I'm a Muslim and, despite having lived in London my whole life, people still seem to think that I would love to blow them up. I despise those who go against my God's teachings and who take their religion to the extreme, what they do is pure evil and though I completely disagree with their beliefs I still suffer the repercussions of their selfish actions.
Ever since I was a child I have seen people of my faith being singled out by authority and checked over constantly for bombs and other suspicious possessions, whenever they search me at airports the most suspicious item I'm carrying is probably a toothbrush because everyone knows that Muslim's love to brush people to death.
This 'random' searching is not so 'random'. From the moment people of my beliefs enter the airport grounds, to the moment we leave the airport at the end of our flight, we are religiously profiled and marked as 'high risk'. Statistics show that those who are Muslim or are of middle-eastern ethnicity are much more likely to be screened again. I once wrote to the border agency about the searching and received a reply saying that I was selected randomly each time and it was no way affected by my religion. If what they said is true then I'm the Queen of England!
I know that those in border control are charged with the duty of keeping all the inhabitants of a country safe but could they at least try and get some solid evidence before searching someone again. A small piece of me dies every time I am stopped and searched because I know that I will have to put up with this treatment for the rest of my life due to the stupidity of fanatics and the Islamaphobia of the rest of the world.
This is Abdu Safar signing off...
J.F.
Well done, this is a great post on a very important issue. I think this is a difficult topic for Muslims (as it was for Irish ~20 years ago).
ReplyDeleteAn interesting insight would perhaps be from an officer doing the searching...?
I love the way you have written this - especially the line'a small piece of me dies'. You've really got inside this character. I like Mr Lewis's idea of writing from the point of view of the officer. Well worth trying.
ReplyDeleteMs McCartney
This is great! I really get a good insight as to what it would be like to be a Muslim and to get stopped and searched. Also the fact that is was written from the person and not from an article style made the story feel more real.
ReplyDeleteWell Done!
G.W
This is well written and gives a true insight into the treatment of muslims based on assumption.I like your use of humour as well, on a very important issue.
ReplyDeleteS.O.K