Anas Sarwar says lost Labour leader bid over racism, Islamophobia

LONDON: Labour parliamentarian and PTI leader Chaudhary Sarwar’s son Anas Sarwar has claimed that he lost his bid to lead Labour Party in Scotland because racist and Islamophobic questions were raised about his Pakistani background, colour of skin and his religion Islam.Anas Sarwar, who is a Scottish Member of Parliament (MSP) said that a Labour councilor told him he could not back him in the Scottish party leadership contest because Scotland was not ready for a “brown, Muslim Paki”.

Another Labour member told the MSP she could not support his leadership bid after she saw a picture of his wife wearing a hijab.

Anas Sarwar lost out to Richard Leonard in last autumn’s leadership contest which was sparked by the resignation of Kezia Dugdale.

Anas Sarwar, a former deputy leader of the party, said in an interview the first incident happened as he was canvassing support from senior Labour figures.

He told the Daily Record: “A leader of a Labour council group told me very clearly the reason that he couldn’t support me in the leadership election was that, in his words, Scotland wasn’t ready for a ‘brown, Muslim Paki’. When I challenged him on that, saying it was a racist, Islamophobic comment, he said that it wasn’t his opinion, it was his fear about what his constituents believe.”

Another Labour member told him she could not support his bid after seeing a picture of his wife Furheen wearing a hijab.

Anas Sarwar said: “My wife wears a hijab and she said, based on the picture she saw of my wife, she couldn’t vote for me in the leadership election.”

He said his wife is “a Scot in every way possible” and that “her identity is way more than what she chooses to wear on her head”.

He added: “I get comments on social media all the time about Pakistan. I wasn’t born in Pakistan, I was born in Scotland and I’m just as Scottish as anybody else. I get comments about racism and saying I want to impose Sharia law. The number of posts I saw during the leadership election saying we can’t allow a Muslim leader because he’ll impose Sharia law on the country was unbelievable. I support Scots law, not Sharia law.”

Anas Sarwar spoke ahead of launching a Scottish Parliament cross-party group on tackling Islamophobia.

Sarwar said that in general people in Scottish society see past an individual’s faith, colour and country of origin. He added: “But what we have to challenge here is institutional racism, institutional Islamophobia, institutional sexism and homophobia. It is those institutions that need to be challenged directly.”

Anasa Sarwar said it was not just an issue for the Labour Party but said that the party should hold itself to a higher standard.

A Labour spokesman said: “What Anas has revealed is completely unacceptable. Labour has a zero tolerance approach to any form of racism and bigotry. This reported behaviour falls well short of what we expect from any member or elected representative of the Labour Party. Labour is taking steps to ensure this issue can thoroughly be investigated, and as part of that the General Secretary is contacting Anas to identify the individual involved and take appropriate action.”

Sarwar believes terrorist incidents have fuelled Islamophobia around the world, with the problem particularly prominent online. Recorded hate crimes towards Muslims in Scotland almost doubled between 2015 and 2016.

Anas Sarwar is son of the UK’s first Muslim MP Muhammad Sarwar who joined Pakistani politics after quitting Westminster. He served as Punjab governor and then joined PTI.