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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 32 August 29, 2016
(front page)
NY protests condemn assassination of Muslims
BY MAGGIE TROWE
OZONE PARK, N.Y. — Immediate protests took place here after the Aug. 13
shooting deaths of Maulama Akonjee, a Muslim imam, and his friend Thara
Uddin. The killings are widely viewed as a cold-blooded assassination
directed against Muslims.
Security camera footage shows a gunman approached the two
Bangladeshi-born men from behind after they left midday prayer services
at the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque, then shot them in the back of their
heads. Police reported $1,000 in cash Akonjee was carrying was not
touched by the assailant.
As word spread of the killings, a crowd gathered at the site.
Members of the congregation came together outside the mosque the next
day, along with neighborhood residents and others from across the
metropolitan area to express outrage at the killings and show solidarity
with the Bangladeshi community.
Socialist Workers Party New York organizer Norton Sandler talked with
people there and distributed a statement — “Stop Attacks on Muslims and
Mosques!” — issued by Jacob Perasso, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate from
New York.
“This was not a robbery,” Nazim Uddin told the Militant. “It’s been
worse lately with more harassment and threats. People come through the
neighborhood and shout from their cars at the older people wearing
traditional clothes. They call them ‘towel heads’ or ‘Taliban.’
Sometimes people spit on them.”
“They shot Imam Akonjee and Thara Uddin like they were animals,” said
Millat Uddin, who regularly attends the mosque and is active in the
Ozone Park community. “We have a community here with all kinds of people
living together — different races, different nationalities. They are
trying to mess up the peace in this community.”
More than 1,000 people turned out for the Aug. 15 funeral of the two men.
Some in the crowd carried signs that read “Muslim Lives Matter” and “We
Want Justice.”
Jewel Chowdhury, a leader of the Jalalabad Association, a Bangladeshi
community group, spoke for the families. He criticized the New York City
police department for giving “mixed messages” and “creating confusion”
in the community — referring to claims by some cops that there is no
reason to believe the two were killed because they are Muslims, that it
could be because of an alleged “Muslim-Latino” dispute.
The “crime” of the two men was that they “were immigrants, minorities,
and indeed Muslims,” Chowdhury, told the crowd.
Police filed murder charges Aug. 15 against 35-year-old Oscar Morel in
connection with the killing.
This is the latest and most deadly attack on Muslims in New York. Taxi
driver Nur Nabi was stabbed as he left his mosque in the Parkchester
area of the Bronx in August 2013. Last December Sarker Haque was beaten
in his store in Astoria, Queens, by a man saying he would “kill Muslims.”
In January two young men screaming “ISIS! ISIS!” beat Mujibur Rahman, a
Bangladeshi-born man, as he walked his niece home from school in the
Parkchester area. Mohammed Atique Ashraf, wearing a white prayer cap as
he walked to a Parkchester mosque, was attacked June 18. At a protest
against the attack on Ashraf, community activist Mohammed Mujumder told
News12 The Bronx that there had been six similar incidents since December.
Seth Galinsky contributed to this article
Related articles:
Actions denounce attacks on Muslim women in Chicago
Stop attacks on Muslims, mosques
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