Mujibur Rahman, 43, was attacked in what is described to be a hate crime in the city of New York. As Rahman, a person of Bangladeshi origin, was walking his 9-year old niece home on Jan. 16, in Parkchester, Bronx in New York City on January 16, he was attacked by two men in ski masks yelling “ISIS, ISIS.” They struck him on the head and body, beat him to the ground, leaving him bleeding, all while his terrified niece looked on. Rahman, a father of 3, was taken to a nearby hospital, treated for a possible broken rib, cuts on his head and swelling and bruises on his face and arms, according to news reports and the police. No one was immediately arrested but the attack was being investigated by the police department’s Hate Crime Task Force, the New York Police Department told the media.
“I believe as a Muslim they hate us, they hate me, and that’s why,” Rahman is quoted telling CBS through a translator.
“I believe as a Muslim they hate us, they hate me, and that’s why,” Rahman is quoted telling CBS through a translator.
“I am very disturbed by this incident in the Bronx and I wish the victim a speedy recovery. The actions carried out by these assailants are deplorable, and I condemn them in the strongest possible terms,” Congressman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., told Desi Talk via email. Rep. Crowley is a co-founder and former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans on Capitol Hill.
Dr. Nadeem Maboud, an emergency medicine physician who served and trained for 5 years at a Bronx hospital trauma center, said many Bangladeshis live in the area alongside other South Asians, Muslim and non-Muslim, alongside African Americans and Hispanics.
“It’s mind-boggling to me why you have an older looking gentleman with a child who poses no threat, being attacked,” Maboud said. He surmises such incidents happen in big cities that are violence prone combined with a “mass hysteria” around the nation about Islamic terrorism. “These Bengalis have lived here for the longest time. And many Muslims in the Bronx are very, very comfortable with practising their religion and culture,” he noted.
“Why didn’t this happen ten months ago?” Maboud questions. He places the responsibility for anti-Muslim violence at the door of heightened rhetoric by political leaders, and the need for more awareness in the borough. “Politicians are villainizing (sic) a whole group of people and this is the backlash – not just on Muslims but also Sikhs and others,” he added.
Rep. Joseph Crowley believes this act goes against New York values of multiculturalism and a live-and-let-live ethos. “This kind of despicable rhetoric and violence stems from ignorance and hate, and goes against everything New York and this country stands for,” Crowley said, adding he has faith that New Yorkers are stronger than the few who carry out anti-Muslim acts. “We must join together and speak out against intolerance and hate whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.” Investigating this attack as a possible hate crime is the right course of action, Crowley said.