Student Rights, a two-man group with a history of pressuring British universities to prevent certain individuals that it deems to be 'extremists' - frequently Muslims - from speaking to students on campus, has issued a statement in response to widespread criticism of its activities. It contains several easily refutable arguments.
Student Rights is seeking to police, not 'protect' students and its activities should be seen as part of the 'Cold War on British Muslims'. Its activities feed into an increasingly entrenched discourse of Islamophobia endorsed by much of the government and mainstream media. Universities should be wary of its lobbying efforts, the media should interrogate its misleading research and FOSIS should be commended for standing up to its bullying.
Accusing your opponents of demagoguery and scaremongering is one of the oldest political tricks in the book, yet the facts simply do not add up here. FOSIS claim that the community they represent is being unfairly demonised yet they organise events with extremists and refuse to engage with organisations like ourselves when we contact them.