Hackney Mosque Chairman has said the Muslim community feels increasingly unsafe ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack in London.
Six people were killed and more than 50 injured when Khalid Masood drove a car over Westminster Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament, on 22 March 2017.
Since the attack, Muslim communities across the country have reported increases of anti-Muslim aggression and Islamophobic hate crimes.
Erkin Guney, Chairman of Shacklewell Lane Mosque in Stoke Newington, claimed “Islamophobia has always been a problem, [Muslim communities in Britain] have always suffered, but in recent years it is getting worse. This is very current for us.”
Almost half (45 per cent) of all recorded religious hate crimes in March 2020 were targeted at Muslims, according to a report from the Home Office.
“We don’t feel safe. We don’t feel comfortable…I’ve grown up in London my whole life, this is my home, but we feel isolated as Muslims in Hackney.”
Hackney borough has one of the largest Muslim populations in London, with 14% of people identifying as Muslim. Guney claimed that, in recent years, Muslim communities are wrongly associated with violence and treated as a hostile threat.
A counter-terrorism review commissioned by Sadiq Khan found that London is significantly better prepared for a terrorist attack now than it was before the Westminster attack.
The review, released on 11 March 2022, said improved communication and coordination between emergency services have made the capital better equipped to handle the constantly evolving threat of terrorism.
But Guney claimed that the Muslim population across Hackney feel they have to defend themselves against authorities who serve to protect them.
“We’re not the aggressors…but we don’t feel safe. We are now the ones who are scared.
“We’ve been ignored completely by our local council, by our government and by the police. If this is going on in front of our faces, imagine what is being said behind our backs. We are not safe”
Hackney Council were approached for comment but have not provided one at this time.
