 The final item of business today is a member's business debate on motion number 12934, in the name of Hans Alam Alec, on growing Islamophobia in Scotland and graffiti on the new central Gurdwara Glasgow. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would be grateful to those members who wish to speak in the debate. Could please press the request to speak buttons as soon as possible. Once again, could I ask for members leaving the chamber to do so quietly please? I call on Hans Alam Alec to open the debate. Seven minutes please. Thank you very much and good afternoon, Presiding Officer. It is an honour to bring this motion for debate as the vandalism of the central Gurdwara Glasgow was deeply hurtful, incident for many reasons. At the end of March, the sacred religious building was defamed by vandals with the words of No Sharia, a Nazi symbol and another anti-Islamic message that would be inappropriate to repeat today. And as the community heard the news, all the communities were in complete shock that such disgraceful words were put on the walls of a great Glasgow Gurdwara. The Sikh community behaved with great dignity, with challenge, saying, committing. It's the climate of rampant Islamophobia. And today, out of respect to the Sikh community, where the Surapa scarf presented to me to mark the respect to our delegation while visiting the Pakistan-Glasgow-Lahore cycle challenge raising funds for the Sichuan hospital in Glasgow, where we were met by the ministers of the Holy Gurdwara, the Nalkana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, and the Gurdwara is, of course, in Pakistani Punjab. Calls to have a dialogue with the police, local and national politicians to create inclusive society and celebrate the contributions made by Scottish ethnic minorities went out to the country. It's shameful that Ionic Gurdwara has been vandalised. However, this is not an unusual case. I still remember the firebombing of the Gurdwara in Kent after the Salmon Salmon London terrorist attacks and the jeers at turban wearing Sikh men from racists at the time. As a Muslim, I totally condone this hateful attack on a beautiful new Glasgow Gurdwara, as it is the place of Sikh worship and community engagement and totally disrespects places of worship. It has also been the most welcome addition to our religions, culture and architectural life of Glaswegians. It is clear that targeting Muslim communities from bigots and hate perpetrators should be challenged by all of us. No community should suffer or be at the end of hate crime. I fully agree with Alec Neill's statement in the wake of the incident that acts like this only reveal the ignorance of few individuals who do not respect or appreciate Scotland's rich diversity. However, actions are needed to minimise this kind of incidents happening again in the future. Mr Neill has equalities as part of his portfolio. I would like to know what he's doing to root out racism and racial discrimination from Scottish society today. I asked the Parliament question in 2013 as to when the Scottish Government would update their 2008 to 2011 race equality statement. At that point, Mr Neill said it would be published at the end of the summer 2013. Two years later, I'm still waiting for the report. I don't know who's writing it. But I can tell you, not only am I waiting for it, but so is the communities. That pretty much sums up how much of a priority this current Scottish Government gives the racial equality agenda, which is already a step down from actually talking about racism. And please note, my criticism of the Scottish Government is just and based on evidence. It's not just hearsay. I'm not plucking these up out of the sky. This episode is a sad reminder that religions and ethnic minorities face public, radical, criminal attacks, as well as many indirect acts of discrimination. We must recognise the severity of this issue. Public and politicians need to follow up and root out the discrimination of all kinds at any stage and any level. Otherwise, we will continue to witness such heartless incidents up and down Scotland. As races, do not care whether you're Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or Sikh. You are different, so you'll do any excuse at all. So I once again call upon the Scottish Government to step up to its responsibilities and actually do their duty and protect all its citizens equally. Presiding Officer, may I say that the Government has a responsibility? It needs to be aware that there are many people, particularly shopkeepers, taxi drivers, people who are working on the coal phase, who are facing regular incidents of racism. Many have actually given up reporting the incidents because they feel that the police are not treating them seriously. Many have complained that when they have phoned up about racial discrimination or racist incidents, police don't actually turn up for days at a time because it's not an emergency. And the attitude like that means that people lose confidence. And not only that, people who perpetrate these acts get confidence. So we're looking at two balances. One on one end, people are getting disheartened, losing confidence. And the