Peters' tactics stir up Muslim anger

Hanif Patel at Mt Roskill's Masjid-e-Umar mosque. Picture / Martin Sykes

The Muslim men waiting outside Masjid-e-Umar Mosque in Mt Roskill are simmering with anger.

They stand there, one in a white crocheted pillbox hat and flowing robes, the other in casual pants and a sports shirt, discussing the political tactics of Winston Peters.

Although they probably know him best from TV, they talk about him as though they deal with him every day.

"When September 11 happened, where was Winston? When the tsunami happened, where was Winston?" demands Ahmed Bhamji, chairman of the Mt Roskill Islamic centre and a former minister in Fiji's Bavadra Government.

"During the Sydney Olympics when they indicated there were terrorists here he kept his mouth shut."

What they want most is for Mr Peters to front up here "as a man" and talk the local extremist threat through.

They'll give him a copy of the Koran (a present from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and offer coffee and cake. They'll explain that Islamic people do not drink alcohol or smoke, pray five times a day, marry within the group and are not permitted to go on the dole or disobey the laws of their adopted country.

"Instead he's meeting Greypower people, instead he's trying to stir up problems in this country."

Hanif Patel, who has lived in Auckland for 27 years, says: "He's using parliamentary privilege for his own ends. We all know he's using Muslims as a food bowl for his political career ... This is the beginning of the end for Mr Winston Peters."

They are well aware that in the last election Mr Peters targeted the Asian community as effectively as a carefully detonated nail bomb and that this time it is the Muslims' turn.

Worse, they say, it is calculated. Mr Peters knows there are no radical Muslims building bombs in the back yards of Mt Roskill.

"He answered that question last night," says Mr Bhamji. "When she [Susan Wood on Close Up] asked, 'Do you think that is happening here?' he answered, 'No'."

Most infuriating for Mr Bhamji is the fact that his committee is already working closely with the authorities, keeping an eye out for any hint of extremism. "Since 9/11, for the past four years I've been doing that."

Has there been a backlash against the community since Mr Peters started his campaign?

"No, nothing like that," says Abdullah Chaudrey, in his broad New Zealand accent. Married with three children, he's a plasterer with friends in the community. "They all know it doesn't happen here and we're not like that. He is giving a wrong impression - I think he's good at that."

It is nearly 1pm and time for Friday prayers. The carpark fills and a crowd of men and boys they estimate at more than 1000-strong remove their shoes and socks, wash their feet at a series of foot-washers and pad into the mosque. Women - there are none today - pray in a separate room.

Today the message from their leader, Imam Kahil, is simple: "We should all be calm and patient; let us not get carried away."