Just two months after Malik was elected to the House of Commons it was revealed that the leader of the 7 July 2005 London bombings , Mohammad Sidique Khan , came from his Dewsbury constituency . Malik described the bombings as " the most profound challenge yet faced by the British Muslim community " . He said : " Condemnation is not enough and British Muslims must , and I believe are prepared to , confront the voices of evil head on . " Later Malik confronted the issue in an article for '' The Times '' newspaper . He wrote : " Yes , foreign policy causes anger among many British Muslims but this does not in itself cause terrorism . Unquestionably , the lethal ingredient is a twisted , perverted interpretation of Islam whereby you can legitimately kill yourself and other innocent people , and you will go to Heaven . " He concluded that : " For British Muslims the fight against extremism is not just for the very soul of Islam but for the freedoms we enjoy as Britons . " Malik found controversy in February 2007 when he wrote , again in '' The Times '' , that the Muslim Council of Britain should " stop whingeing and show leadership . " Referring to their decision not to play a part in Holocaust Memorial Day , Malik wrote : " Its flawed moral leadership places the MCB alongside the likes of the BNP leader , Nick Griffin , as nonattendees . " In October 2006 Malik garnered national attention when he spoke out in support of the decision to suspend , and later sack , a Muslim teaching assistant from Dewsbury for refusing to remove her veil in the classroom . Aishah Azmi , 24 , was asked to remove her niqab veil after pupils found it hard to understand her during English language lessons . The school said she could wear the veil outside the classroom . Malik said : " In schools the top priority has got to be the education of our children ... I believe the education authority has bent over backwards to be accommodating and has been extremely reasonable and sensible in the decision it has come to . " " There is no religious obligation whatsoever for Muslim women to cover themselves up in front of primary school children . " In June 2009 Malik spoke out against comments made by Nicolas Sarkozy after the French President declared the burqa was " not welcome " in France . Sarkozy said : " The burqa is not a sign of religion , it is a sign of subservience . " Malik responded publicly by saying : " It is not the job of government to dictate what people should or should not wear in our society – that is a matter of personal choice . " " There are no laws stating what clothes or attire are acceptable and so whether one chooses to wear a veil or burqa , a miniskirt or goth outfit is entirely at the individual 's discretion . " Malik placed an early day motion ( EDM 434 , 2005 ) , which attracted 178 MPs signatures and led to the first picket and strike in the Houses of Parliament and eventually to improved pay and conditions for the cleaners of Parliament . EDM 434 stated : That this House values the cleaners who maintain high standards of service to Parliament ; believes the parliamentary cleaners should be treated with respect and that it is wrong that , despite the widespread concern over their pay and conditions of employment , their pay has only increased from the national minimum wage of £ 4.85 per hour to £ 5 per hour ; is concerned that the parliamentary cleaners only enjoy 12 days ' paid holiday and have no company sick pay or pension ; believes the time has come to end this sorry state of affairs ; and urges the parliamentary authorities to reach agreement with the two contractors on making available the necessary resources to ensure that cleaners earn the London living wage
7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
Shahid Malik