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It is a bittersweet moment for parents when their children leave the nest, even more so if they fly off to a new country far away to continue their education — especially when that country harbors a group with members who vilify Muslims.

Welcome to England in 2010. Formed a year ago, the English Defense League, a purported anti-Shariah law organization, already has a reputation as the most prolific pressure group in England since the National Front was at the peak of its notoriety nearly 30 years ago.

The EDL’s stated mission is to oppose the spread of Shariah law and extremist Islam in England. But members of the group have been filmed chanting anti-Islamic insults and resorting to violence.

With about 345,000 visiting students in the United Kingdom, according to the UK Council for International Student Affairs, this raises questions of security, including for Indonesians investing in that country’s academic sector and contributing to the economy as a whole. According to the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Statistics Agency, there are 1,030 Indonesian students currently studying in Britain.

In a secretly recorded video broadcast online by British newspaper The Guardian, the EDL stated that it was seeking to undermine the power base in London’s largest Muslim center, the Tower Hamlets borough, in the hope of provoking a reaction. The idea was to gain vindication that extremism was active in the United Kingdom.

In an e-mail to the Jakarta Globe, EDL spokesman Steve Simmons said his group was not anti-Muslim. “The difficulty is that the majority of ‘moderate’ Muslims do not speak out against ‘extremists,’ which to the average citizen of the United Kingdom is very disturbing,” he wrote.

But students in the United Kingdom said the nuance did not come across.

Hari P, an Indonesian postgraduate student at Newcastle University, said groups like the EDL had negatively influenced local Muslims’ perception of British religious freedom.

“Muslims are not bad people and it is unfair to equate us with terrorists or extremists. They should study more before judging our religion,” he said.

Dimas Anindityo, a postgraduate media studies student at Leeds University, said he wouldn’t stay in Britain long term, mostly because of government paranoia.

“I cannot stand the fact that Asians and Muslims are not treated equally,” he said.

When asked what he would say to the English Defense League, Dimas was quick to answer: “Get a life. Really, get a life.”

When asked if his group was damaging the United Kingdom’s economy, Simmons wrote: “I would encourage your friends and colleagues to come here to study, enjoy our hospitality and contribute to this wonderful country that is England.”

Habib Salim, head of Indonesia’s Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said the police should first deal with religious intimidation. “If they do not respond, then the people should do so peacefully.”

However, Soleh Mahmud, the secretary general of the FPI, believes that it is the duty of Indonesians to respond to such opposition. “If we had an anti-Anglican movement in Indonesia, would the West be happy? Of course not,” he said. “In the same way, we must fight against anti-Islamic movements such as these, and Indonesia — as the largest Muslim country in the world — has a duty to speak out on behalf of Muslims worldwide.”