Safeguarding Free Speech: Why the UK’s Hindu Community Is Right to Challenge Labour’s Islamophobia Definition

The Free Speech Union’s Warning

In a recent LinkedIn post, the Free Speech Union (FSU) amplified a critical letter from Hindu community leaders in the UK, warning the Labour government that its proposed official definition of Islamophobia risks imposing a “chilling effect” on free speech.[1] The leaders, represented by groups like the Hindu Council, expressed alarm over how this “poorly defined standard of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’” could inadvertently—or deliberately—stifle legitimate discussions about Islam, including historical critiques, and effectively reintroduce blasphemy laws through the back door.[2] This concern is not abstract; it strikes at the heart of democratic principles, where no ideology or religion should be shielded from scrutiny. As the FSU rightly underscores, such measures threaten to undermine freedom of expression, which includes the right to offend, challenge, and criticise ideas—values that Hinduism purportedly embraces through its tradition of intellectual debate.[3]

Acknowledging Imperfections in Religions, Beliefs and Ideologies

For important context, it is essential to acknowledge that this ideal of open debate within Hinduism itself is not always reflected in practice. This does not dilute the concerns expressed, but emphasise them. The historical, international evidence we have should have meant that no British government should ever have countenanced giving privileged status to Islam or any religious system that has entered Britain which is historically, constitutionally and culturally Christian, rooted in the principles and values of freedom, humanity and accountability from The Holy Bible.

In majority-Hindu India, there have been numerous documented incidents of severe persecution against Christians, including acts of violence, forced conversions, and even murders perpetrated by Hindu extremists. Reports from organisations such as Amnesty International and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom highlight patterns of mob attacks on Christian communities, destruction of churches, and discriminatory laws that exacerbate tensions.[4]

This reality underscores that religions, beliefs and ideologies are not immune to extremism or abuse of power, and it reinforces the imperative for unfettered free speech: to expose and critique such injustices wherever they occur, without favouring one religion over another.

If Christians enter a country where the majority faith is different from theirs, they have no prospect of being given special or privileged status. Indeed the overwhelming evidence is that Christians are the most persecuted faith in the world. There is similarly no justification for affording Islam such privileges that would not be given In Islamic nations to other faiths.

Historical Persecution of Sikhs under Islamic Rule

A similar pattern of historical persecution extends to the Sikh community under Islamic Mughal rule. Beginning in the early 17th century, Sikh Gurus and followers faced intense oppression for refusing to convert to Islam. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was tortured and executed in 1606 on the orders of Emperor Jahangir. Later, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru, was beheaded in 1675 by Aurangzeb for defending the religious freedoms of Kashmiri Hindus against forced conversions and for opposing Mughal persecution of non-Muslims. Under Aurangzeb and subsequent rulers, policies of genocide were enacted against Sikhs, including bounties on their heads, mass executions, and decrees ordering conversion or death. This relentless brutality led to the militarisation of the Sikh community through the formation of the Khalsa in 1699, transforming Sikhism into a faith committed to resisting tyranny.

Persecution of Christians and Jews

The scope of Islamic persecution extends far beyond Sikhs and Hindus to encompass Christians and Jews, with a history of slaughter, forced conversions, and genocide that is too vast and grave to be comprehensively covered here.

For Christians, this includes the systematic targeting in regions like the Middle East, that was historically Christian until 732 AD, where Islamic texts have justified violence against them, from the early conquests to modern-day attacks in Egypt and Syria, resulting in the destruction of churches and communities.[5]

Jews faced similar atrocities, including pogroms and expulsions under various caliphates, such as the Almohad persecutions in the 12th century that forced conversions or exile across North Africa and Spain.[6]

For a deeper understanding, readers are encouraged to explore Raymond Ibrahim’s books, such as Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians and Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, as well as his numerous podcasts and interviews on YouTube.[7]

The Extensive Legacy of Islamic Slavery

Compounding these historical injustices is the extensive legacy of Islamic slavery, which scholars like Raymond Ibrahim and others document as far surpassing the Transatlantic Slave Trade in scale and duration, yet receiving far less public scrutiny.

While the Transatlantic trade, involving Europeans and Africans, enslaved approximately 12 million Africans over four centuries, the Islamic slave trade spanned 1,300 years and ensnared an estimated 10 to 18 million Africans, alongside millions more from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, often through raids and conquests.[8] A notable aspect was the demand for white women, particularly from Slavic regions (the term “slave” derives from “Slav”), Circassians, and Europeans captured in Mediterranean raids, who were prized for harems and concubinage.[9]

Unlike the Transatlantic trade, which ended in the 19th century, Islamic slavery persists in modern forms; examples include Mauritania, where hereditary slavery affects thousands despite official abolition in 1981, Libya’s migrant slave markets post-2011, and ISIS’s enslavement of Yazidi women in Iraq and Syria as recently as 2014.[10]

This is underpinned by the Quran, which permits slavery and regulates it without prohibition; verses such as 33:50, 4:24, and 23:5-6 endorse ownership and sexual relations with captives (“those whom your right hands possess”).[11] These doctrinal foundations make Labour’s proposal to grant special privileges to Islam and Muslims unconscionable, as they elevate a faith with such documented historical and ongoing evidence above scrutiny, potentially silencing critiques rooted in fact and public record.

