http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4485-0782
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Abstract
The focus of this article is the renovation and rededication of a WW1 cemetery designated for Indian Muslim soldiers, located in Woking, Surrey. The close involvement of the British Army in this project is examined as an instance of militarized multiculture. The centenary of WW1 provides the wider context for exploring the category of ‘the Muslim soldier’. The essay discusses the significance of military service for UK post-colonial citizens, whether in terms of advancing claims to belong to British historical narratives or in asserting the right to join the contemporary armed forces, as evidenced by the Armed Forces Muslim Association. In addition, the Islamic peace garden project illustrates the importance of community place-making initiatives for integrating minority cultural heritage into mainstream narratives.
ORCID
Vron Ware http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4485-0782
Notes
7 See also: ‘What is institutional racism?’ Guardian, Wednesday 24 February, 1999. http://goo.gl/0nJbW (accessed 27.07.17).
8 The October 2012 Diversity Dashboard report (p. 1) showed, for example, that:
The overall female representation of the UK Regular Forces was 9.7%, this has remained constant between 1 October 2011 and 1 October 2012.
BME personnel comprised 7.1% of the UK Regular Forces, continuing a long-term gradual increase in the proportion of BME personnel. This differs considerably by officer (2.4%) and other ranks (8.0%). There are also notable variations by Service with the Army employing the most BME personnel (10.1%) and the RAF the least (2.0%). Ministry of Defence October 2012.
9 The rapid increase in numbers of ‘military migrants’ soon proved its PR value in the face of British National Party claims that military service in defence of the UK was an all-white affair (Ware Citation2010). However, the arrest in 2017 of five servicemen allegedly discovered to be members of the banned neo-Nazi organization National Action indicated that current and former soldiers could be particularly vulnerable to the allure of white supremacist groups (Davey, Citation2017).
10 For more evidence of the shortfall in recruitment, see, for example: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-01-17/60327/
11 Choudary played a key role in the group, Al-Muhajiroun, which was banned under terrorism legislation, as well as successor groups such as Islam4UK and Muslims Against Crusades. He received a five and a half year sentence in September 2016 after being convicted of urging Muslims to support Isis in a series of talks posted on YouTube.
12 The Ahmadiyya Movement was founded in India in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to promote Islam as a universal religion of peace. Established in the UK since 1913, the Movement built London’s first mosque in 1926 (The London Mosque in Putney). There are now one hundred branches across Britain and a number of mosques have been opened including the landmark Baitul Futuh mosque in south London, which is the largest in western Europe. See http://www.loveforallhatredfornone.org for more details.
The Ahmadiyya community is not recognized by the Muslim Council of Britain due to theological differences. See http://www.mcb.org.uk/position-statement-the-muslim-council-of-britain-and-ahmadis/ (6 April 2016) for more detail.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Vron Ware
Vron Ware is author of several books and essays on racism and feminism, the social construction of whiteness, the legacy of empire, national identity, militarisation and the politics of anti-racism. Her study of institutional racism inside the Contemporary British Army (Military Migrants, Palgrave) was published in 2012.