Stay updated with breaking news from Islamist activism. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
the eastern city of chittagong. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. the queen has expressed her hope that her platinum jubilee celebrations will focus on what brings us together, on what unites us, not what divides us. my guest on the programme has had to spend much of her career worrying about exactly the opposite, about extremism and how to counter it. she is dame sara khan. herjob now is the government s independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience. before that, she was the country s first counter extremism commissioner. born and raised in bradford to pakistani parents, she once said, there is something going horribly wrong within muslim communities. we need to have an open and honest debate about that. words which won her praise from some, but criticism from many within her own community, who said that she was fuelling rather than countering some of the prejudices about muslim people, and in ....
on what unites us, not what divides us. my guest on the programme has had to spend much of her career worrying about exactly the opposite, about extremism and how to counter it. she is dame sara khan. herjob now is the government s independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience. before that, she was the country s first counter extremism commissioner. born and raised in bradford to pakistani parents, she once said, there is something going horribly wrong with the muslim communities. we need to have an open and honest debate about that. words which won her praise from some, but criticism from many within her own community, who said that she was fuelling rather than countering some of the prejudices about muslim about muslim people, and in particular the idea that many were somehow hostile to their country and their values. dame sara khan, welcome to political thinking. thank you very much. now, we are all this week or are we all? celebrating the jubilee. is ....
Was it that idea, that sort of sense that people are not standing up for my people that drew you in, orwas it an appeal of religious ideas? what was it? i think it was probably a mix of different things, because as a teenager i was quite interested in spirituality, i was quite interested in god, and i don t know whether to call that a pure thing, but i got involved in muslim activism and to some degree certain aspects of islamist activism, and i think a lot of that then eventuallyjarred, because when i saw for example religious preachers saying women can experience marital rape for example or domestic violence, or they were promoting hatred about gay people or non muslims for example, that reallyjarred with my own human rights ethos and background, and so i kind of felt split between having interpretation of the faith against certain preachers and organisations who were promoting very much the opposite, and so i think that conflict always jarred with me, but at the same time, i felt i ....
And pretty frightening. of course it has an impact on you. and so yes, you kind of think there are threats out there, but i think in one sense thatjust made me even more committed to saying we have to play our part in defending democracy from those threats. now, you spoke about in the past the fact that in your teens you were quite religiously conservative. yes. was it that idea, that sort of sense that people are not standing up for my people that drew you in, or was it an appeal of religious ideas? what was it? i think it was probably a mix of different things, because as a teenager i was quite interested in spirituality, i was quite interested in god, and i don t know whether to call that a pure thing, but i got involved in muslim activism and to some degree certain aspects of islamist activism, and i think a lot of that then eventuallyjarred, because when i saw for example religious preachers saying women can experience marital rape for example or domestic violence, or they were pr ....
Were that s iffy, to say that he was tied to the muslim brotherhood what was it then? reporter: with the president under fire with his muted response to the apparent murder of jamal khashoggi, the conservative kafl rcavalry is r to trump s ask you. reporter: calling the missing man a radical activist, an apologist for islamist activism. the president s own son tweeted, a democratic reformer. another conservative called him a long time friend of terrorists. i just want to find out what s happening. reporter: the president is in a tight spot. evidence is mounting against the saudi government in khashoggi s disappearance. but the saudis are also a key deployme diplomatic ally. that relationship is valuable. it s not something that you want to blow up willy-nilly. ....