Labour’s Undemocratic Overreach

The Labour government’s push for this definition, absent from its election manifesto, is an undemocratic overreach, granting special privileges to Islam and Muslims that would necessarily marginalise other minority communities, as well as the host community itself.

For Hindus in the UK, this is particularly perilous. As the letter notes, narratives about “historical persecution under Islamic empires” or critiques of “contemporary Islamist ideology” might be suppressed out of fear of breaching the new standard.[12] Their concerns, reflective of the majority of British Citizens, are not about fostering hatred but preserving the ability to engage with uncomfortable truths.

In a free society, all religions, beliefs and ideologies must face equal protections—and equal criticisms—without favouritism.

Raymond Ibrahim’s Historical Insights on Hindu Suffering

To illustrate the stakes, consider the historical context provided by eminent scholar Raymond Ibrahim, whose work on Islamic conquests reveals why such discussions must remain open. Ibrahim documents how Islam’s expansion into India, starting in the early 8th century, involved systematic ravages that extended far beyond mere territorial gains. By the Umayyad Caliphate’s era, Islamic forces had subjugated parts of central Asia and India, imposing a binary choice on non-Muslims: convert, submit as inferiors, or perish.[13] For Hindus, classified as polytheists under Islamic law, there was no middle ground like the dhimmi status offered to monotheists who, although consigned to a miserable status below Muslims, could elect to pay the “jizya” (tax); instead, they faced mandates of forced conversion or execution.[14]

Ibrahim cites estimates from Indian historians that between 1000 and 1500 AD, around 80 million Hindus were slaughtered amid these jihad-driven invasions, a scale of violence fuelled by Quranic imperatives to spread Islam through subjugation and plunder.[15] Invaders like Timur (Tamerlane) exemplified this, devastating northern India in campaigns that left lands barren and populations decimated.[16] These events, drawn from primary Muslim chronicles, weren’t anomalies but extensions of a pattern Ibrahim traces back to Muhammad’s successors, where conquest served both religious and economic ends.

The Need to Protect Open Dialogue

Suppressing such scholarship under the guise of combating “Islamophobia” would not only distort history but also silence the voices of those whose ancestors endured these ravages. Hindus in the UK, many with familial ties to this legacy, deserve the freedom to discuss it without fear of professional or reputational repercussions.[17] Labour’s policy risks creating a hierarchy of sensitivities, where Islam receives undue protections, eroding the equality that underpins British democracy.

The FSU’s stance is spot on: this is a fight for foundational principles. By highlighting the Hindu Council’s letter, they remind us that true inclusivity demands open dialogue, not censorship. If the government proceeds unchecked, it sets a precedent for privileging one group over others, potentially fuelling division rather than harmony.

We must support the FSU and Hindu leaders in demanding that free speech remains uncompromised—no matter how edgy or historical the topic.

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Footnotes

[1] Free Speech Union LinkedIn post: “Hindu community leaders have warned the government…”, available at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/speechunion_hindu-community-leaders-have-warned-the-government-activity-7414961968790306816-nugj

[2] Ibid., quoting the letter from Hindu community leaders.

[3] Ibid., emphasising the FSU’s support for unrestricted free expression.

[4] Amnesty International reports on human rights in India (e.g., https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/india/report-india/); United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Annual Reports on India (e.g., https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/India 2025 USCIRF Annual Report.pdf).

[5] Raymond Ibrahim, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

[6] Historical accounts, including Jane Gerber, The Jews of Spain (Free Press, 1994), detailing the 1148–1212 Almohad forced conversions and expulsions.

[7] Raymond Ibrahim, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013); Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West (Da Capo Press, 2018); YouTube interviews, e.g., TRIGGERnometry podcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y64jGdPHDmM).

[8] Tidiane N’Diaye, Le Génocide Voilé (Gallimard, 2008); Paul Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery (Cambridge University Press, 2011); estimates of 10–18 million African victims over 13 centuries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_Muslim_world).

[9] Ronald Segal, Islam’s Black Slaves (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001); accounts of the Barbary Coast and Crimean Khanate slave trades.

[10] Anti-Slavery International reports on Mauritania; UN reports on Libya (2017–present); Human Rights Watch documentation of ISIS enslavement of Yazidis (2014–2017) (e.g., https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2025/8/7/widespread-chattel-slavery-in-mauritania-a-wake-up-call-for-corporate-due-diligencenbsp).

[11] Quran verses 33:50, 4:24, 23:5–6 (standard translations such as Sahih International; see https://quran.com).

[12] Free Speech Union LinkedIn post (as [1]).

[13] Raymond Ibrahim, “The Historical Reality of the Muslim Conquests,” available at: https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2012/03/01/the-historical-reality-of-the-muslim-conquests/.

[14] Raymond Ibrahim interviews and writings, e.g., TRIGGERnometry podcast (https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/p/the-real-history-of-islam-with-raymond).

[15] K.S. Lal, Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India (Research Publications, 1973), estimating 60–80 million deaths; cited by Ibrahim.

[16] Ibid., with references to Timur’s memoirs and contemporary chronicles.

[17] Free Speech Union LinkedIn post (as [1]).