other hand, we are actually encouraging people to continue to perpetrate these crimes because there is no comeback to them. They think they can walk away from these issues. Therefore, it's absolutely imperative that we actually deal with our communities rather than talk about them. These issues about protecting religious freedom, talking about protecting people's ethnic backgrounds is important. I and Hamza Yousaf are proud products of this country. But we even today face discrimination. Hamza has had some very highlighted cases recently. So we know for a fact that this is happening. We don't need additional evidence. What we do need is the government actually to get down, roll up its leaves, get some money and do some work. We need to educate our communities. The schools are doing a wonderful job. I can assure you, we don't need to go and look at the schools and say we need to teach our children and they're doing their job. It's us adults who need teaching. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Thank you very much. We now turn to the open debate speeches of four minutes, please, and I call Kenny MacAskill to be followed by Malcolm Chisholm. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank Hamzala Malik for bringing this motion? He has an impeccable track record in pursuing these issues, although I would have to say that I do take issue with some of the comments that I thought were a bit more political and perhaps undeserved. This chamber is united. I disagree with the political positioning of many, both on left and right, on occasions. However, I think that this chamber has always been united in condemning racism, condemning Islamophobia. We did so in 9-11. We do so today and that is how we have to stand. Clearly, there are issues and that's what we're here for and that's why, as I say, I'm sure he'll reflect upon that. The reason I'm happy and delighted to support him is that this is first of all to address two of our not just vibrant but cherished communities, the Sikh community and the Islamic community. They are long-standing. They are part of Scotland and we have to cherish them and look after them. I know the Gurdwara in Glasgow and Hamzala's comments about its magnificence are quite correct. I don't know it as well. I've only visited once as a Gurdwara that I visit regularly down in Leith, but I do know the community in Edinburgh very well indeed. Indeed, I was at the Vaikasi ceremony just a few weeks back. They have been here not one or two generations, but we are now on to the fourth, fifth and sixth generations. That's the situation for the Sikh community in Leith. It will probably be an even greater lineage through in the west of Scotland. They have come from two brothers who first came here, but they are now a vital part of the city of Edinburgh, especially in the Leith area, but throughout the city and we need to look after them. The same applies in even greater terms because of the numbers with the Islamic community. Many have come from the Indian subcontinent, but others have come from elsewhere. We require to look after them and to cherish them. They are as valid and vibrant a part of Scotland as myself or any other member of this chamber. That's how it has to be and that's why we require to ensure that action is taken, that no doubt the minister will comment upon. You don't have to be able to trace your lineage to 1314 to be able to claim any ethnicity as a Scott. The Islamic community and indeed the Sikh community have more of a lineage perhaps than many white Christian communities who have come more recently, but whether they are Spanish or Polish, whether they are Italian or Indian, whether they are able to claim their lineage back to 1314 or even beyond, they are equally, but no more so at Scots than the Islamic and Sikh community. That is how we have to cherish them. We face challenges with Islamophobia and with racism. Hamzala Malik is right to make sure that the Government is held to account, but it is certainly my view that both the Government and indeed the authorities are doing everything that they can to address it. That was, I think, accepted by the Sikh community with regard to the Riragurdwara, but we do require to be ever vigilant. The ignorance is unbounded. The fact that the tenor of the graffiti showed that in terms of being unable to differentiate between Sikhism and between Islam—never mind, as I say, portraying Nazi symbols—is entirely unacceptable. As I say, I think that what we have to do is reiterate as a chamber, which will be done by every speaker from whatever party, that it is entirely unacceptable and the full force and weight of the law will be brought down upon those who carry out racist or Islamophobic hate crime. Equally, and perhaps more so, we require to make it quite clear that the Sikh and Islamic communities in Scotland are a vital part. We cherish them, we hold them dear, they make Scotland a better place and we will not be divided in any way. We stand with them, we stand for them because they are us. Thank you very much. I now call Malcolm Chisholm to be followed by Jamie Macdonald. I hand over to the motion. I am sure that I speak