yes mate, fear of speaking up affects many people in life, not just religion but also people afraid to give evidence in court, people afraid to call the police over a group of yobs.
also lets not forget the press dont help, of course the british press only seem to highlight bad news, we never hear about good things in muslims countries as it doesnt affect people in the UK, the only thinks that affect people in the UK is bad things that the press will report, we end up with a biased view, just as i am sure people do in pakistan about the UK.
there are many people fuelling the flames here and people are getting carried along in it instead of saying 'hey wait a minute, that cant be right'