Race Diary 2002

Guardian, 30 Dec 02
Taxi driver killing raises fears of racial motive
Israr Hussain, a 42-year-old father of six, was fatally stabbed in Oldham on 28 Dec.
"People have suggested that this is a racist killing," said Chief Superintendent David Baines, Oldham's police commander. "The truth is that I don't know if it is or not, and neither does any of the police officers investigating. Mr Baines also held meetings with taxi drivers and community leaders at the weekend.

Mr Hussain lived in Glodwick, the Asian area of Oldham, which was at the centre of the riots. He died in the early hours of Saturday less than an hour after receiving a stab wound to his neck. A man had walked into the Oldham offices of Dial A1 Euro taxi company at around 2am, and asked for a cab to take him to the Red Lion in the Lees area. As the taxi pulled up outside the pub 20 minutes later, a row appeared to break out between Mr Hussain and his passenger. The passenger walked off towards nearby Enyon Street and Mr Hussain collapsed on the pavement. People in the area gave him first aid. He later died at the Royal Oldham hospital.

Khurshid Ahmed, secretary of Oldham's Pakistani Community Association, described Mr Hussain as a quiet, well-known family man who had been trying to earn a living for himself and his family. Community activist Bing Findlater attended the weekend's meeting with police. He said that Asian taxi drivers had faced a number of incidents in recent weeks. "I cannot say if this was a racist incident. But I am not discounting it," he added.

Mirror, 27 Dec 02

Two Asian brothers, 28 and 22, were attacked by a racist gang early on Christmas Day. They were walking home with 2 friends from a party in Hounslow, West London. When they heard shouts of ‘fucking Pakis’,  one managed to flee. Another could lose the sight in one eye and has a suspected fractured skull where he was kicked in the head. The other was thrown in front of a car – which managed to avoid him – and has broken ribs. The friend who got caught had cuts & bruises. UP to 20 yobs were involved.

Det Con John Kennedy said: ‘Even in this day & age, it was a vicious racist attack.’

Socialist Worker, 21 Dec 02

Last weekend, a Somali man, 40, was the victim of what the police called ‘a brutal, racially aggravated attack’ in Hackney, East London. He was approached by 4 white men who demanded a cig from him. When he refused, they hurled racist abuse, kicked him to the ground and beat him with a metal bar. He lost the sight of one eye and was left with multiple injuries.

A racist gang attacked 3 men with pool cues in a takeaway shop in Durham last evening. The victims (Algerian, Libyan and Kurdish) worked in the shop. They were left with severe head injuries. Racist graffiti was daubed on the shop.

Mirror, 20 Dec 02

Asian racists given life

3 Asians (Awan 21, Nazir 22, Sarfraz 25) were jailed for life at Northampton crown court for the racist murder of a teenager, Ross Parker, 17 as he & girlfriend alked home. They told the girl to go away and then sprayed aerosol in Parker’s face and stabbed him 3 times. The murder came days after the Sept 11 attacks in NY.

Mirror, 5 Dec 03

‘Price of racism: £500,000’

Two former Ford employees won more than £500,000 compensation after Ford was found guilty of race discrimination. The payout – Britain’s largest ever for workers – marks the end of a 6-year battle for the pair. Shinder Nagra, 45, was awarded this week £150,000 by an employment tribunal for racist abuse suffered at Ford’s Dagenham plant. He will also received a medical disability pension of £12,000 a year for the rest of his life. Two Ford workers accused of abusing Nagra have been ordered to pay him £1000.

The decision comes 3 years after his colleague Sukhjit Parmar, 45, was paid a £300,000 settlement by Ford. After this case, Ford had vowed to stamp out racism but it was a hollow promise. Said the tribunal: ‘Ford behaved in a high-handed & oppressive manner, failing to take proper measures from its own inquiry.’

Parmar was called paki and graffiti appeared linking him to ‘nigger Lawrence’. A shop steward told Nagra: ‘I know how to call a Paki a paki and get away with it.’

Ford accepted the tribunal’s findings and said they have conducted ‘a wide ranging examination of policies & procedures regarding equality and diversity.’

S Worker, 9 Nov 02

Race abuse & attacks in the ELTHAM area of South London.
Said Dev Barrah of Greenwich Council for Race Equality: Unless there is urgent action, a black or Asian will be murdered by the racists in Eltham.

