Security profiling of Muslims at British airports generate mixed reactions

LONDON - Singling out of Muslim passengers for security profiling at airports has generated mixed reactions among the British-Muslim population.

British Muslim MP Khalid Mahmood said that it is reasonable for Muslims to be singled out for extra airport security measures following the Detroit bomb attempt.

“I think most people would rather be profiled than blown up. It wouldn’t be victimisation of an entire community. I think people will understand that it is only through something like profiling that there will be some kind of safety,” The Telegraph quoted Mahmood, as saying.

“If people want to fly safely we have to take measures to stop things like the Christmas Day plot. Profiling may have to be the price we have to pay. The fact is the majority of people who have carried out or planned these terror attacks have been Muslims,” he added.

However, some groups objected to any such move for fear of alienating large sections of the community.

Massoud Shadjareh, the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: “It’s not true that all terrorists are Muslims. Any such measure would not only alienate people, it would also be ineffective in terms of stopping terrorists. What’s to stop them dressing up as orthodox Jews in order to evade profiling-based searches?”

Meanwhile, the Airport Operators Association and BAA, the UK’s largest airport operator, said they were in favour of passenger profiling.

While the UK Border Agency says that profiling is one of the security measures used in the case of people coming into Britain, the Department of Transport refuses to say whether it is used on passengers leaving the country. (ANI)