the council the Islamic group originally said yes.  They then later asked Mr Chowdhry who manged the collaborative Christian event, if he was from the council and started ignoring him totally after he replied that he was not.

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, called the local police, who talked with the individuals involved.  They allowed the men to continue with the stall but stopped the fractious amplified Muslim chanting which they deemed to be in poor taste.

Wilson Chowdhry … explained why he felt warnings (to Redbridge Council to to take anti-terror warnings more seriously) were being ignored;

“Firstly I am shocked that BPCA were not informed that we would be sharing the town centre with a Muslim group, and that the Muslim group were being permitted use of a PA at the same time as us. Such negligence was always going to cause some conflict and an immediate review of Redbridge Council’s policy for use of the town centre is paramount. 

“Ilford is a town with known terrorists links, all three of the Jihadists involved in the London Bridge Terror attack were seen meeting at a gym that was known to be training jihadists.  I myself and other local people reported this over two years ago (click here) .

With the fears that non-Muslim event organisers already feel in these times of heightened social polarity it does not make any sense for Redbridge Council to allow a Muslim group to hold a stall in Ilford town centre parallel to a Christian event – worse still it’s completely daft to allow amplified chanting of Allah-hu-akhbar a phrase that terrifies many non-Muslims.  It flies in the face of common-sense and is a painful reminder of the political correctness that is marginalising non-Muslims in the UK. …

“. . . I hope the same does radicalisation does not enter our borough, however Redbridge Council really do need to wake up to the frictions that exist in communities and the potential for that to erupt into something more devastating. . . in a town centre environment during a Christian concert a load shout of Allah-hu-Akhbar would cause obvious terror, especially when played during a quieter point during a Christain prayer. . .

. . . When I approached the Muslim group many non-Christians also asked for the Muslim group ro desist with the amplifeid Islamic chants totally offended.  To be honest when I first heard the sound I was filled with a moment of extreme terror and anxiety – it was a blood curdling moment.”

The incident caused a blemish on what otherwise was a wonderful public event that was attended well and was favoured by the local community.”

Mr Chowdhry has copied this article to the Borough’s licensing team for comment.

On Sunday 17th December a bomb attack at a church in Quetta during a chikdrens nativity play took the lives of 8 Christians and injured over 32 others, mainly women and children (click here). Mr Chowdhry believes this is evidence that the religious celebrations of Christians cause great offense to radicalised Muslims.