Were two Muslim women in east London run over because they were wearing hijabs?
The driver was said to have slowed down to let Misbah Sadique, 37, and her friend Kulsum, cross the road. They were close to home in Waltham Forest and felt safe in a part of east London that they knew well. But, as they stepped out, the car in front of them suddenly, inexplicably, accelerated, one of the women later alleged.
It is said that Kulsum was thrown to the ground by the force of the impact and that Misbah was dragged under the vehicle. She claims she was lucky to escape with breaks to her right ankle and foot, ribs and right arm, on top of extensive bruising and abrasions. Three weeks later, she remains in hospital, traumatised and facing a long road to recovery.
The driver, who did not leave the scene, gave a statement by the side of the road and the police have categorised what happened as a road traffic incident. No arrests were made.
But Misbah and Kulsum had both been wearing hijabs. Misbah, who has given a statement to the police in recent days, is calling, with the support of her family and the charity, The
Islamophobia Response Unit, for the incident on 1 February to be further investigated as a potential hate crime.
“The immense emotional distress and trauma [of the incident] was made worse as we felt the people who were supposed to protect us and make us feel safe were disregarding their duty of care to us,” said Nazia Tayyib, a cousin of Misbah’s, speaking on her behalf.
The Met said officers did open a hate crime investigation in response to concerns raised with them. “However, our investigation – including viewing of CCTV – leads us to believe that the women were not in any way deliberately targeted,” said Ch Supt Simon Crick, who is in charge of policing Waltham Forest. “This was an unfortunate road traffic collision.”
The police said they had asked specialists to review the case as well but that they had come to the same conclusion. But that Misbah should consider someone capable of running her down purely due to her faith might be in itself be regarded as a damning insight into modern Britain. Anti-racism campaigners within the Muslim community say people are feeling vulnerable and faith in the authorities is at a dangerously low ebb. Should the outlook of these two terrified young women really come as a surprise, it is asked?
The Tell Mama charity has documented 2,010 Islamophobic incidents in the UK since 7 October, when Hamas’s murderous attack triggered the war with Israel. This compares with 600 such incidents in the same period in the previous year.
Muslim women were targeted in two out of every three incidents recorded.
Shaista Gohir, leader of the Muslim Women’s Network, said the impact of Islamophobia could be particularly acute for women.
“Because of the negativity around Islam and faith, there’s this perception amongst the public, which is a narrative that’s been kind of reinforced by politicians and also media as well, that Muslim women are kind of oppressed and forced to cover up,” she said. “It seems it’s actually OK to become acceptable now, to say very negative things about Muslims, even if you’re a public figure … When it comes to
Islamophobia, there is a tolerance to it, that there is no such thing as zero tolerance. That doesn’t apply to us.”
Indeed, the evidence of a sudden rise in incidents only adds to the huge body of work over the years that has documented a creeping acceptance in the UK of hostility towards people of Muslim faith.
As early as 2011, the then chairman of the Conservative party, Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim woman to