رسائل تهديد مجهولة المصدر لمسلمي "برادفورد"

رسائل تهديد مجهولة المصدر لمسلمي "برادفورد"

نَشَرَتْ صحيفةُ "theguardian" تقريرًا يُفيد؛ بأن شرطة "برادفورد" شمال إنجلترا بدأتْ تحقيقًا واسعًا حول بعض رسائل التهديد التي أُرْسِلَتْ إلى المسلمين مِن مجهولين.

وتابعَت الصحيفة: إنَّ شرطة "برادفورد" تتعامل مع هذه التهديدات بشكل صارم، حيث إنها كَثَّفَتْ مِن دوريَّاتها في ساحة "هانوفر" وسط مدينة "برادفورد"، والتي يَعيش بها أعدادٌ كثيرةٌ من المسلمين؛ وذلك بعد أن عَلِمَت الشرطةُ أنَّ اثنين مِن مسلمي المدينة قد استلموا رسائل تهديد الأسبوعَ الماضي.

وأشارت الصحيفةُ إلى أن بعض الرسائل جاءت فيها عباراتٌ تُهِّدد بقتْل المسلمين، وأخرى تتساءل عن سببِ ارتداءِ النساءِ المسلماتِ الحجابَ والنقابَ.

ويَذْكُرُ التقرير أن الشرطة قامت بتسيير المزيد مِن الدَّوريَّات في المدينة خلال عطلة نهاية الأسبوع، والتي امتدَّت ثلاثة أيام في منطقتي ساحة "هانوفر"، و"مانينغهام" بالقرب من مركز المدينة.

ويقول "محمد قايد" أحدُ المسلمين الذين وصَلَتْهم رسائلُ التهديد: إن الرسائل جاءت دون مقدِّمات مما أثار خوفَه على والدته، التي دائمًا ما تذهب إلى السوق مرتديةً الحجابَ.

وتابع قايد قائلًا للصحيفة: إن الرسالة التي وَصَلَتْهُ أُرسلَت بالبريد، وكانت تَحمِل خِتْمَ بريدِ لانكشاير "المقاطعة المجاورة ليوركشاير، حيث تقع مدينة برادفورد"؛ لكنَّه قال: إنه يَعتقِد أنَّ مَن أرسَل الرسالة يَعرف ساحةَ هانوفر وسكَّانَها.

يُذْكَرُ: أن رسائل التهديد أتتْ بعد ارتفاعٍ ملحوظٍ في جرائم الكراهيةِ ضدَّ المسلمين، بعد الهجمات الإرهابية على مانشستر ولندن؛ المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

يُرجَى الإشارةُ إلى المصدر عند نقْل الخبَر - شبكة الألوكة.

النص الأصلي:

Letters threatening acid attacks sent to Muslims in Bradford

Police have launched a hate crime investigation after anonymous letters threatening acid attacks on Muslims were posted in Bradford.

West Yorkshire police said they were taking the threats “extremely seriously” and had increased patrols in Hanover Square, a mainly Muslim inner-city area where at least two residents received the letters last week.

The literature shows an image of a sword and the St George’s flag with the words: “Kill scum Muslims”. It questions why Muslim women wear burqas then states: “We are now going to do acid attacks on anyone who wears the funny black masks around your square & Bradford & other places.”

It alleges that “three of ur male pigs” were grooming four white girls, then states: “We know who the three male pigs are they are walking dead pigs.”

Police carried out extra patrols over the bank holiday weekend on Hanover Square, in the Manningham area of Bradford near the city centre. Naz Shah, the Bradford West MP, said she had reported the letters to police on Saturday.

Mohammed Qayd, 27, one of the recipients of the letter, said his mother was afraid that she would be targeted and that the threats had come “completely out of the blue”.

I was shocked. My mum wears a burqa and she goes to town regularly so I was concerned for her. When I explained it to her she realised the severity of it and was afraid. You start wondering whether it’s safe to go out on their own.”

Qayd said the letter was delivered by second-class post and had a Lancashire postmark, but that he believed it had been sent by someone who knows Hanover Square and its residents.

Another recipient, who did not want to be identified beyond his first name, Shoab, said the letter could raise tensions before a planned English Defence League (EDL) march in Bradford on Saturday, which coincides with Eid celebrations.

He said: “The police mentioned the EDL will be marching. It can worry you if you really think about it – what if they’re something to do with it? But the EDL have come and gone before, sometimes something tends to happen. It could erupt, you see.

“Eid could be Friday or Saturday – a lot of times we’ll all be out to families, people go out to restaurants in the town centre. There’s always that chance something could happen.”

Outside the Masjid Nimrah mosque, which broadcast a call for prayer on Monday lunchtime, Masood Ahmad, 43, said the threats had concerned residents. “Everybody’s shocked. There’s a lot of women in the street wearing the burqa,” he said. “I didn’t know about the EDL [march] but if this spreads out it might create a problem. It might be chaos here.”

The letters follow a sharp rise in Islamophobic hate crime after the terror attacks on Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge. The spike in anti-Muslim incidents is thought to have fallen to normal levels following a surge of 500% in Greater Manchester in the month after the arena bombing.