for everyone in the chamber. When I say that we all condemn this appalling combination of hatred and ignorance that we saw in terms of the graffiti on the Goodwara in Glasgow, I think that we need to challenge that. All forms of racial and religious hatred—and, of course, the motion in particular—focuses on Islamophobia, because we know that that has been a particular problem for several years. Like Kenny MacAskill, I would like to emphasise how much we value and celebrate the contribution of the Sikh community and the Muslim community and, indeed, all other ethnic minority communities living in Scotland today. Of course, I know, as the MSP, that it represents the particular connection of the Sikh community with Leith over many decades, and I certainly would like to say, as I have said on many occasions, how much I value the contribution that it has made to Scottish life. However, since the motion refers in particular to Islamophobia, let me concentrate on that. I think that there was a very interesting and important report from the Scottish Government in 2011 about the experience of being a Muslim living in Scotland. I think that it is quite sobering when we read that report to realise the extent of the problems that they are confronted with every day in Scotland. It found that, despite identifying a Scottish Muslim's living in Scotland, experience feelings of otherness and difference resulting from the experiences of religious and racial discrimination. The report also cited research by Hussain and Miller from 2006, which found that almost half of the majority community in Scotland were identified as holding Islamophobic attitudes. That was certainly something that shocked me. I remember 2006 well because I was Minister for Communities then and in 2005, and I did quite a lot on that issue in the wake of the London bombings in 2005. We know that there was an increase at that time, and some other events since then have perhaps reinforced that. Therefore, we must in particular challenge Islamophobia wherever we find it at this time. I thought that the words of David Haynes were very inspiring in relation to that. You might remember that David Haynes was the British hostage murdered by Islamic state militants. The important point is that he emphasised that Islam was not to blame. We have to keep saying that. It is obvious to us that it is obvious to the majority of people in Scotland, but the atrocities that are committed by a few are used as part of the campaign against Muslims in Scotland. He said that the brother of David Haynes said, The Muslim faith is not to blame for ISIS nor is it the fault of people of Middle Eastern descent. The attraction of complete control and the use of terror as an implement of population control has widespread appeal to many disenfranchised shiwite society. I have become aware of a number of verses in the Quran that I feel particularly apt at this time. He quotes, Since good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou evil with something that is better. I think that we need to challenge the ignorance about the Muslim religion, which is shown—not least, I suppose—by the graffiti, when many of the people who are filled with this hatred cannot even tell the difference between Islam and the Sikh religion. However, we have to tell the truth about the Muslim religion, because every Muslim I know—and it does not surprise me to say this, of course—is absolutely as appalled by the acts of terrorism as anybody else in society. Hansel Amalek emphasised education. He is probably right that there is a lot of positive things going on in schools. However, another thing that I read in preparation for this debate was a report that the NESUWT, Teachers Union, did for equality matters on what steps should be taken to tackle Islamophobia in educational settings. It emphasised that schooling college leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring that issues related to Islamophobia are identified and addressed appropriately and effectively. Nobody is born a racist. We all know that people learn those attitudes as they grow up in societies and challenging them in school is absolutely fundamental, because it is schools where people can be challenged when they are young. However, clearly we have a responsibility as politicians as well. I can just end, since my time is up, by quoting the Secretary of the Glasgow Goodwara Charandeep Singh, who said that the sad incident that triggered the debate should energise our political leaders and fellow citizens to continue to campaign to root out such hateful beliefs. Thank you. Before we move on with the debate, I remind members to lift their microphones and speak to them, otherwise the chamber has a difficulty hearing and I do not like to interrupt members' speeches. Jamie McGregor, to be followed by Sarah Boyack. