Muslim family suffer racist abuse in street days after terror attack
Grandmother tells how her daughter and daughter-in-law faced taunts, just days after Finsbury Park Mosque attack
Friday, 30th June 2017 — By Emily Finch
Saiqa Pandor’s family were abused
A MUSLIM grandmother was left horrified after two family members faced racist abuse just days after the Finsbury Park Mosque attack last Monday which left one man dead.
Saiqa Pandor, 47, from Canonbury, who was pictured on the front cover of the New York Times with Jeremy Corbyn following the mosque attack, said her daughter and daughter-in-law suffered two separate incidents of Islamophobic abuse. One took place just off Caledonian Road.
She said her daughter-in-law, who wears a hijab and does not want to be named as she fears further attacks, had left Caledonian Road tube station and was near Bingfield Street when the abuse happened at around lunchtime last Wednesday. She said three men started hurling racist abuse at her and her two young children, aged two, and four months, who were in a double buggy.
She said the men called her daughter a “jihadi” and pushed her to the ground.
“After the attack she couldn’t speak for three hours and was stuttering. She’s absolutely terrified to go out now. To take her children to a drop-in centre she’ll call another member of the family to take her,” said Ms Pandor.
Ms Pandor said her daughter-in-law has not reported the attack to police because she doubts they will be able to catch those responsible.
She added: “There’s not enough police, is there? I feel safe when they are there, but because they are never there, how safe do we feel reporting it?”
Her daughter-in-law reported the attack to charity Tell Mama, a national project which records anti-Muslim abuse and offers support to victims. It reported a fivefold increase in Islamophobic incidents following the recent London Bridge terror attack.
“The police take hate crimes very seriously,” said Ms Pandor. “I’m trying to get my daughter to go to the police, because the more we report it, the more central government can put money in to do something about it. It’s a real problem – after Brexit it was a problem, but now it’s just going to get worse.”
She said her other daughter was driving in Tottenham Hale with her baby when men shouted through her open window that she was a “Jihadi bride” last Thursday.
Darren Osborne, 47, from Cardiff, was charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder last Friday after the Finsbury Park attack. He will next appear at the Old Bailey on July 20.
Prince’s special message…
THE Prince of Wales delivered a personal message of solidarity from the Queen as he visited Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park last week. He met with faith leaders and community members including Yassin Hersi, a victim of the suspected terror attack. The prince is pictured (above) with Muslim Welfare House imam Mohammed Mahmoud and chief executive Toufik Kacimi.
