On Saturday the Leytonstone knife attack, took London by shock. The resilient Londoners, stood in solidarity, resonating the same sentiments of a bystander heard saying #youaintnomuslimbruv to the attacker, who allegedly shouted “This is for Syria. This is for Syrian brothers” before lurching an unprovoked attack on a 56 years old stranger.
Travellers gathered around the badly-injured victim to protect him while the alleged assailant Muhaydin Mire remained on the loose.
This incident came 4 days after Prime Minister David Cameron and other MPs in the Parliament decided to go ahead with bombing Syria, in an attempt to remove Isis.
The British Asian community has come together to fight terror, but when asked what they feel about Mr Cameron's decision on Syria, their opinion remains divided, irrespective of religion or background.
A section of the community, mainly Hindus are getting their inspiration from Mahabharata, drawing parallels with Arjuna's dilemma, saying 'there can be no peace without war'.
While war is not what they endorse, they are of the opinion, that for long term peace and stability, it is important to engage in a war of justice. Fear is not an option, as Lord Krishna had pointed out to Arjuna, centuries ago.
However this has met with many strong arguments from people within the community, who feel the government's action actually increases threats to the safety of people on Britain's streets. The fear of terrorism grips stronger, as people feel unsafe in their own homes or to go down to their own corner shop two blocks away- even in the remotest part of this country.
Though one must not mistake this as their inability to stay resolute and fight terror, this section of the community believes that the British government needs to address issues at home before sending the RAF to another country to fight terror. This includes tackling home grown terror, and fighting hate preachers, who radicalise a section of the community successfully. Who funds them? Why does the government not stop it? There are no answers.
They also point out to fight terrorism brewing within our own nation, we need a strong defence force. Financial cuts have affected Army, Navy, Air Force or even Police- that leads to possibilities of security breaches on British soil. For example when 32 years old Mohammad approached the Metropolitan police with concerns about brother Muhaydin's mental health three weeks ago, the police said there was nothing they could do despite worries over his behaviour. The Met in a statement has clarified, there was no mention of radicalisation in his family's approach, but what remains unsaid is that the police is not left with enough resources to investigate every concern. Therefore such slip outs remain highly possible.
Having said all that, this section of the community also firmly believes that no airstrike is fool proof. While RAF has not yet killed civilians, the rumor of allied supported Russian airstrikes causing civilian deaths have raised eyebrows. What this section is asking for is to prevent from motivating assassins to kill further. The truth remains that Assad needs to be removed- but who takes over, on what credibility, how to tackle financial crisis and poverty thereafter- no one knows. The problems are more complicated, deep rooted and multi-layered than it appears. Eye for an eye is never the ideal solution.
Muslim community speaks out
Poppy Begum, a well known journalist in her article 'Why I went undercover to investigate female Islamic State supporters' in the Daily Telegraph, on 28 November 2015 wrote how she was appalled when three Bethnal Green girls, who grew up where she did, went on to join Isis.
“They had lived and gone to school just over a mile away from where I was brought up and, like so many others, I found it incomprehensible that modern British girls would be attracted to a belief system that states that women are completely inferior and subservient to men; existing only to serve Jihad fighters as wives.”
She explained how growing up in East London they juggled between two cultures, and learnt about religion from her family but did not remember Islam being so politicised.
“When I was growing up in East London, my friends and I were constantly juggling both our ‘British’ with our Bengali identities. It was never about religion and we never struggled with it because it wasn’t really on the agenda.
“We also didn’t have iPhones, Twitter or Facebook and so what our Islamic teachers, our parents and grandparents taught us about Islam was absolute.
“I certainly don’t ever remember Islam being so politicised or being asked to challenge its teachings of peace and tolerance.”
Rashid Razaq, in Evening Standard speaking about “Islam has become a convenient excuse for the disaffected.”
He went on to say that Muslims in Britain and world have become much devout in the past 15-20 years. It’s visible in the greater display of hijabs, niqabs, long beards and foreign dress. Third-generation, British-born children are more devout than their parents or grandparents, because 'Islam' is a 'trump card' to break free of their parents' control.
“In part it is a reaction to the war on terror, and centuries of Western misadventures in Eastern countries. In part it is due to Saudi Arabia’s exporting of the most backwards and reductive form of Islam. And in part it is due to the internet and globalisation. In total we’re living in a greater climate of religiosity. And just as a climate of fear and bigotry can lead to unfair reprisals on innocent Muslims, a climate of religiosity gives motive and meaning to Muslim killers,” he added.
Most of the Muslims in Britain have roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Over generations they have shared an Asian identity with Indian Hindus and Sikhs, though religion remains the real identity defining the real ethnicity. The issue remains that we’ve turned our backs on people who look like us, talk like us and come from the same place as us, for a Muslim identity defined by oil-rich Gulf Arabs. “People who are happy to pay for madrassas in exchange for us toiling and dying on their construction sites,” he added.
