Earlier this year, the Muslim students of RMIT’s Swanston Street campus were informed that the new Muslim prayer room that had just been completed, replete with verses from the Koran on the walls and other culturally appropriate touches, would not be opened as a spacefor Islamic students, but, instead, would be transformed into a second interfaith centre for the campus.

There are all sorts of problems with having an interfaith, rather than a Muslim, prayer room. In particular, there are religious requirements which are not met by an interfaith space. For further background to the issue and more information about these difficulties, click here.

The situation for Muslim students wanting to practice their religion at RMIT is actually worse than we originally thought. For example, the interfaith centre closes at 5 every day, so the evening prayers cannot be performed there and this will cause even greater problems during the month of Ramadan, where there will be no place for people fasting to break their fast.

Since the beginning of semester, in protest at the prayer rooms being shut down, the RMIT Islamic Society has been holding their Friday afternoon prayers in Bowen Street (the main thoroughfare through the Swanston Street campus).

Despite it currently being holidays, these prayers continue with gusto. Each week, there are still 300-400 people involved in the public protest. Considering that this sort of turnout is happening every single week, this campaign would now be the largest sustained student protest that has happened in Australia in quite some time. The RMIT administration has, though, continued to give farcical reasons to justify not giving the prayer rooms back. Someone from the interfaith centre told me, in effect, "as a non-Muslim, I’ve spent lots of time poking around and prying in the area where Muslims are supposed to pray and I think everything’s fine—I don’t see why they have a problem". She quickly scuttled away when it was pointed out that, as a non-Muslim, she shouldn’t be poking around in others sacred space and that the fact that she did was a good illustration of the problems of an interfaith centre. I’ve also been told that it is ‘illegal’ to have a Muslim prayer room. This person, too, scuttled away whe n it was pointed out that Muslims have to attend lectures in a lecture theatre which is part of a Christian church and has prominently displayed crucifixes. So much for secularism on campus.

Each week, the RMIT Socialist Alternative club has been attending the prayers in order to talk to passers by about this anti-Muslim racism at RMIT. We’ve also been discussing questions raised by the campaign with the Islamic Society and using our knowledge as activists to support the campaign wherever possible.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been more public support for the campaign. For example, none of the elected Student Union office bearers have come down to support the prayers. However, some staff members from the Student Union have attended and helped hand out leaflets to passers by.

It appears that the actions of the Islamic Society have started to have an effect on the RMIT administration and there is some talk of the administration making concessions to the Islamic Society. But, in order to capitalise on that talk, there is a need, as was said in the last sermon, to "remain steadfast until a solution is found". It’s really inspiring seeing people who have been so vilified because of their religion taking such a public stand for their right to practice that religion. Anyone who wants to support the RMIT Islamic Society’s steadfastness should come down to Bowen Street next Friday at midday and support the campaign to save the prayer rooms.

A final note. I’m sure that some people will argue that this is a question of secularism and that the left shouldn’t support the campaign. I disagree. As an institution, RMIT does not care about my personal atheism when it schedules my computer science lectures in a Christian church in front of a crucifix (one of the largest and busiest lecture theatres is a part of the Melbourne City Church on the corner of Swanston and Little Lonsdale). RMIT does not promote itself as a secular institution when it advertises its religious facilities on its website in order to attract international full fee paying students (there are publications on its website which still advertise the Muslim prayer rooms).

Other religious groups are not having their ability to practice their religion as they so choose compromised. This is the key to this issue. It is an attack on the right of Muslims to practice their religion as they choose; in this case, that choice is to have a separate space which abides by specific rules about hygiene, exclusivity and gender.

As the left, I believe we have a duty to defend the right of people to practice their religion. I think this duty is even more vital in periods when adherents of that religion are coming under racist attack more generally. This is certainly the case with Muslims in Australia.
If we attempt to absolve ourselves from responsibility in standing up to what I believe are racist attacks, then we are merely ceding ground to people like the racists in Camden who campaigned against the Islamic school there.