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I congratulate Hans Arlamalick on securing this evening's debate and also pay tribute to him for the good work that he does in consistently speaking out against Islamophobia and, indeed, religious intolerance more broadly and for raising issues that some wish would just disappear without a debate. It is our job in this place to meet racism head on. Bad things happen when bullies are left to run riot and these people who do these things display a brutish ignorance which is similar to the Nazi gangs in their treatment of the Jews in the 1930s. Let me begin, on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, to join in the strong condemnation of these perpetrators of the racist graffiti on the central gudwaro in Glasgow and in need to condemn any incidents of racist or religiously and tolerant graffiti on any religious building. I note from the news yesterday the dreadful anti-Catholic graffiti that has been sprayed on St Andrews' Roman Catholic Church in Livingston. MSPs from across the political spectrum can rightly unite in our condemnation of this type of behaviour and the police should be robust in trying to apprehend those responsible as I'm sure they will do and ensure their crimes are subject to the due legal process. I also agree with the sentiments of Hanzala Malik's motion in relating to the particular victimisation of those in our Sikh communities who were targeted by ignorant extremists so ignorant that they cannot even tell the difference between Muslims and Sikhs. I recognise the concerns about growing Islamophobia in Scotland and note many organisations including the Church of Scotland, the Muslim Council of Britain and all Scottish and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities have all spoken out against this. All of us as MSPs also have a role to play in speaking out and informing our constituents that those extremists who give Islam a bad name and in doing so attract significant media coverage are a tiny unrepresentative minority who simply do not speak for or represent the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims who live and work in our communities. We also need British Muslims at all levels to continue to speak out in support of democracy, moderation and tolerance as the Muslim Council of Britain consistently seeks to do and I'm pleased that at the recent general election in the UK we saw an increase in the number of British Muslims being elected as MPs and significantly more Muslim women elected. They really have an important role as we go forward. Tackling the causes of Islamophobia will involve many approaches and long-term strategies including education, which is crucial and of course international co-operation and working to resolve the many international challenges we continue to face in the Middle East and elsewhere. These are massive challenges with no quick or easy solutions and Hans-Alan Malik is writing his motion to call for community cohesion and for outreach events which can really be important in local communities. His motion talks of growing Islamophobia and that is all the more disappointing that this should be the case when we Scots now have our own Scottish Parliament whose basic principles are all about fairness, tolerance and equal opportunities. In the past the UK has had a worldwide reputation for religious tolerance compared to much of the rest of the world. So in the new Scotland we should be enhancing and improving things rather than the reverse. So in conclusion, Presiding Officer, I again commend Hans-Alan Malik for bringing this debate to Parliament this evening and I also wish those from the Sikh community involved in the Central Goodwara every success as they prepare for its official opening later in the summer. Thank you. Many thanks. I now call Sarah Boyack to be followed by Jean Urquhart. Thank you very much Presiding Officer. I too want to congratulate Hans-Alan Malik for bringing this debate forward tonight and I do welcome this debate because on one level it's our opportunity to give solidarity to the Sikh community and to stand shoulder to shoulder with them against the horrendous abuse that they have faced by the defacing of the Goodwara in Glasgow. I think it's also important because it does affect so many of our constituents in their day-to-day lives and our response has to be a statement about what kind of society we are and what kind of society we should strive to build with community cohesion, respect between communities and understanding between people of different faiths and none and also the contribution of people from different ethnic communities and the racist graffiti has to be something that we all stand against. It's a symptom of intolerance and lack of knowledge and it's abuse that must not be tolerated. Whether it's Islamophobia, antisemitism or anti-Catholic abuse it's important that we challenge that ignorance and that we stand up for the communities that have been attacked. I think the cross-party action that was referred to in Hans-Alan's motion is symbolic on one level but it's also got to be backed by action. We are all leaders in our communities, we all have the opportunity to support a range of groups that work hard in our communities whether it's through racial equality groups or interfaith groups and to promote community cohesion, respect, understanding and friendship between different communities. I consulted community leaders and representatives in advance of this debate