My heart sank when I woke last week to front-page newspaper headlines that the UK prime minister had said Muslim women must do more to integrate. I mean, I love queuing, I’m forever apologising and I can talk at length about the weather and traffic. What more does he want?
His aim is to get more Muslim women to speak English and he announced a £20 million (Dh105m) fund for English lessons for these women.
And his clumsy and lazy characterisation of the “Muslim woman problem” generated all too familiar headlines casting Muslim women as isolated, illiterate and oppressed, a clear result of him stitching together ideas that Muslim women are segregated from society, and that responsibility for extremism sat somewhat on their shoulders. However, he did admit there was no causal connection between not speaking English and extremism.
I’ve always advocated that it’s important for people in a country to speak the main language of social engagement, and I’ve been involved in workshops on encouraging women to better express their voices and opinions. So I’m all for English lessons for those struggling with the language. But it was the same prime minister who cut funding for English lessons across the board for everyone.
If I wasn’t already angered enough at the misleading portrait of Muslim women once again being trotted out, and which undoubtedly exacerbates an increasingly hostile environment for Muslim women, I nearly spat out my morning coffee when I read reports that the PM had privately suggested a major reason young men are vulnerable to radicalisation is the “traditional submissiveness” of Muslim women.
I responded in the most British way possible – with sarcasm. After all, Muslims are always being told to acquire British values.
“Actually, my husband runs my Twitter feed because I can’t speak English #traditionallysubmissive” I mockingly tweeted, adding “I bought a sports car and published a book (in English and eight other languages). I must be doing this wrong.”
I wasn’t the only one to feel incensed.
Other Muslim women took up the hashtag. Dr Sukaina Hirji, a GP based in London, posted on her Facebook page: "I and many others have been extremely hurt by David Cameron's article in The Times earlier this week, specifically (and incorrectly) targeting Muslim women's apparent inability to speak the English language and loosely linking this to radicalisation (multifactorial causes) and Female Genital Mutilation (cultural practice)."
She made a public call to Muslim women to “show our solidarity and speak out against this discrimination”, and post selfies and tweets during a coordinated period on Twitter to create a storm with the hashtag #traditionallysubmissive.
On Sunday evening in the UK, the scheduled Twitterstorm took place.
The hashtag was quickly trending at number 3 in the UK and continued to trend until Monday morning, with more than 30,000 tweets being sent till then. These ranged from pictures of Muslim women graduating, hiking, fundraising, skiing and boxing, to others holding placards listing their achievements including speaking multiple languages.
The hashtag was also trending in the US and Canada.
Media coverage in the UK and abroad described Muslim women as “responding brilliantly” to the “clumsy” comments by the prime minister, explaining how “30,000 British Muslim women took down David Cameron”.
“I’m astounded at the grass-roots response the #traditionallysubmissive campaign received from Muslim women of many backgrounds, ages and professions,” Dr Hirji said. “It’s a testament to how deeply and personally we have taken his words.
“We clearly have a lot of talent on board and can channel this productively if the prime minister is willing to engage.”
Mr Cameron has yet to respond.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk