2 UPDATES: Murdered, In Front of his Three-year old Granddaughter

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Update: Ekram Haque passed away today.

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I just read a horrifying, heartbreaking story in the Daily Mail: Ekram Haque.jpg

A Muslim pensioner was on the brink of death last night A Muslim pensioner has died today after an appalling race-hate attack by a gang of schoolboys.
Retired care worker Ekram Haque, 67, was battered to the ground in front of his three-year- old granddaughter Marian.

Doctors have told his family he has no chance of survival. Last night he was on a ventilator as friends and relatives paid their last respects.

What’s worse: the attack, which occurred a week ago, was not an isolated incident. Other elderly Desis have recently been assaulted near that mosque. In response, the police “stepped up patrols” in the area, and this STILL happened.

Mr Haque, a devout Muslim, was ambushed as he left his local mosque in Tooting, South-West London, where he had been attending evening prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

Marian Baby.jpg

As he and Marian waited for a lift, the gang ran up behind him and clubbed him around the head.

Ran up behind him. These craven thugs attacked him from behind, while he was with his three-year old granddaughter. He never saw it coming.

Two other worshippers chased the thugs away but Mr Haque – described by friends as a ‘gentle giant’ – had suffered horrific head injuries.

And about that baby girl, who witnessed the unholy and remembered it well enough to provide a vivid account of what she saw:

His granddaughter has been left ‘very shaken and disturbed’…Mr Haque’s 35-year-old son, a consumer law advisor, described the attack on his father as ‘ mindless violence’ but urged people to remain calm.
He said: ‘I would urge people in our community to remember that Islam is a peaceful religion and does not condone revenge attacks. If you want to do anything, just pray.

I will pray. For justice and a world where our parents and grandparents can worship at a mosque without getting jumped and bludgeoned to death.

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Update #2: Up to twenty adolescents were involved in Haque’s attack, according to this article in the London Evening Standard. The thugs preyed on two other victims before attacking Ekram Haque.

Minutes before Mr Haque was ambushed, two other worshippers – a 39-year-old and a man in his seventies – were also beaten by the gang.

His poor granddaughter was terrorized:

Marian Haque, who had been standing with him, ran screaming back into the Idara-e-Jaaferiya Islamic centre in Church Lane, Tooting, as her grand-father was beaten unconscious.

The TOI says that Marian is five, not three. I’ll amend the post and its title once I can confirm that information with a more reliable source.

Ekram Haque was a Londoner via Kolkota:

The victim, a devout Muslim born in Calcutta, used to work in a local care home for disabled adults.
His son said: “My father loved living in Britain and considered himself a Londoner. I just want justice.”

A 14-year old was due in court today. Developing.

41 thoughts on “2 UPDATES: Murdered, In Front of his Three-year old Granddaughter”

  1. This is terrible, and I’m hoping against hope that Mr. Haque pulls through. I think in terms of disciplining our thinking, we have to ask the following question “what is it about our ‘rules’–whether they are explicitly ‘laws,’ or just ‘informally’ enforced ‘social norms,’ that allows this to happen” (happen too often, to be precise–no system will have everything perfect all the time). It’s then easy, perhaps, to say, “well, ramp up the penalty–e.g, jail time–for the attackers.” Well, ok, not an irrational move, but–what are the full consequences of that? In some circumstances, the effects of the punishment could be negative. . . . My family is to be lauded for letting me think about these things, in a non-dictatorial way, but at the same time, we definitely use guards, who will, I suppose, use violence if we’re provoked (we will claim we’re not involved in this violence, or provocation, but that seems like a highly formal claim)–so, I don’t know. . . .

  2. Jinendra what are you ranting about?! Thats one of the most illogical posts ive seen on the web.

    No one should be able to beat up another man and walk away free. The police should be ashamed of not being able to arrest the attackers and the jails for promoting this kind of behavior even if someone is arrested.

  3. I do hope the moderator comes on quick.

    I am chiming in right now to say how sickened I am at this incident – I am sorry for what this family, especially that little child has had to endure. I also want to say that I really hope that people take into account what Mr. Haque’s son said and respect his wishes.

  4. Humdum wrote:

    Why would you leave this fact out:
    The attackers, who were black and wore hooded tops, are believed to be as young as 12.
    It’s important because most people will assume it’s some white racists who did this.

    She left that fact out on purpose to get us to examine our own prejudices. When I first read this post, I too fell into that trap and made assumptions about the ethnicity of the attackers.

    It’s convenient for us, as a community, to blame the White Man for all of our problems. But the days of the Raj are long gone…

  5. all too often, random attacks, gang culture and anti social behavior becoming the norm in every day life. its a fearless mindset in the youth that is scary, with that comes lack of respect, lack of thought, lack of caring.

    it does not matter that these thugs are black, there have been hundreds of violent incidents that have happened in the midlands and north by white and asians alike.

    i too will pray, pray for the safety care of our elders, because the lack of respect and care for them will be the demise of our future.

  6. No race has a monopoly on hate or crime.

    I know this is a frustrating story which evokes powerful emotions but that’s no reason to leave inflammatory comments. The victim’s son doesn’t want that and neither do we. Racist comments will be banned and deleted.

  8. Anna, thank you for posting this. i hadn’t heard and i live in london and really should have.

    wishes of peace for the deceased and others.

    moderator, thank you too.

  11. Those involved in this crime should be properly punished by law.

    This is really sad. May his soul rest in peace and may the little girl be able to forget this.

  13. Black on Asian violence is nothing new in the UK. I wouldn’t be suprised if there are some attacks on blacks by Asians now.

    Why the shock that the attackers were black? I’ve personally experienced more racism against me by blacks than whites, and I grew up in UK.

  15. But like SM intern said, “No race has a monopoly on hate or crime.”

    I dont agree with this statement. If the bulk of attackers are of a particular cohort – age/ gender/ racial type / ethnic background – then this fact needs to be known rather suppressed. The gender of the assailants has not been revealed – do we assume that they are male ? or are they female ?

    If SM keeps track of this case we will find that the criminals will get community service. The White Commonwealth ie Oz/ NZ / Canada has gone really soft.

    I dont like many things about the USA but the political desire to keep criminals off the streets is a noble one. Sometimes you go overboard but better to have 1 innocent person in jail rather than 100 criminals on the streets.

  16. Sometimes you go overboard but better to have 1 innocent person in jail rather than 100 criminals on the streets.

    nicely said. i can only hope that 1 innocent person is you. or maybe your brother. or cousin. or son.

  18. Solomon,

    Rephrase the question. Say that by willingly going to jail yourself you get to spare 100 people from victimizing others. So you going to jail means that a minimum of 100 people are not raped, robbed, or murdered. Would you make the sacrifice?

  19. Say that by willingly going to jail yourself you get to spare 100 people from victimizing others. So you going to jail means that a minimum of 100 people are not raped, robbed, or murdered. Would you make the sacrifice?

    what is the system where I should need to do this? and the right thing to do is to embrace this system? easy to justify a system that can randomly victimize innocents by claiming a higher purpose, and easier still when it isn’t you facing the business end of a baton or worse.

  20. Your right; unfortunately I wish this had been said by SM Intern in other discussions. And I understand this is voluntary blog, and the volunteers have much on their plate and I know can’t catch everything. But I do see this pattern that when a commentator comes on and generalizes desis than the comment is left there and it is treated as an opinion…this blog is pretty good about preventing racist statements for other groups and I just ask that more sensitivity be put into comments that are racist against desis.

    With due respect to a long-time commenter whom we value, if you actually understood that, you wouldn’t have accused us of what you did with the rest of your comment. For years, we have deleted ignorant comments of every type, including plenty of Desi-on-Desi hate. It’s disappointing to have someone insinuate otherwise, especially after acknowledging our limited resources (which have been further strained, recently). Your comment was forwarded before it was deleted. It was off-topic.

    This entire thread is drifting off-topic. We allowed Solomon’s initial comment to stand because we would’ve said the same thing as a moderator to try and make a point. I deleted seven comments which contributed to the thread-jacking. Please stay on-topic.

  21. this is just terrible. and in front of a mosque AND a child, no less. sometimes, i just don;t understand this world. and, in the UK, i would not be surprised if these sort of attacks are on the rise, esp. given the recent bnp win on two seats in the european parliament and nick griffin’s increased presence in the public space. it looks like, even if it is only to a small extent, immigrants may have a tougher time than they used to.

    any updates on the legal proceedings?

  22. To me, the questions are – Why are there so many teens with nothing to do? Why do they even have time to go on racist beating and murdering sprees? Where are their parents? Is teen unruliness increasing or am I just getting older??

  23. Why the shock that the attackers were black? I’ve personally experienced more racism against me by blacks than whites, and I grew up in UK.

    This issue is VERY complicated and VERY sensitive. It’s worth talking about, but I think it needs to be done in a way that’s safe for everyone involved and there is a mutually agreed upon level of good faith. I think it has to be discussed in terms of the distinction between violence (or bullying and harassment) and racism as concepts as well as between indirect and direct discrimination and what the sources of all of the above are.

    In any case, apologies for the digression and moderators please feel free to delete – I just wanted to put this out there if the topic of race politics in Britain is going to be discussed, because it’s pretty touchy – as you can see from Mr. Haque’s son’s response to the killing of his father – to ask for no further violence or retribution. It’s a testament to the goodness of human beings.

  24. i would not be surprised if these sort of attacks are on the rise, esp. given the recent bnp win on two seats in the european parliament and nick griffin’s increased presence in the public space. it looks like, even if it is only to a small extent, immigrants may have a tougher time than they used to.

    I’m a little confused at how the BNP will have influence on teenage afro-british youth to attack muslims.

    As for immigrants having a tougher time in England, you can blame idiots who were found gulity for wanted to blow up airplanes for there god this week in England. The rise of BNP and right wing groups in other western European countries is only gonna get worse in the future due to a backlash against a certain group of immigrants.

  25. Ekram Uncle, rest in peace.

    Cookiebrown wants to know. In what forms does teenage/youth pack violence express itself in the sub-continent? Why is it an urban rather than a rural phenomenon in Western societies? Or is it?

  26. you can blame idiots who were found gulity for wanted to blow up airplanes for there god this week in England.

    I was wondering when somebody would point out that possible connection to this incident.

  27. Race relations are pretty complicated in UK. There are plenty of blacks & whites who are fine with each other, who don’t like Asians.

  28. Cookiebrown wants to know. In what forms does teenage/youth pack violence express itself in the sub-continent? Why is it an urban rather than a rural phenomenon in Western societies? Or is it?

    Indian teens, particularly urban ones, are usually tied down with school and college-entrance exams. Pack violence usually is college-age or older adults participating in a riot organized by some local political party, but not for personal gain or profit. Gangs targeting innocent victims randomly is a very Western phenomenon.

  29. Gangs targeting innocent victims randomly is a very Western phenomenon.

    Well, I guess so, if you’re labeling the propensity to “make a buck” as “Western.” I guess compared to most sub-groups in South Asia, the “Westerners” “make a buck” better, but that’s not perfectly correlated if you look more closely.

  30. Thank you, you answered the question I have been searching for which was whether or not to place keywords when blog..much

  31. I’m a little confused at how the BNP will have influence on teenage afro-british youth to attack muslims.

    It is the same as everywhere else. For example, this Sunday, a group of fundamentalist Muslims has called a demonstration in central London. In response, a group of ultra nationalists / racists has called a demonstration in the same place. Last week, when a similar dynamic occurred in Birmingham, there was a riot, and people had to run into stores (it was an outdoor mall). Each side will blame the other, and both are wrong. The escalating tensions contribtue to an environment of increasing distrust and polarization, adn in the end, people start saying weird things like ‘oh but x y and z group is always like this.’ In that context, I think both the overall level of social violence could rise, and it could also become increasingly dangerous in terms of the ideas on which it operates.

  32. 31: I think both the overall level of social violence could rise

    Not sure I follow the logic here. If white supremacists become more vocal in the US, I don’t, for instance, foresee a rise in desi-on-Asian violence (or anything similar). The only relevance of the BNP resurgence (if there is one) to this incident is that some Afro-Brit youths are buying into BNP propaganda. Do black youths regard themselves as part of the BNP constituency ?

  36. In the current age of “hate crimes” and “race crimes” the race of the attackers is indeed important.

    Nowadays, if the race of the perpetrator is different than that of the victim, it can easily get tried as a “hate crime” which comes with harsher penalties.

    Looking at this case from a post-modern politically correct lense, the fact that the perps were Black DOES make a difference.

    It’s a hate/race crime no doubt.