9 April: a black man racially abused (called a nigger) and threatened by white men in Gregory Crescent.

17 & 21 April: Graffiti sprayed by NF over Well Hall Road (where Stephen Lawrence died) and West Mount Road. The police have failed to find the culprits.

3 May: a mixed race woman was severely abused racially and threatened in Churchbury Road.

24 June: a Somali family in Rochester Way had bricks, sticks & stones thrown at their home.

1 July: Nick Carter, a mixed race man aged 30, walking with white girl friend in Westhorne Avenue was chased by 6 white youths and stabbed. He needed 100 stitches.

2 July: Lee and Kassim Evans (mixed race) were attacked. [see below] On the same day, 2 mixed race children were abused & threatened in Witherston Way.

19 July: Asian woman racially abused and threatened in Blanshaw Road.

25 July: An African-Caribbean man was racially abused & threatened in Eastnor Road.

5 Aug: Richard, black man aged 20, was attacked by 4 white racists on Sherard Road. One tried to cosh him & another to stab him The third sprayed him in the eyes, causing temporary blindness.

11 Aug: a black youth, 14, was punched in the face and his jaw broken by a white man at the junction of Eltham Palace Road & Cuff Crescent.

19 Aug: black man Anthony Rose was dropping his white friend in Sidcup Hill when his car was hit by a transit van. Anthony drove off but was confronted at the traffic lights and punched by the van driver. He was then sprayed with CS gas while being abused. He was followed and again sprayed with CS gas. The van then rammed into Anthony’s car. When the police they treated Anthony as dangerous and searched him for a weapon. Meanwhile the perpetrator escaped.

Asian Voice,  19 Oct 02

£13,000 compensation for racism

Watford Employment Tribunal ruled that care worker Mota Aziz was atrociously victimised by Barnet Council in north London when she tried to complain of racism at her work place. Bangladeshi-born Mrs Aziz, 68, suffered 2 years of victimisation & obstruction at Beech Lodge residential home in Finchley after she accused her line manager of treating her unfairly in 1999.

The Tribunal wrote: “If a member of staff had made written complaints about health & safety to residents, the Borough of Barnet would have acted decisively to cut the red tape. But because this was a race complaint, they piled as much red tape in her way to prevent the matter reaching conclusions unfavourable to the senior managers.

“The Council exploited Mrs Aziz’s weakness in spoken English by insisting she make her complaints verbally and the management tried to wriggle out of a case of race discrimination, victimisation and bullying in the workplace.”

The tribunal awarded her £13,000 compensation for psychiatric injury.

Eastern Eye, 11 Oct 02

‘Man falsely jailed in India, now left stranded by British govt. Would this happen if he was white?’

A victim of a miscarriage of justice, Balbir Singh Bains, has suffered over 3 years at the hands of the Delhi police, who accused him of plotting to bomb the Indian parliament. But he was acquitted of all charges by a Delhi court in June this year.

He is now languishing in a Punjab village village waiting for a British visa. Bains is a prominent figure in the Southall Sikh community and sole breadwinner, working with Thames trains. His wife & 5 kids struggle on with their lives.

He had gone to Indian in 1999 for a wedding. As he left Delhi airport, his taxi was surrounded by CBI officials and he was arrested without charge. Having an Indian passport and spent 2 years outside UK, he had to apply for a return visa. The Delhi police had destroyed his passport while Bains was in custody.

The Sikh Community Action Network (SCAN) in Southall has accused the British authorities of double standards. They said that if Mr Bains had been white, he would have been given a visa straightaway. Labour MP John McDonald is pursuing Bains’ case with the Home Sec.

Morning Star, 11 Oct 02

Scottish racism: ‘Strathclyde police publish shocking race crime figures’

Scotland’s largest police force exposed the shocking extent of racism across its region yesterday with new statistics. Officers were dealing with 4 race incidents a day.

The police said it had recorded 1495 race incidents between Apr 01 and Mar 02, leading to 1916 race-related charges. About 75% of these cases involved charges of racially aggravated harassment. 40% of the incidents took place in a shop or business premises and about 1 in 8 were reported by asylum seekers. Most of the offenders were white males. Said Councillor Bashir Mann: “I think many incidents are still not reported.”

