Islamists trying to build parallel society in Canada: Report

TORONTO - Islamists are secretly working to build a “parallel society” in Canada, warns an intelligence report.

The declassified Intelligence Assessment report carried by the country’s National Post newspaper says extremists are secretly encouraging Muslims to shun Western society and live in a “self-imposed” isolation.

Focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb ut-Tahrir, which peacefully promote an ideology at odds with western values, the intelligence report says: “Even if the use of violence is not outwardly expressed, the creation of isolated communities can spawn groups that are exclusivist and potentially open to messages in which violence is advocated.”

“At a minimum, the existence of such mini-societies undermines resilience and the fostering of a cohesive Canadian nation.”

The Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Muslim Brotherhood are worldwide pan-Islamic groups working for the goal of creating a global Islamic state under Sharia laws.

According to the newspaper, the Hizb-ut-Tahrir organised a meeting last year in Toronto’s suburban city of Mississauga to discuss the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

“While the issue of violence by Islamist groups has continued to be a counter-terrorism priority for Western governments and particularly security services for many years, Islamist social ideology appears to have gone unstudied, precisely because the use of violence is either unsupported or understated,” the paper quotes the intelligence report as saying.

“Nevertheless, several Islamist movements advocate a rejection of Western society and mores, and encourage self-imposed isolation of Muslims in the West.”

Citing how Islamists are trying to seek synchronization of Sharia law and state law, the report says, “By definition, their world views clash with secular ones. A competition for the hearts and minds of the diaspora Muslims has hence begun.”

According to the report, a liberal Canada has become an ideal ground for extremists forced to flee Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt - where the Muslim Brotherhood has a major presence even though it is banned - to preach these beliefs in the West.

The report says: “Some Islamists advocate isolationism and the establishment of a parallel society. Isolationism can lead to conditions where extreme messages can incubate and eventually become the catalyst for violence. At a minimum, isolationism undermines a multicultural and democratic society.”

Canada is home to more than a million Muslims and their population is projected to triple in the next 20 years.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)