THERE are anonymous letters going around in Great Britain carrying the message that April 3 would be ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ tempting people that they would be awarded 25 points for pulling off a woman’s head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim and 1,000 for bombing a mosque. This provoking message has caused unrest and resentment among the Muslim communities in the United Kingdom.

It is unfortunate that the number of hate crimes in England and Wales has risen. According to the Home Office, there were 80,393 offences in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16. Islamophobic attacks include vandalising mosques and schools, shooting cab drivers and assaulting Muslim women wearing the hijab.

Last year, a British man was accused of ramming a van into a group of Muslims, killing a worshipper and injuring several others. In another incident, a 55-year-old old Imam and his assistant were shot dead outside a mosque in Queens, New York City.

Ben Carson, an Afro-American Republican politician, who is Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in the Trump administration said in an interview that he would never let a Muslim into his cabinet and that a Muslim could never be the US president.

Marco Rubio, the junior Republican senator from Florida, said he would order the shutting down of not only mosques but any other place where Muslims gather.

President Donald Trump is insisting on banning Muslims from immigrating to the US. The bigotry statement of these politicians shows their hate and malevolence towards Muslims.

It is time Muslims irrespective of sect and country woke-up and stood against these nefarious plans.

M. Mumtaz Hussain
Dubai

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2018