The domestic British population were rudely awakened in August (their usual summer holiday season) with reports that home-grown terrorists were planning to blow-up planes over the Atlantic. Quite understandably, there was alarm and anger with the consequential additional security steps. Millions from the general public were upset with the disruption of their holiday schedule and cheap airlines like. Ryan Air were disappointed with the drastic fall in their passengers. In fact, on a television interview, the CEO of Ryan Air threatened to sue the British Airport Authority for damages worth Pound Sterling one billion.

The British public in general have been shocked that younger people born in Britain and supposedly raised on British values should have perpetrated the earlier bombings and were now involved in planning more atrocities. I was in London when the conspiratorial plots were discovered. I watched the chaos in several airport terminals -- the uncertainty, the anxiety and the recriminations that followed. The situation slowly evolved into a political and social debate that examined and scrutinised the current Labour Government's policies -- both foreign and domestic. As expected the principal Opposition parties -- the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats -- hastened to discover flaws in governance. Matters were also not helped by many from the Muslim community pointing out that they were being unnecessarily harassed and profiled by law-enforcing agencies.

To this brew was added statistics that pointed out Britain's population having passed 60 million for the first time, pushed up by record levels of immigration. Official figures also suggested that there were at least a million more men, women and children living in Britain compared to five years ago. It was also underlined that two-thirds of this increase was due to migration and the remainder due to natural factors such as birth and death rates. Apparently, this rate of population expansion has been faster than at any time since the early 1960s, when the post-Second World War baby boom was at its height. Subsequent analytical surveys also indicated that more than half a million foreign citizens came to live in Britain in 2004-05.

The evidence of this added scale of immigration surfaced in the midst of the latest terrorist threat and only added fresh fuel to the existing controversy with regard to multiculturalism and its role in Britain. It also deepened concern over the tension between ethnic and cultural groups and the impact of migrant workers on wages and unemployment. It was interesting to see in this context, the concern of the former controversial Labour Minister Frank Field and his comment that 'next month, the million unemployed mark will be crossed for the first time under this Labour government.

As a result of these factors, a national debate as surfaced in Britain over consequences of immigration, multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity. Media opposed to the Labour Party and those happy with Prime Minister Blair's decline in popularity were quick to recall in cynical terms the Prime Minister's confidence in Britain's diversity of backgrounds and the strengths and benefits it generates. They also ridiculed by pointing out that the British were no longer a race, but a gathering of different races, each living in isolation of each other.

Matters were also not really helped when Ruth Kelly, the government's Communities Secretary, openly broke with decades of Labour support for multiculturalism. She admitted that the British government's attempts to avoid imposing a single British identity and culture could have led to communities living in 'isolation' from each other. This made her the first Cabinet Minister to question the idea that different faiths and races should not be forced to integrate but be allowed to maintain their own cultures. For obvious reasons such a view has not been welcomed by the different communities living in Britain. It has also been interpreted as Miss Kelly doing a volte face and adopting former Tory leader Michael Howard's slogan (from last year's election campaign) which insisted that it was 'not racist' to voice concerns about immigration and asylum.

This latest approach in reassessing the multiculturalist mantra has also received indirect support from Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and most recently, from George Alagiah, the well-known BBC newsreader.

I had the opportunity during my visit to discuss the current state of affairs with some British community leaders of South Asian and Afro-Caribbean-origin. It was interesting to see people of the Afro-Caribbean background, generally agreeable, about the decision to set up a Commission on Integration and Cohesion to investigate racial integration. Community leaders belonging to the South Asian origin groups were however not quite sure about what was happening or how things might develop over the next few years. They also refused to accept Kelly's observation that 'new migrants feel the fierce loyalties developed in war-torn parts' and that 'Muslims feel the reverberations from the Middle East'. Instead, they pointed out that though they were from migrant communities, they 'were as British as any one else' and had the right 'to be critical of British foreign policy, be it over Iraq, Lebanon or Palestine'. This also 'did not mean that they supported terrorists'. In other words they were upset over the persistent 'profiling' that they were facing in public places.

It is true that the question of community relations has become more complex in Britain due to the gradual increase in the patterns of immigration. I had to wait in a queue for nearly four hours in Terminal Four at Heathrow Airport (on may way back to Dhaka) and took that opportunity to talk to fellow travelers of white British origin and seek their opinion about the current crisis facing multiculturalism.

It was clear that many white Britons 'do not feel quite comfortable' with changes that they see in their neighbourhoods'. Like in any other country, facing massive immigration, they are also worried that Britain is gradually losing its unique cultural ethos. There was also some anger about 'ethnic minorities getting special treatment'. It would probably be more correct to characterise this as a sense of grievance. However, I found no evidence that remotely suggested segregation. Nevertheless, there was a refrain that something had gone wrong in the equation and this needed to be addressed with urgency.

Multiculturalism is a way of life in Britain. It has benefited millions who have gone to that country and have settled down as immigrants. It has also enormously helped Britain in terms of expanding its potential and enriching itself through diversity. This contribution is particularly evident in British cuisine, sports, public health as provided by GPs and also in trade and industry.

Today however, the subjects of integration and the desired blend within the national ethos are at stake in Britain. Questions are also being raised not only about the values of unfettered immigration from East European countries but also about managed integration between communities.

These elements have assumed greater importance given the additional factor of religious affiliation. Having preachers from backward, feudal backgrounds, with insufficient command over English has also most certainly not helped. I personally believe that English language is a way of life that has unfortunately been lost in this process.

I think that time has come for the British government to restore confidence within the different communities. It might be useful to focus on faith not having boundaries and the presence of certain universal values in all religions, including Islam. This should start from primary school. Some of this is already being practiced but it probably needs to be reinforced even more strongly given the current situation.

This can also be reiterated through open discussion and public debate within the communities. The participants, should also naturally include, if possible, sociologists, psychologists, cultural, religious and media personalities from areas of origin (of these different communities). It might also be useful to request that different diplomatic missions resident in Britain (from where immigrants have arrived in Britain) help out by sending their representatives to such meetings and debates. This will facilitate breaking down of psychological, cultural and religious barriers.

We have already seen multiculturalism seriously affected in different parts of Europe. Anxiety over possible terrorist acts must not impair the glorious tradition of multiculturalism in Britain. The existing least common denominators have to be nurtured and growing misunderstanding contained.

Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador who can be reached at [email protected]