Sir, The idea of rebranding our identity (letters, August 10) is ill-advised and shows the confusion within the Government. The issue is not that British Muslims cannot identify with their homeland Britain, rather that they feel excluded by a host of reasons, especially the Government’s foreign policy.

It took much campaigning to get the Government to record faith in the 2001 Census; even then it was optional. One of the key arguments used to convince the Government was that the vast majority of Muslims (and other people) identify with their faith rather than their ethnicity. Many surveys have already established that Muslims prefer the term British Muslim.

To discover what has caused disaffection in minority communities, we should look at the root causes of our current predicaments and find innovative and deliverable ways of creating a more inclusive environment.

Rebranding of identity would turn the clock back and open the door for further divisions in society.

MUHAMMAD ABDUL BARI
(Author, Race, Religion and Muslim Identity in Britain, Awakening Publishers, 2004)
Whitechapel, London

From Miss Priyanka Kaur

Sir, As a Hindu I see no problem in having a double-barrelled identity — it would show a mark of allegiance to the nation that has fed and nurtured me for 26 years. However, I have a huge problem with being branded as an Asian.

Asians are not one homogenous whole, a fact that the media sometimes forget. The reporting on the 2001 riots in Oldham, Bradford and Burnley, for example, often referred to “Asians” as the inciters, without making the distinction that they were Muslims. I have noted the same inaccuracy in reports on the July bombings.

Hindus are and have always been a placid bunch of people. We don’t segregate ourselves by asking for separate schools and prayer rooms. We prefer to keep religion and prayer private.

If any rebranding is to be done, it would be useful for the media to stop using the word Asian without also referring to religion, eg, Asian-Muslim.

PRIYANKA KAUR
Surrey Quays, London

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