Mirror, Tues, 8 Oct 02

Jim Bowen, 65, called a black woman (a training officer) nig-nog on his BBC radio show The Happy Daft Farm.  BBC bosses at Radio Lancashire in Blackburn asked for assurance it won’t happen.

But Bowen resigned from the show which he has hosted for 3 and half years and said he might give up show business altogether.

He said: “I immediately apologised. Sadly, a 65-year old brings a certain of baggage from his era and this doesn’t sit well in 2002.”

The Oxford dic: nig-nog means either a foolish person or a racially offensive term for a black person.

A Voice, 21 Sept 02

Enda Kenny, leader of Ireland’s main opposition party Fine Gael, has apologised over his “ill-judged and unfortunate remarks” at a speech to party workers & journalists 2 weeks ago.

Kenny said that while on holiday in Portugal a Moroccan barman had replied in answer to a query about a cocktail called Lumumba that it was named after “some nigger who was killed in the war.”

Patrice Lumumba, first PM of the Congo in 1960, was assassinated in 1961.

Lumumba’s family live in Ireland and his son Kongole said:”I am sickened. He should say sorry to us.” Others (not least his political rivals, think Mr Kenny should resign forthwith.

Socialist Worker, 7 Sept 02

Death in police custody

Kwame Wirdue, 23, was a Ghana student in Britain. Police arrested him up at a Sainsburys market in Dalston last Friday (30 Aug) and taken to Stoke Newington police station in Hackney, east London. He asked for medical attention after being put in a cell. The police doctor pronounced him fit. Later Kwame again asked for the doctor. An ambulance was called to take him to hospital. He died of cardiomyopathy, a heart condition. He did not show any symptoms of a weak heart before his arrest. Families of those who have died in police custody are shocked at another tragedy.

S/Worker (27 July 02) by Hassan Mahamdallie

Racist attacks

There have been savage racist attacks on 3 black men in the Eltham area where Stephen Lawrence was murdered in 1993.

1 July: a 30 year old was jumped by 6 or 7 whites. They leapt out their car, chased the man before setting on him with knives and broken bottles.

2 July: Lee Evans (24, a systems analyst) and his cousin Kassim [both of mixed race] were attacked in the same area in the same manner.

What did the police say? “There are thousands of youths in Eltham and though there are similarities [with the Lawrence murder], we have no reason to believe there is a connection.”

So why the upsurge in racial violence? Though the BNP HQ was closed in Eltham, they still operate in the area. In nearby Slade Green, they stood 7 candidates for the local elections. The Nazis and hardened racists have been emboldened by the constant abuse of asylum seekers by the New Labour government. Racism coming the top inevitably filters down to the streets.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Muslim News, Feb 02

Two mosques set alight in on week

Coventry Cross Mosque and Limehouse Mosque both in East London were set alight in Jan 02. There were no fatalities. While 15 adults and 30 children were attending Arabic lessons in the CC mosque, a burning rag was thrust at the door, setting the doormat alight. The worshippers were able to put out the flames promptly

However, at the Limehouse mosque, haly the premise was charred and the other half seriously damaged. $60,000 had to be spent in refurbishment. No one has been held as yet. The Council has advised more CCTV cameras.

CARF issues 66-67 (2002)

January

Two Turkish young men racially abused, then attacked by a gang of 5 whites in Cardiff city centre, resulting in serious facial injuries.

February

 - Body of unknown male asylum seeker found in Channel Tunnel. Believed to have fallen from a train.

 - Third black man, 43, found hanged in Telford. Had claimed his life was threatened. Inquest recorded verdict of suicide.

April

 - Research by Bath University finds that black football players continue to face race abuse from other players and spectators.

 - Overseas nurses are found to by underpaid, exploited and forced to take HIV tests.

 - Asian cab driver, 45, racially abused, then stabbed by two white men in Bolton, northern England.

 - Ford motor firm found guilty of victimising Indian (Shinda Nagra), 41, for 3 years at Dagenham plant.

 - Black woman, Margery Mitchell, 63, beaten unconscious by 3 whites in Essex.

 - 60 asylum seekers clinging to train from France jump off in Kent.

 - Asylum seeker seriously injured after jumping off from ferry deporting him to France.

May

 - Asylum seeker, West African, found dead in wheel bay of BA flight from Accra, Ghana.

 - Black man, Marcus Downie, 21, found hanged in Chelmsford prison.