ANYTHING, it seems, is a grist to the Islamophobic mill in UK. The latest to trigger an avalanche of anti-Islam rhetoric is a “Christian child forced into Muslim foster care,” as the London Times put it. According to the British daily, the “white Christian child was taken from her family ... to live with a niqab-wearing foster-carer in a home where she was allegedly encouraged to learn Arabic”.

A niqab-wearing, Arabic-speaking foster-carer taking charge of an innocent white Christian child?

As was only to be expected, this report, later found to be based on inaccurate information, was seized upon by far-right activists including the former English Defense League leader Tommy Robinson, as well as Britain First and the EDL. The Daily Mail and Mail Online paired an altered image with the story after following up the Times report. The original image was amended to cover a woman’s face with a veil.

MPs expressed concern over the case, including Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Commons education committee. The office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said it would contact the Tower Hamlets council to find out what happened. Meanwhile, the case has been portrayed as yet another evidence of the “clash of civilizations.”

But the child, according to the Tower Hamlets council, is fostered by an English-speaking family of mixed race. Her mother, herself the child of Muslim immigrants, is someone with drug and alcohol problems, a police record and two children who are the subject of separate court proceedings.

In any case, a judge had intervened and sent the five-year-old girl to live with her grandmother. The judge is a British Muslim of Bangladeshi origin.

But the damage has already been done. Atavistic responses awoken by media reports and statements of politicians including those belonging to the ruling Conservatives have vitiated an atmosphere already poisoned by vicious propaganda. Even without this latest tirade, the Muslim community in UK was feeling more threatened.

In 2016, for example, there was a rise in hate crimes after the UK voted to leave the European Union. Following the Brexit campaign in which immigration was a heated issue, hate crimes against East Europeans and visible ethnic minorities increased. After the terrorist atrocities in Manchester and London, the focus of attacks shifted to Muslims. A significant amount of incidents were those taking place on streets. Another disturbing trend is that most of the victims are hijab-wearing Muslim women.

If the British media, especially the tabloid press, continue to be reckless and irresponsible in their coverage of sensitive issues, such attacks are likely to increase.

Unfortunately, in the case of UK, the media and Conservative political establishment seem to be on the same wavelengths when it comes to Muslims. There is enough evidence to conclude that leading Conservatives have been ignoring growing signs of Islamophobia in British society. A Conservative minister, Sayeeda Warsi, knew the danger if immediate corrective action were not taken. In a speech in January 2011, she pointed out that Islamophobia had become socially acceptable in UK and “passed the dinner table test”.

Theresa May who was home secretary at that time should have paid attention to the fears expressed by her colleague and held discussions with her officials to find out what was happening. She did neither. Her attitude to the Cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group was anything but helpful.

The result is for everyone to see. The mistrust between communities is so deep that even a foster care case can grow into a festering wound. One hopes the Tower Hamlets case will cause a rethink on the part of the British media and political establishment, inducing them to take some urgent steps to repair the damaged community relations. This is the only way to foil the designs of extremists on both sides of the communal divide.