because I wanted some of the views of my constituents to be heard and a common thread was that the state whether it is at the Scottish or community level, at the local council level needs to do more to support the work of interfaith and racial equality groups. Their observation is that there's less resource available, that the financial pressures and cutbacks are making their work harder, not for one-off events necessarily but for their day-to-day work for the long-term work of building cohesion. Suggestions, more interfaith events to bring together people of different faith groups to work with each other but also to broaden that out to the general public so that more people understand the great religions that we have represented in Scotland and understand how they are changing with time in response to links in society. Support for interfaith groups and investment in the skills that interfaith groups bring so that we can build that cohesion together. Support for the work of racial equality councils so that people from different religious faith and ethnic communities can be supported in their work. There are lots of great initiatives across the country. If I was just to talk about the pride that we have in Edinburgh, the work of ILREC, the welcoming, the Edinburgh Mela, the Just Festival and the Edinburgh Interfaith Association and there are others that I could name across the different religious communities. It's important that we support those organisations but I think also to make more demands on our mainstream public services so that they take leadership in being anti-racist and being against the discrimination that people from different faith experience. More work in schools so that people from different faiths are brought into schools from a much earlier age. I don't know if the minister saw the Guardian article that came out last week that looked at racial and religious intolerance among school children. I think it would be very interesting to parallel that work in Scotland because I sometimes think that we imagine that things' attitudes are much more liberal than they are in practice. More work with the police so that people are protected from racist intimidation and violence and that hate crimes are acted against. For example, the shop workers in my constituency who experience racist abuse and assaults. There needs to be a price paid for those kind of acts and we need to make sure that it's given more attention. Finally, if I can finish on our culture, one of my constituents suggested, what about the soaps we have? What about the dramas that are shown on television and how news reports conflicts? There's much more that could be done to promote religious tolerance, to promote more knowledge and support for our faith communities in what can be a difficult world. There are lots of good ideas. It needs us to work together across the parties, it needs more funding and it also needs the political support not just at the Parliament but at the local authority level as well so that all our communities feel that they are part of our Scotland and that they have a place here and that they are respected and that they are included in everything that we do. I, too, would like to congratulate Hanzala Marek for bringing this debate to the chamber. Islamophobia is not an issue that can be glossed over or sidelined. Since 9-11, Islamophobic attacks, verbal and physical, have been on the rise. Islamophobia can affect lots of people, not just those who are practicing Muslims. It provides a gateway for racist ideologies to generalise and for far-right groups to grow. But Islamophobia as a phenomenon cannot be reduced to the fantasies of the races trying to stir conflict in our communities, rather it is something that has been at work in various ways and undertaken by a range of actors. We have seen a process of demonisation which has left a legacy of discrimination and the spreading of false ideas about Islam. Sections of the media have been vociferous in the negative portrayal of Muslims. In 2007, a study commissioned by the then Lord Mer Ken Livingstone found that in just one week's news coverage, 91 per cent of articles in national newspapers about Muslims were negative. In many ways, Islamophobia has become institutionalised as part of the war on terror narrative. The cycle of blame and generalisation has to be broken. The rise in hate crime is closely linked to the war on terror and the associated rhetoric. That has been shown by screeds of research and evidence gathering. For example, research conducted by the University of Exeter showed that, quote, the major motivating factor for violence against Muslims is a negative and false belief that Muslims pose a security or terrorist threat. To combat this, we need a combination of education and ideological opposition to those who seek to exploit international tensions, often driven by western foreign policy, to suit their own ends, whether that be to incite racism, divide our communities or build the case for cutting our civil liberties. A survey sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust found that 80 per cent of British Muslims had experienced discrimination