“Islamophobia – A word created by fascists and used by cowards to manipulate morons.” Andrew Cummins

I am no longer shocked or surprised to hear stories of men and women from the police force facing disciplinary action for criticising Islam. Men and women who have an impeccable work record who all of a sudden find themselves losing everything for saying halal meat is barbaric or for saying Sharia courts should be shut down. It should be shocking and it should be headline news that the very people who are supposed to serve and protect us, risk losing their jobs, for ‘insulting Islam.’ I suppose we should go back to the beginning to find out how we got here.

When my father arrived in the UK in the late 60s, he had no interest in getting special treatment, happy to be in the land of the free. Where money really did grow on trees and women were more accessible than they were back in Pakistan. What was there not to love about his new home, apart from the freezing cold, it was better than the poverty he had left behind. Did he want it to be ruled by Sharia? No! This was the late 60s, remember, and it was Iran and Afghanistan that were slowly being taken over by Islam. It was in Iran and Afghanistan that women were protesting against the forced veiling and all the other restrictions Islam forces on women and men.

Fast-forward to the UK, and it is obvious sharia is creeping into everyday life. The Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into Sharia courts that operate in the UK; some say there are 80 Sharia courts, although due to their secretive nature, the true number is unknown. The fact that there is an inquiry at all shows there is a problem; although the Muslim men in charge of the inquiry makes it pointless, as they will no doubt find nothing wrong with Sharia, if applied in ‘context’ and something to do with ‘nuance.’

I hear lots of people talk about how they are too scared to reveal their identity on social media, and use anonymous accounts for fear of losing their job, as they are critical of Islam, and I hear lots of people who think these people are exaggerating and call them racists and Islamophobes. Then I read stories in the papers, stories such as that of Javaria Saeed, a former counter-terrorism officer for the Metropolitan Police and a practising Muslim, who complained to her bosses about some of her fellow Muslim officers. These Muslim officers saw nothing wrong with FGM and also advised Muslim women suffering from domestic violence to go to Sharia courts rather than report it to the Police. Unless the abuse was really violent, and how they determined ‘really violent’ abuse was not clear.

In August last year I was invited, along with many others, to speak at an event organised by Anne Marie Waters of Sharia Watch UK. An event at which I spoke about how Islam kills women, kills them not just physically but mentally and emotionally. This is not a lie, and we only need to look to Muslim countries to see how women are punished. We know in the UK that Muslim women are punished too, we have laws to protect them from forced marriage, from FGM, HBV, and there is talk of making breast ironing a crime too. The one thing these evil acts all have in common is religion, some argue and say it is cultural, and I say it is religion.

Africans, Egyptians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Indonesians, to name some, carry out FGM, all are completely different cultures, yet religion is the common denominator.

Anne Marie received hassle from the police. She couldn’t hold the event outside Westminster, they said, so she chose another location and that too was not suitable, as she needed to apply for permission. It seemed as if there was nothing but obstacles put in her way, with those in charge hoping she would cancel the event. Anne Marie is a strong woman and refused to back down, and so eventually they gave up and allowed her to hold the event outside Westminster, her first choice of venue.

If you want to march calling for Sharia law and for a Caliphate in the UK, then no obstacles will be put in place. Instead, the police will walk alongside you to protect you from any backlash. While you march, you can wave the ISIS flag, and that, too, goes unchecked. Protest against Sharia and mock Islam, and you may well find yourself arrested.

You can also wave banners and hold placards calling for the ‘Death of British Soldiers.’ That, too, is allowed and given a free pass. Protest against the evil and barbaric ways in which Islam kills women, stoning, lashing, beheading, and you may find yourself being accused of a ‘hate crime.’

Am I the only one who can see how stupid this is? Am I the only one who can see the double standards that exist in British society? Fighting for British culture and for British laws, and you are smeared as an Islamophobe, racist and fascist. March for the UK to become a Caliphate and for Sharia to rule, and you can do this every day if you want, with no hassle and no being moved on.

But when we have a Prime Minister who wears a headscarf when meeting with Muslim leaders, then is it any wonder the country is in the state it is in? What message does that give?

Islam has special privileges in the UK, and anyone who disagrees or challenges this is accused of racism. Racism against an idea, a religion is not possible, but as I said, Islam has special privileges, so you can be racist towards it, and if you argue that is not possible then you’re an Islamophobe.

Do we give this special treatment to, say, Judaism? Do we arrest those who speak out against the Jewish people? No! All other religions can suck it up and deal with it; Christianity is mocked and rightly so, as is the Catholic Church and the child sex abuse scandal. So many Catholics left their faith, refused to go to chapel and mass after the scandal that rocked their religion, so sickened by the rape of children and the cover up.

Mosques are not immune to this abuse, and we have hear of molvis and imams who have abused and raped the children left in their care, trusted by the parents to teach them the Quran and not abuse that trust by sexually abusing and raping their children. Do we talk about this as freely as the Catholic priest’s abuse? No we don’t, because only one religion has special privileges and the rest don’t.

We have the Labour Party, who has a bunch of party members who are blatant Jew-haters, and all they need to do is apologise and carry on. Imagine if the Tory party openly hated Muslims. Would they be allowed to apologise and carry on? You would never hear the end of it.

Some laugh and say the fear is not rational and that Muslims do not want Islam to take over the UK. These are the liberal leftie Islam-loving and appeasing for votes and the deluded.

Britain is becoming like Iran and Afghanistan in the 60s, when the Islamists were taking over. Sharia is creeping into everyday life and there are too many quick to silence those who speak out about it.

We have a Labour councillor who demands that a school change its uniform policy to allow a 4-year-old to wear a hijab, we jail those who place bacon onto mosque door handles and give them longer sentences than we do to those who mutilate their daughter’s vagina, and we do not even arrest those who force FGM onto their daughters.

Just recently there was an article in the papers about the police being too scared to do anything about FGM for fear of being called a racist. Allowing little girl’s vaginas to be mutilated for fear of being called a name? Failing to protect little girls from a lifetime of suffering for fear of being called a name?

Hate preachers who are banned in Pakistan are given visas to travel to the UK and spread their hate in mosques. These visits are advertised all over Facebook and other social media platforms. In these mosques, they can preach to their fellow Muslims hatred towards the kaffirs, the Jews and the West. All the while they must be laughing at the stupidity of our government.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a fear of a religion that calls for your death for daring to leave it, that hangs you from a crane for being gay, that stones you to death for being raped.

Call me an Islamophobe all you want, it won’t stop me from speaking out about the ways in which the government is being bullied by Muslims, I do not want to be ruled by Sharia and I know there are millions of others like me, Muslims and non-Muslims, who agree. They cannot silence us all.

Shazia Hobbs grew up in Glasgow with her white Scottish mum, her Pakistani-born dad, his Pakistani-born first wife and eight of the 11 children the two women. Shazia Hobbs debut novel,