Extremists need to be kept away from their children: Scotland Yard chief

London: A senior British counter terrorist official has expressed his candid opinion that ‘Extremists need to be kept away from their children’. ‘Scotland Yard’ Chief Mark Rowley pointed out that, it was a contradiction that ‘children of sexual offenders were separated from their parents for safety reasons, but children of radical extremists were allowed to stay in spite of the perceived threat.’

Farhana Begum Ahmed was arrested by the British agencies in last November, for being a woman operative promoting and campaigning for IS over the internet. She has five children in the age group from 6 to 16. Taking note of this issue, Judge Christopher Moss released her with only a warning. Declaring this as an exceptional case, Judge Moss had ordered Farhana Begum to live with her children and look after them.

Since the breakout of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the British defence agencies have successfully created a facility for 100 children through the medium of family courts. But in many cases of extremists and terrorists, the British courts have allowed the parents to live with their children. ‘Scotland Yard’ Chief Mark Rowley expressed displeasure about this and stressed the need for following the same policy for terrorists as for the sexual offenders.

The Scotland Yard Chief also warned that it will be very dangerous if parents start teaching their children that they should hate other religions and kill people of other religions when they grow-up. Although the IS seems to be defeated in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist threat to Britain is still not over, warned Rowley.

Over 450 people have been arrested in Britain in the last year, for crimes related to terrorism. The Scotland Yard Chief attracted attention to the fact that this number was 35% more as compared to 2016. He also criticised the groups supporting the extremists. The agencies have adopted very mild policies with these groups, alleged Rowley. The senior British officer expressed concern that the promotion of terrorism over the internet is on the rise and he pointed out that this is a major threat.