up from 45 per cent in the late 1990s. Discrimination against Muslims in Britain is going from bad to worse. Unemployment among Muslims in Britain is 17 per cent against a national average of 8 per cent, higher than for people of any other religion. In addition, in the UK, more than 1,000 Muslims have been detained without charge under anti-terror laws, out of which only a handful have ever been convicted of terrorist offences. Here in Scotland, we have challenges regarding Islamophobia. Alistair Macintosh, fellow at the Centre of Human Ecology and co-author of Studies into Racism in Scotland, said that Islamophobia is also a problem in Scotland. He says, quote, Muslims in particular are having a hard time and they all seem to get tired with the same brush. It would be true to say that Islamophobia is a problem in this country. However, this is an area that we should be looking to take a lead on in UK terms, while recognising that we face big hurdles to get to a place where Muslims are free of worry about receiving threats or suffering prejudice from others, whether that be from other members of the community, in the workplace, from the media or indeed from certain politicians. We should be looking to positively combat that by building strong inter-community bonds. Muslims play a huge role in Scotland and are firmly part of our culture, economy and society. I have to say that the Muslim community in the Western Isles, who are largely Gaelic speaking, are a fine example of just a massive contribution to the Highlands and Islands area that I represent. However, we must stand as one in the face of all prejudice. That means standing shoulder to shoulder with Scottish Muslims at what has been a very difficult period in which they have suffered unjust slander and widespread discrimination. I support Hanzala's motion, particularly because it is cross-party Hanzala, and not about attacking out of the Scottish Government. Let the Parliament, let all of us, really support exactly and deal with the problem that you cite. I thank my colleague Hanzala Malik for bringing forward this important debate today. In some ways, we are all proud of the progress that Scotland has made in tackling Islamophobia, racism and prejudice, certainly over the course of my lifetime. However, I suspect that, although many of us would like to take more pride in Scotland's reputation for tolerance and understanding, we are equally mindful of the harsh day-to-day reality for many Muslims' Sikhs and other ethnic communities in this country of ours. Abuse, name-calling, assaults and racist graffiti are unfortunately the all-too-common experience for many of our fellow citizens. An atmosphere of worry, anxiety and fear is the all-too-often common result. Residents in my own local authority of East Renfisher, for example, are proud of our good community relations. We are home to a small but long-established Sikh community, as well as a more substantial and growing Muslim community. For the most part, we enjoy the benefits of living in a vibrant multicultural neighbourhood, but we are not blind to our failings. One of my biggest frustrations in 16 years of serving the local community is the difficulty that we have encountered and still face in building a new mosque to meet the needs of residents. Yes, we have the ground-breaking Wood Farm Education Centre and more recently facilities in Newton-Merrens and the Hurlid. However, so far, every attempt to agree on a purpose-built facility has run into the sand. There are many and varied reasons why each of those separate projects have so far failed to deliver, but in each and every case there has been at least an element of cultural, ethnic or racial prejudice and hostility. If I feel politically frustrated and having my hopes thwarted, it is not difficult to imagine how you must feel if you are a peaceful law-abiding, hard-working Muslim living in East Renfrewshire, yet it may feel even in some small way unwanted and unsupported. The hostility can be far more explicit than that. Three months ago, following strong political backing from the leader of East Renfrewshire Council, Jim Fletcher, we were able to open the first Muslim cemetery in the area, meeting the long-standing and growing need of local families. Within a matter of weeks, the sign indicating the location of the new Muslim burial layers was covered in racist graffiti. Those sort of incidents are not just offensive, they are deeply worrying, and I am sure that I do not have to convince anyone in this chamber that we have to root out that kind of behaviour, but we have a long way to go in doing so, both locally and nationally. I, for one, would like our Parliament and our Government to lead by example. I have no doubt whatsoever that, across party lines, we share the same agenda, the same desire to build a tolerant, compassionate and understanding society, but taking on deep-seated prejudices is challenging. It requires drive and energy. As my colleague Hanzala Malik pointed out, the Government is still consulting on the new framework for the racial quality framework in Scotland, and that does not set out a strong signal if we have allowed the