He added, “Religion is not going to go away anytime soon. Yet we could start by turning down the religiosity dial a few notches. Yes, you may be a Muslim but it can’t be the only way you see the world. Not every injustice suffered by every Muslim is an existential threat. You’ve got more in common with the Christian, Jewish, agnostic or whatever bloke struggling to get to work on the Tube in the morning and worrying about paying his bills than a Syrian warlord who wants you to help him in a territorial land-grab.”
Condemning Islamophobia
With growing terrorism fear, Islamophobia is on the rise in the capital. A journalist friend recently was asked by a woman in hijab, if she could sit next to her on the tube, pointing at an empty seat, clarifying “not many want to sit next to us nowadays.” This is a very different picture of the London, I have seen and been part of in the 14 years.
On the other hand a Muslim passenger was thrown off a London-bound National Express coach because other passengers said he made them feel uncomfortable, it has been claimed.
The man was allegedly asked to disembark the coach after complaints from a female passenger last Thursday.
National Express categorically denied that the man was asked to leave because of his religion, saying he was escorted off the bus after a dispute arose over his luggage.
Two weeks back a woman in head scarf was asked to get off the train, because she was Muslim.
On the other hand, a Muslim convert threatened to bomb an MP's house and show her what it's like to murder innocents” after she voted in favour of airstrikes. Craig Wallace, 23, also known as Mujahid Islam, posted abusive comments on facebook, where they were seen by the father of Charlotte Leslie and therefore reported to police. These kinds of outbreaks don't necessarily help, in times of crisis.
With every action comes a certain reaction. Radicals, may whatever be the religion, including Muslins need to realise two things: What they believe and do as individuals or groups or families, will have a directly proportionate effect on the community they represent. The first rule of diversity is integration and tolerance. Differences can often be sorted through talking.
Second, people threatening to kill in the name of religion or people fearing someone from a particular religion, just because they are from that faith or belief, are equally guilty.
Having said that, what Britain needs, as rightly pointed out by many, is a strong voice from the British Muslim community condemning these terrorist attacks and home grown terror, at the same time people from other faith, as seen in many instances should stand up against generalization and hate crimes.
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Londoners from all communities showed solidarity after the alleged terror attack in Leytonstone. They took social media, especially twitter by storm with #youaintnomuslimbruv. The hashtag was started by a man who video recorded the attack, and shouted at the assassin “you ain't no Muslim bruv”.
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The Terror Scene on Saturday night
A 56-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the ticket hall at Leytonstone station on Saturday evening by 29 years old Muhaydin Mire, a British Somalian. He is accused of shouting "This is for Syria" as he slashed his throat by eye witnesses.
Another man, was also injured and a woman was threatened with the knife during the incident at around 7.20pm.
Distressed passers-by called the police who say they arrived on the scene within five minutes to find the man armed with the knife who also threatened them.
And as he was coming out this is what he said "This is what happens when you f*** with mother Syria all of your blood will be spilled"
Police said they were forced to use a taser on the suspect twice as he threatened others with a knife, before they managed to arrest him.
The victim was rushed to hospital in a serious condition with multiple stab wounds, paramedics said.
Muhaydin's brother Mohammed told The Times, the family had approached police three weeks back, with concerns about Muhaydin's mental health. Since there was no imminent threat of radicalisation, the police asked them to approach health authorities.
Mohammed describing his brother said, “He was very nice...He loved to play football and a ManU fan. He wanted to become a computer Engineer, and was very intelligent.”
Shopkeeper witnesses attack
Salim Patel, a 59 years old shopkeeper who witnessed the knife attack at Leytonstone tube station has reportedly described seeing a victim begging for help on the floor as he was punched, kicked and stabbed.
The ITV News reported, Patel who runs the station shop and saw the attack unfold, said: "I was just at the shop when the train arrived and people came off.
“I heard some shouting, but sometimes drunk people shout. Then I saw the guy attacking the victim, punching him so hard. The victim was screaming 'please somebody help me. Help'.
“Then the attacker started kicking him on the floor. I think the victim was unconscious, he passed out. Then the attacker took a knife out and started stabbing him as he lay on the floor.
“The victim did not shout anything. I think he was unconscious. The attacker was saying something, I couldn't hear what.
The Saviour
The junior doctor who saved the life of the Leytonstone stabbing victim ignored pleas to flee the scene despite fearing it was the start of a Paris-style terror attack. Matt Smith, 28, had got off a train at the tube station and was on his way to meet his fiancée for a romantic dinner after an 11-hour shift when he heard people screaming on Saturday night.
Matt Smith, 28, who was returning home from his shift at an east London hospital when he came across the scene of the assault, said: “There was a lot of blood around him. I saw the extent of the damage. It was pretty bad.”
Dr Smith put pressure on the deep gash and helped the victim to his feet before helping him out of the station. After his heroics, Matt spent five hours 'covered in blood' giving a witness statement to police.
"Bystanders did nothing"
Someone who intervened to try to tackle a knife-wielding attacker at a London Underground station said others stood by and videoed the incident on their mobiles.
He reportedly told the Daily Mail: “There were so many opportunities where someone could have grabbed him. One guy came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Well done, I want to shake your hand, you are the only one who did anything. I got the whole thing on film’. I was so angry, I nearly turned on him.”
