Islamophobic attack on Muslim students

The Muslim News
By Ahmed J Versi

An 18-year-old Muslim student was attacked and beaten even after he lost consciousness by a gang of white youths on November 6. As they attacked him, they shouted “Where is your Allah now” and “Where is He to help you now.”

The first year business and computer undergraduate student had just left De Montfort University, Leicester, library with his friend at around 8.30 pm when they were attacked by around 10 white youths in Great Central Way, near the junction with Briton Street, Bede Island. The two students, Ahmed and Umar, (not their real name as they wish to remain anonymous) saw the gang taunting and abusing a Muslim woman wearing the hijab. She was with two other women who had gone ahead of her.


Ahmed told The Muslim News that he and Umar heard the gang tell the middle aged woman, “How do you like it if I walked in a balaclava. This is England. You should not be wearing a scarf.” They were concerned about what would happen to the Muslim woman and so they waited. One of the white youths turned towards them and asked them why were they were watching them. “I told them, ‘Leave her alone.’”

The woman tried to tell the white youths not to attack the students but they didn’t listen.

The white youths assaulted Ahmed and Umar, and began beating them. Ahmed fell down and the gang continued to punch and kick him even after he was unconscious. They “jumped” on his head and kicked his body. He was picked up and thrown on to the ground. Umar thought he was dying. “The next thing I saw was my friend standing over me telling me to recite the shahadah (‘There is no god but God and Muhammad in His Messenger). I lost conscious again. When I gained my senses I found myself in an ambulance.” He said he could not hit them back as “there were too many of them.”

Ahmed said his face was throbbing and “I was covered in blood. At the time my memory of the incident was hazy.” He received a number of injuries, including a broken nose, head injuries and cuts and bruising to the body.

They were taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment. Ahmed was discharged from the hospital after 5 hours.

Ahmed said the police took a statement and also took his clothes for DNA test as some of the gang members spat at him.

Umar, who was in the first year studying mechanical engineering, told The Muslim News he managed to get up every time he was thrown on to the floor. He was therefore able to cover his head and prevent serous injury. He said he saw his colleague on the floor unconscious and thought he was dying. “So I began reciting the shahadah, Surah al Fatiha and Surah Ikhlas. His eyes were barely open.”

Both said they were not sorry that they had stopped and didn’t even think twice to help the Muslim woman. “They were unfair to her. She didn’t say anything to them. What they were doing to her didn’t make any sense,” Ahmed said. He said he was “upset” at the white boys behaviour. “I thought such kind of thing did not happen. Who’s to say what they would have done to her. It was scary,” related the teenager.

He added that he was “glad they attacked us and not her.”

A white woman who was passing by rang the police and an ambulance. The ambulance had to wait until the police arrived. Umar was told by the ambulance to go and inform the police where they were. “I had to walk to other side of the park – 600 to 700 yards to the police.”

Ahmed said the attack was “Islamophobic as they were talking about her scarf and also when they told me ‘Where is your Allah’ is to do with religion. How did they know we were Muslims? We could have been Sikhs for all they know.”

Umar said the attack was both Islamophobic and racist as they had also shouted “Pakis”. He was “very angry” and said he never experienced racism in East London where he was from. “It is very unfortunate at what happened as they didn’t know about Muslims fully.”

The father of Ahmed told The Muslim News that he couldn’t recognise his son’s face as “he was badly beaten.” They couldn’t X-Ray him because of the swelling and was told to return after the swelling had reduced, some five days later.

He said the police told him the CCTV was pointing “the other way” and so were not able to get the attack on camera.

“I was devastated and shocked and angry. It seems like the 1970s National Front are back again,” the father said. He echoed his son’s view that the attacks were Islamophobic.

A police spokeswoman said a 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and released on police bail pending further enquiries. However, Sergeant Laura Millward, from Hinckley Road local policing unit, said the incident was racist because the victims “are Asian and because of the comments made during the assault we are treating this as racially motivated.”

The police are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward, but are particularly interested in speaking with the woman, who was wearing a hijab, who was being racially abused by the group just before the assault.