previous framework to lapse. I met recently with the organisation Tell Mama, which records anti-Muslim bigotry and specifically aims to tackle online hate speech and intolerance. It does not receive any Scottish Government funding, and I am not trying to argue any special case for it. When I raised the question, the cabinet secretary replied instead that there are currently more than 300 organisations in Scotland registered as third-party reporting centres with Police Scotland. On the one hand, we all would find that encouraging, but my worry is that, despite that large number of centres, many people do not have the confidence to report an incident and, when they do, they are not sure that they are being followed up. People need the reassurance that they are concerned or taken seriously. Again, I am sure that I have to tell the minister that our public sector equality duty includes a general duty to foster good relations within our society. The Scotland-specific duties are the most comprehensive in the United Kingdom in terms of the information that is required, but we need to act on that information. Now that the first two-year progress reports have been published by all listed public bodies, I wonder whether it is not a good time for the Scottish Government to review whether the equality duties are working in the way that they were envisaged. I welcome the minister's comments on my question. I can assure him that the Government can wholeheartedly rely on Scottish Labour support in pushing the issue up the political agenda and in turning our good intentions into firm actions. I thank again my colleague Hanzala Malik once more for bringing forward tonight's debate, and I hope across the whole chamber that we are able to work together to tackle Islamophobia and racism in our society. I join the chorus of members who have commended Hanzala Malik for bringing this motion and this debate here, which has once again given us a chance to stand united as this chamber is at its best to say that together we can do everything that we can to ensure that Scotland is Islamophobia free and free of any prejudice based on religious hatred. We all in here value Scotland's Muslim, Sikh and other faith communities and a really important role that they all play in making our nation a place that is safe, strong and diverse as well. I think that the record of this Parliament is something that can give solace to anybody who looks at our debates and is concerned about the leadership of the country, that together across parties, across all of our political leadership, we are clear on that message of zero tolerance for religious prejudice. However, the question that has been raised is what are we doing? What are we doing as individuals, as politicians and as a Government to ensure that the attitudes of tolerance and diversity that we express in here are prevailing out there in the country? We have a collective responsibility to challenge prejudice. Any form of racial religious prejudice, including Islamophobia, has to be opposed and has to be called out. Hate crimes target all those that share a characteristic but also embarrass us as a society as a whole if they take place. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their communities and everyone should take responsibility for their actions and how those actions affect others. As politicians, we have a responsibility to ensure that when we talk about Islam and issues affecting our Muslim communities, we do so accurately, clear on our language and intentions. Across society, as individuals, everyone has that same responsibility as to do organisations, not least the media. As Mr Mallick has noted, we do hear alarming growing numbers of reports of Islamophobia. International incidents can have a negative impact on our diverse communities and their feelings of security here in Scotland. We must also guard against stories masquerading as news that perpetuates stereotypes against a collective group, whether that is a religion or any other community. I welcome the participation of all members and all political parties as we are all ambassadors to challenge those views. The Scottish Government's duty, as the Government of a country containing all of those diverse faiths and backgrounds, is to try to create a as safe a society as we can. The Scottish Government has made great efforts to engage with all communities, all religious communities, and I have a list from the last year of four ministerial engagements with Sikh communities, including two visits to the Gurdwara in Glasgow, 17 with the larger Islamic community, including visits to places of worship in Aberdeen, in Vernes, Glasgow and so on. We value in particular with the Islamic communities the relationship that we have with the Muslim Council of Scotland. We are also putting our money where our mouth is. We are investing over £3.1 million in 2015-16 to organisations working to tackle racist and religious intolerance. For the first time, yes. John Finnie? I'm grateful for the minister accepting an intervention. Of course, a significant investment is investment in the police service, and there are issues of perception. It's certainly