Museum staff made bomb slur to Muslims
British Museum has come under fire after a member of its security staff asked two Muslim visitors “where the ticker was” to set off a bomb and the “stick of dynamite.”
The questions shocked the pair who levelled an accusation of Islamophobia at the guard.
Colleagues Altaf Kazi and Umar Malik, who work for Birmingham’s Blood Transfusion Service, were visiting the central London museum for a work trip when the encounter happened on last Thursday. Their bags were being checked when the security guard asked each of them in turn about “bombs.”
Mr Kazi, 37, said: “There were four colleagues waiting in a line. Two of my colleagues went before me and checked their bags in, with no questions asked. When it was my time to put my bag on the table, the security man opened my bag and said: ‘where’s the ticker?’ He then said: ‘You shouldn’t be killing all of humanity but saving all of humanity’.”
His colleague Mr Malik then walked up for his security check and was asked: “Where’s the stick of dynamite?” In a post on his LinkedIn profile, Mr Kazi said he was stunned by the incident, and, “our first reaction was disbelief.” He added: “both of us walked away totally shocked at what had been said. Literally, we laughed and discussed ‘did that just happen?’”
Mr Kazi said they decided to go straight to the information desk and the museum took action immediately.
The British Museum apologised for the incident. A spokesperson said: “Visitors to Museum experienced inappropriate behaviour at our search facility. They immediately reported the incident and a senior security manager swiftly attended and discussed the matter with them, apologising on behalf of the Museum.
“Whilst they chose not to make a formal complaint, we took the matter seriously as we do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour and took rapid steps to address the situation with the employee concerned.”