Daughter of murdered Muslim man urges UK to label crime as terrorism
Maz, daughter of slain Mohammed Saleem who was killed by a white supremacist in England, has launched #IAmMohammedSaleem campaign in a bid to force Downing Street to finally adopt “the people’s definition of Islamophobia”.
Maz Saleem, daughter of murdered 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem, holds a banner demanding justice for her father's killing by a white supremacist in 2013, in London, UK (undated).
A British citizen Mohammed Saleem was brutally attacked and killed by a neo-Nazi terrorist while walking home from his local mosque on April 29, 2013 in Birmingham.
After Saleem's killing, the very same white supremacist went on a three-month bombing spree and placed bombs outside three mosques across the West Midlands.
Eight years after her father's murder, Maz Saleem has launched a campaign calling for the UK government to define "Islamophobia using the people's definition" and categorise it as an act of terrorism.
Saleem was 82 years old when he was killed by Ukrainian Pavlo Lapshyn.
Under the campaign named #IAmMohammedSaleem, Maz aims to highlight anti-Islam hate crimes and put pressure on the government.
Supporters are posting short videos on social media to tell their encounter with Islamophobia and to ask for action.
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Home Office reads "Surveillance, detentions, and deportations kill. Fight the Tories, not migrants", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
As a part of the campaign, flash mob displayed will be projected onto the UK Home Office and Ministry of Justice buildings on the eighth anniversary, asking the government to adopt an official definition of the crime, and draw attention to the language international media uses to mark such incidents.
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Home Office reads "The racist Home Office is orchestrating a hostile environment", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
Stigmatisation policies
"Attacks of this nature do not happen in a vacuum," the #IAmMohammedSaleem campaign statement said.
"Individuals are emboldened to act on their hate because they are empowered by the endless racism across social media, Islamophobic headlines that we are exposed to daily, and the anti-Muslim policies pushed through by our government," it read.
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Ministry of Justice reads "We demand that the government adopts the people's definition of Islamophobia", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
There have been countless calls for the Conservatives to investigate anti-Islam sentiment within their own Party, after their leader Boris Johnson likened Muslim women to “bank robbers” and “letterboxes”.
The Tories rely on "Islamophobia" to curtail everyone’s civil liberties through their so-called counter-extremism strategies, the statement said.
These laws, which include the adoption of the Prevent programme, have served to stigmatise and criminalise Muslims of all ages and backgrounds, the statement added.
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Ministry of Justice reads "When Boris Johnson called Muslim women 'letterboxes' Islamophobic incidents rose 375 percent", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
No action in eight years
"I’m outside UK Parliament nearing the eighth anniversary of my father’s Islamophobic terrorist murder to hold the Conservative government to account for not recognising Islamophobia as a hate crime," Maz Saleem said on Wednesday night.
"I have been trying to push the government to adopt a definition of Islamophobia and recognise my father's death as an act of terrorism."
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Ministry of Justice reads "The loaded racist language of the BBC: white murderers are not terrorists, but black/brown murderers are terrorist", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
Little has changed since Saleem’s brutal murder and there have continued to be victims of violent racist attacks.
Maz also added that the government should recognise that they had a role to play in the toxic climate that allowed someone to think they can take another life because of the individual’s race and religion.
The campaign also urges BBC to revise their news style, saying the language used for minorities is primarily racist and includes white-washing.
On the 8th anniversary of Mohammed Saleem’s murder, projections onto the Ministry of Justice reads "In the coverage of Muhammed Saleem's murder, his Nazi killer is never referred to as a terrorist", London, UK, April 28, 2021.
'Act of terrorism'
Saleem's killer, Pavlo Lapshyn, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in October 2013 for murder and causing an explosion with intent to endanger life.
Lapshyn was in the UK for a 12-month work placement from Ukraine as a company engineer.
He killed Saleem on his fifth day in the country.
The court said the offence was committed in the course of a series of acts of terrorism but Maz Saleem has said she wants her father’s murder itself to be recognised as an act of terror, saying the label has rarely been used in the mainstream media to mark acts of white supremacists.
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