A MUSLIM leader has criticised a call by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly to close Islamic schools that promote "isolationism and extremism".
Ms Kelly, MP for Bolton West, said the government had to "stamp out" Muslim schools which were trying to change British society to fit Islamic values.
The call has angered Komal Adris, who heads the Northern team for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.
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Miss Adris says the minister's call made faith schools a "scapegoat" and risked isolating them.
Miss Adris, who is from Bolton, said: "We've had a faith school in Bolton for a long time, and I don't think we've had a problem.
"I think faith schools are just becoming a new scapegoat, because outside the school there's a whole community which pupils are engaging in.
"The government risks creating isolation themselves by singling out Muslim faith schools."
She spoke out after Ms Kelly told a BBC News 24 programme: "Different institutions are open to abuse, and where we find abuse we have got to stamp it out and prevent that happening."
Ms Kelly said Muslim communities needed help to combat radicalism.
But she added that Muslims were entitled to the same rights as Anglicans, Catholics, Hindus and Jewish groups, which all had faith schools.
Ms Kelly also said Britons should not be scared of Muslims observing their faith.
"When I see a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf or a hijab, I don't feel threatened," she said. "I celebrate it.
"Most Muslims would call those terrorists who would undermine the fabric of this society as not true Muslims, but revolutionaries who are cowering under the cloak of Islam."
The programme was broadcast on Sunday, two days after the launch of the government's Commission on Integration and Cohesion, in which Ms Kelly called for an honest debate on diversity.
Councillor Rosa Kay, Bolton Council's executive member for schools, said: "I think faith schools have come a long way. Many make places available for pupils of other faiths, so there is a level of integration.
"I think understanding begins in schools, and I certainly wouldn't want to eliminate any faith schools.
"I just think it is important to encourage children to understand each other's religions. In Bolton we have the Interfaith Council, which works with schools to promote that understanding."
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