Just as we think it’s the end of racism, it makes a comeback. Recently, a gruesome national day, ‘PUNISH A MUSLIM DAY’ to be held on April 3rd, appeared in the limelight on all social media platforms. According to reports, this spiteful notice was initially circulated in London and other UK cities. Some residences in eastern and southwestern London even received physical letters.
This malicious letter unfolded a ‘points system’ wherein points ranging from 10 points to 2500 points were allocated to different acts of ascending hatred to be performed on Muslims. Have a look:
People urged to unite themselves against this vindictive incident. A few WhatsApp messages were also circulated among the Muslim communities, which urged Muslim women to hide their hijabs or to use a hat to cover it and refrain from going outdoors, as a few of the acts of hatred mentioned in the letter include removing Hijab from Muslim ladies, beating up and throwing acids.
Counterterrorism groups and police have also been alerted. Such hatred has aroused concern among the lawmakers. Thelma Walker, a British politician and the Labour Party MP for the Colne Constituency switched the “Punish a Muslim day” into a “Love A Muslim Day” letter. This letter also provides points, ascending from 10 to 2500, for acts of kindness performed for a Muslim.
Non-Muslim people from London have also sympathized with the Muslim community over this issue. Campaigns are being held all across London hash-tagged #westandtogether and other events to imbibe local faith are being planned.
School teachers, disgusted by this propaganda, are writing notes to the children’s parents. Café owners and other small-scale workers are fighting in their own spaces by voicing their opinions against the day and by trying to convert the hate to love.
A popular tweet by A R Jeyaretnam, a resident of London, said, “Tomorrow is Love All People Day in my house. If you’re a Muslim around Hammersmith/Askew on Tuesday and you feel unsafe DM me. I’ll be home most of the day and can escort you and offer help.”
Anybody encountering a horrendous incident has been called upon to contact police immediately on 101 or through their twitter handle – @MetCC.
People in London are indeed, frustrated. A lot of tweets pointed that London is indeed falling apart. “People are being shot…then there’s this punish a Muslim day thing.”
It’s undeniably a shame that Muslims have to go through so much for no crime of their own. Hate crimes and acts against humanities are not an uncommon scene anymore.
The Gujarat Riots and the Ayodhya Dispute is still on the papers in India, and the US President Donald Trump who had even considered closing down mosques in the US, had also once been seen retweeting anti-muslim propaganda. Day by day, the world is becoming an even more hostile place for a few particular religions.
In the presence of all these issues, the response of the Muslim community remains that they need to show vigilance. We, as humans, need to show humanity now. It’s high time that we realize that such acts of violence are just delaying progress and making us appear more inhuman than ever.
Sources: Metro, The Express Tribune, Evening Standard.
Image Sources: Google Images
READ MORE:
http://edtimes.in/2017/03/hindu-crimes-against-muslims-are-overreported-muslim-crimes-on-hindus-go-unreported-why/
