By Majed Iqbal
It was Wednesday night, 22nd August, when the mother of 11-year-old Rhys Jones cradled her dying son in her arms after he was shot on the streets of Liverpool by a youth who rode past on a BMX bike. One of the bullets hit Rhys in the neck, one hit a car and another missed.
The murder comes in the latest series of killings of young people this year. The Liverpool boy was the seventeenth young victim of gun crime in the UK this year. Other high-profile cases include 18-year-old Nathan Foster, a youth worker who was shot in the street in south London earlier this month and 15-year-old Michael Dosunmu, who was shot in Peckham, also in south London, in February.
Nearer to home, on Friday 24th August, a 20-year-old woman attacked by a gang of youths in a park in Rossendale, Lancashire, died in hospital. Lancashire police charged five teenage boys, aged between 15 and 17.
An inquest into the killing of Jessie James, 15, who was shot dead in Manchester last year, heard he was killed because he refused to join a gang.
The spate of Youth crime this month has topped the agenda for media, politicians, Government, community and faith leaders and sparked off a huge debate in wider society on the origins, impact and repercussions of such behaviour currently looming in our communities.
Gordon Brown said the killing was a "heinous crime" that had "shocked the whole of the country". He said: "The people responsible will be tracked down, arrested and punished."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith reassured the public that the issue of gun crime was still her priority after conceding to the fact that there were too many guns on the streets.
Already there have been a number of opinions as to what the causes of these crimes were and how they should be tackled. From alcohol abuse to social deprivation, poor education to difficult home lives and from single parent families to poverty. The Cheshire chief constable, Peter Fahy blamed cheap alcohol and its availability to young people for youth crime and antisocial behaviour.
Other commentators went as far as proposing military service for youth with behaviourial issues, following the model from some states in America where the Army participates heavily during School hours to inculculcate discipline and respect of authority.
While the government has been hell bent on tackling ‘extremism’ and ‘Islamism’ as ‘major threats’, real and pressing issues like youth crime, which have been making regular appearances for years on end have been left sidelined. The government has been more interested in playing the ‘Politics of fear’ game with Muslims, with its bullying line whilst neglecting another form of violence which has been more catastrophic than the attacks by militant criminals on UK soil.
Surely, the Brown government should be re-considering in investing the £5 million for tackling ‘Violent Extremism’ to gang, gun and crime culture for youth? If violence on the streets of Britain and protecting its citizens is the governments principle and foremost role then the £32 million pathfinder fund dedicated for next years project on tackling ‘Violent Extremism’ surely should be re-invested to the current crime phenomenon amongst youths?
Perhaps Ruth Kelly and new Communities minister Hazel Blears should roll out a new curriculum for local community centres and schools to tackle the radicalization of youth towards gun crime?
Are the demands too far fetched?....... and don’t serve political Capital in the current climate?
Rhy jones, a young lad described as “a very good footballer, a lovely and funny kid” will be remembered by all of us, sharing in the grief of the loss of life of an innocent child caught victim to a ruthless crime culture.
It seems that our concern as Muslims for the sanctity for life, wherever this maybe or whatever the background of the victim, is more sincere than those put in charge of looking after society.
