London, July 30 (ANI): The British government has scrapped an inquiry into the rise of 'secretive Sharia councils' dealing in Islamic justice following the refusal of Muslim courts to cooperate.
The failure of the Ministry of Justice probe has raised fears among politicians and pressure groups about the increasing influence of Sharia courts across the country.
They are worried the courts' decisions may run against the law of the land, especially in case of divorce settlements for women, the Daily Mail reports.
Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly disclosed the failure of the Government's investigation to MPs.
"This identified a number of challenges to undertaking robust research in this area. The study was therefore limited and adds little to the evidence base," the paper quoted Djanogly, as saying.
"The findings cannot be regarded as a representative assessment of the operation of Sharia councils. Following expert peer review of the draft report, the Ministry of Justice decided not to publish the findings," he added.
The Ministry of Justice said that the 'report was essentially an exploratory study, which identified a number of challenges to undertaking more robust research'.
"The challenges to undertaking more robust research were that the councils are generally run on a volunteer basis, were short staffed and very busy, so there were practical difficulties in speaking with respondents," it said.
"There was also reluctance to discuss the private work of the councils and respondents were wary of the stereotypical ways in which their organizations were represented in the media," it added.
The scrapping of the inquiry comes when Islamic extremists have launched a campaign declaring 'Sharia-controlled zones' across the UK.
Islamic extremists recently launched a poster campaign, declaring that within the 'zones' there should be 'no gambling', 'no music or concerts', 'no porn or prostitution', 'no drugs or smoking' and 'no alcohol'. (ANI)
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