not my understanding that the police take racist incidents lightly, quite the reverse, but hopefully it's a perception rather than a reality. Will the minister take to discuss with his cabinet colleagues the issue of the police response to these racist incidents that have been highlighted, please? Minister? Yes, indeed. There is a tentative to get to the issue that was highlighted about the 300 third party reporting centres, but clearly that is part of an initiative to make it easier to report these difficulties. In order to maintain that confidence, there has to then be the confidence to know that, if you are reporting, it will be acted on. To go back to where I was in my flow, I was about to highlight the Islam Information Scotland project. Just one example with a grant of £25,000 that's a training and resource provider on Islam offers individuals and companies that work with or have employees from the Muslim community and insight into Islamic culture, beliefs and practices. It also helps mosques and faith groups to develop their interfaith work. We know as well from our funding of Interfaith Scotland how important that can be, and that funding has also risen quite substantially in 2015-16. However, we also recognise that there are times when raising community awareness of diversity is sadly just not going to be enough. There are incidents when individuals don't respect difference, and I was appalled to hear of what happened at the central Gurdwara in Glasgow. Alex Neil rightly highlighted the ignorance of a few individuals that were reflected in that act. Police Scotland carried out their approach for dealing with hate crimes. It followed lines of inquiry, CCTV checks circulating photos of the vandalism around the community, calling for evidence. Unfortunately, to date, no one has been identified for the crime, but the positive engagement that followed the incident, I think, built the confidence that there was that kind of very serious response to the incident that had taken place and had been reported. We know that misidentification in particular is a serious issue for the Sikh community and are working with the community to address the discrimination that people sadly experience. There is an underreporting of Islamophobia. We recognise that, and we urge everyone who has witnessed or experienced hate crime to report the incident to Police Scotland. Yes, some people may not feel able to approach the police directly, but that is why it has been so valuable to have the third party reporting centres where staff can report incidents on a person's behalf. The more information we have about the levels of Islamophobia, the more effectively we can target the prejudice behind it and ensure that individual incidents are brought to the court. If that happens, courts have long-standing powers to tackle hate crime. The Scottish Parliament has legislated— I can give you time back, minister, if you wish. I am interested. Thank you very much for taking the intervention. Would he agree with me, then, that we actually need to do a job in terms of communicating with people who have lost confidence in the police services, who have not responded historically in time, to say to them that now there is other avenues where they can approach and get assistance from? I will certainly back the sentiment that we have to get the message out that those avenues are here. If you report, it will get investigated and action will be taken. As I said, the Scottish Parliament has legislated to ensure that offences aggravated by prejudice are directly brought to the attention of the court. That includes communication of threats of serious violence, threats intended to incite religious hatred, but legislation and government funding are not enough on their own. Attitudinal change is going to take time. Schools are an opportunity and we continue to support the national anti-bullying service to deliver respect to me. Schools and local authorities have a role in curriculum for excellence as well. I will investigate Sarah Boyack's guardian article, because I think that that could be a very interesting piece of work to look at. Not everyone is in school, so the need for more broader awareness-raising campaigns speaks up against hate crimes, which urged people to report incidents to Police Scotland. The one Scotland campaign used a whole variety of media to promote the message that Scotland believes inequality. That broad message that has been taken to all corners of society has to continue to be spread by all of us, because everyone in Scotland should feel free to express their faith or belief openly and freely without fear for their own security. I take the Gurdwara, a new building that will house 1,500 worshipers that is flourishing as a sign of the positivity of Scotland. I quote none other than Mr Mallick, who highlighted that letters of support for the building of the Gurdwara have been sent in from a whole host of communities, not just the Sikh community, who are keen to see it go forward. That is the kind of Scotland that we all want to live in. Thank you minister. That concludes Hanzala Mallick's debate, and I now close this meeting of Parliament.