Leading Bradford Muslims have called for a controversial TV drama depicting Britain's first female suicide bomber to be pulled.

Britz, to be shown on Channel 4 tomorrow and on Thursday, depicts a brother and sister from Bradford. It attempts to understand what would lead a second generation Muslim to turn against the country of his or her birth.

Britz tells the story of Sohail (Riz Ahmed), an ambitious law student who joins MI5, and his sister Nasima (Manjinder Virk) who becomes radicalised and turns to terrorism.

She becomes part of a terror cell plotting to kill hundreds of people in central London. Some of the characters are made out to be associates of the real perpetrators of the July 2005 London bombings.

Dr Abdul Bary Malik, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said real life solutions were needed to address the problem of disaffected young Muslims in Britain.

He said: "As a Bradfordian, I am not happy with the programme. I feel that some sections within the media are desperate to find something sensational from Bradford, some link with 9/11 and 7/7, when nothing serious has happened here.

"It is disappointing that they are using Bradford. Since 7/7 we have been a united city but they are trying to show some sort of desperation and alienation among some Muslim youths."

Dr Bary Malik said some Muslims who believed they were victims of Islamophobia and singled out when travelling had a point. He cited the case of Britain's first Muslim minister, Shahid Malik, who had his hand luggage analysed for traces of explosives when he was about to fly home from Washington DC on Sunday after high level talks on tackling terrorism.

Dr Malik said: "This programme is not the right way to deal with this. I don't think we need to address this issue in a fictional drama, we need to return to real life instead."

Councillor Khadim Hussain (Lab, Keighley Central), who is the regional co-ordinator of the British Muslim Forum, has reiterated calls by the group for the film not be aired.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: "A drama like this cements every stereotype and will just increase the level of Islamophobia that already exists. It will undermine all the positive work that the forum is doing in our communities.

"It will just stir tensions up again and serve to destroy the very fabric of our society. I condemn Channel 4 in the strongest possible terms and believe that showing this programme is not in the interest of the country or society. I agree with the principles of freedom of expression and speech, but this will do more damage than good.

"It is against community cohesion and should be banned."

The drama's director Peter Kosminsky said he hoped radicalised Muslims would not feel vindicated by the film. He said: "I hope that nobody who sees it would think there is anything triumphant or joyful about Nasima's journey. We went to lengths to make this (suicide bombing) not seem like an exciting or glorious thing."

  • Britz is screened tomorrow, from 9pm to 11.15pm, and on Thursday, from 9pm to 11.25pm.

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