The sign forbidding dogs in a Poplar park.

If you are the ‘only Jew in the village’ or the ‘only Hindu on a Welsh hillside’ or even the only Buddhist in Blackpool, then there is a golden rule about how to behave in the place in which you find yourself, and that is not to piss off the majority population. It’s not an easy rule to live by but it is one that a person should at least attempt to live by. Sometimes a minority can cause a problem without realising it, but these are often just misunderstandings that can be corrected with education and by greater understanding and a bit of give and take on all sides.

Here’s an example of a misunderstanding that was solved by dialogue. Many years ago when Hindus first came to East London in appreciable numbers they required a lot of milk for a particular religious festival. At this distant time milk was still delivered in churns which had a double skin to them to keep the milk fresh.

Unfortunately due to misunderstanding these churns were put on a fire in order to boil the milk which ruined the churns. The angry milk depot could have escalated this into an intra-religious row but didn’t, the depot spoke with the Hindu group and in future this group of Hindus was supplied with milk in containers that could be put on a flame. This was a misunderstanding that was sorted to the satisfaction of all involved. The Hindus got their bulk milk for their festival and the milk depot never again got a burned and ruined churn. Everyone was happy and both sides learned more about each other and about what is and is not acceptable in the UK.

However it is not innocent misunderstandings that I’m concerned with at the moment, it is an incident of naked arrogance and a complete disrespect for the mores of the majority population. I’m talking about a sign that has allegedly been put up by Muslim extremists in Tower Hamlets banning dogs from a park on the grounds that it offends Muslim sensibilities.

The Wharf newspaper said:

“A criminal investigation has been called for by Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick over a ‘highly divisive sign’

The poster found in Burdett Road in Poplar, claimed: ‘Do not walk your dog here! Muslims do not like dogs. This is an Islamic area now’.

Mr Fitzpatrick, who said the photo was sent to him by a constituent on Wednesday, has written to the Met Police and Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman calling for action to be taken.

He wrote: ‘I have no idea whether this was posted by the EDL, Islamists or some other organisation or element. Regardless it is a highly divisive sign’

‘I am writing to request a criminal investigation.

In response to Mr Fitzpatrick’s comments on Twitter over the incident Tower Hamlets Police tweeted: ‘the material has been taken down and a crime report completed for further investigation. “

There is as Mr Fitzpatrick said the possiblity that this sign was put up by a non-Muslim rabble rouser but knowing how Islam has ‘form’ for dog hatred then it is highly likely that this sign is genuine. If it turns out not to be then I’ll print a retraction of this piece, but there have been so many stories of Muslim taxi drivers refusing to carry assistance dogs in their cars and knowing how strict the Islamic disgust at dogs is, I’m pretty certain that this sign was put up by an Islamist group.

This sign goes against everything in my ‘golden rule’ for living as a minority among those who do not share your belief. If it has been put up by Islamists then it is a show of breathtaking arrogance and an example of the sort of Islamic tolerance that we could well do without. I do not hold out much hope that this sign will be investigated properly by Tower Hamlets police as they have to a large extent ‘gone native’ where Islam is concerned.

I’m not a great fan of dogs, I’m much more of a cat person myself, but I would not hurt a dog nor would I presume to exclude dogs from where they have traditionally gone or been responsibly exercised. This notice is not a polite request, it is a demand that non-Muslims go along with the restrictions of Islamic law and should not be tolerated.

Maybe those who are calling for a mass peaceful dog walking protest over this matter have got the right idea.

No good will come of arrogant signage like this. It will entrench still further the separation between people and cannot be seen as anything other than divisive. If the Islamists were trying to create a hostile ghetto where non-Muslims were scared to be non-Muslim then they are going the right way about it.