“It has had a history of non-violence for the last 50 years and these measures are like what we have seen in Uzbekistan where President (Islam) Karimov has been burning his political opponents alive.”
“There will be serious repercussions in terms of community relations if this ban goes ahead. Our members are all for political expression, not for violence.”
“Even though the party has been open to intellectual debate and even though the prime minister said he wanted a battle of ideas, it became apparent that this government could not face the party through such avenues and resorted to such draconian measures.”
“This is a blurring of the margins of people who are engaged in non-violent political speech, an attempt to bunch them in with extremists and terrorists,”
“This huge demonstration will send a clear signal that although Muslims are ready to hear and respond to criticism, we will not remain silent over cheap insults in the name of 'freedom of speech'.”
