A Yorkshire woman who had her head smashed against a wall so hard that it left her bleeding and unconscious, by three youths she believes to be Muslim,
is concerned about the wall of silence that seems to have shrouded the culprits of the brutal crime. During the attack she suffered a large gash to
her forehead and serious facial injuries.
visited the place where she was assaulted which was actually in an alleyway close to Mill Outlet Shopping Complex, nearby and parallel to Lady Ann Road.
Nikki bravely returned to the scene of her attack with Wilson Chowdhry, she trembled in fear as the image was taken.Nikki believes that witnesses who may have seen the perpetrators fleeing the scene may be put off sharing evidence due to the incorrect location named by Kirklees police. The confusion lies in the fact that the alleyway could either have led to Lady Ann Road or alternatively to the Car Park of the shopping complex. If the three miscreants had run towards the Car Park to get away eyewitness may have accidentally discounted their movement as a consequence of the incorrect road being named.
The location is further confused by images promoted by local police detailing the wrong wall. The images sent through media groups seem to be of two large walls on Lady Ann Road rather then the wall of the alleyway where Nikki was attacked. We know this as the walls of the alleyway are much closer together with a gap of 4ft between them rather then the width of a Road.
Nikki is also concerned about the police account of the attack, her only memory of the attack is her head being slammed into a wall before she fell unconscious. The youths may have run away soon after this, rather then having spent a few minutes laying into her with their feet and fists. This may effect the time perceptions of the crime.
Despite the brutal head injuries she suffered Nikki recalls that two of the perpetrators were school children wore uniforms that identified their school as Batley High School. A third taller individual without any uniform, may have attended the same sixth form. All; three youths verbally abused her before the attack despite there being no provocation calling her derogatory words related to her colour.
Nikki is frustrated that local Police have not been communicating with her over the attack in a manner that satisfies her need for information. She has no idea if a description of the three youths has been given to Batley High School or if any inquiries at all have taken place at the school.
The incident has left Nikki shattered and she rarely leaves her home now, even less when unaccompanied. Nikki is exhibiting clear signs of post-traumatic stress disorder yet thus far neither police nor Kirklees council have offered any counselling services, despite her requests. BPCA are offering her free counselling through our new telephone service via a professionally qualified volunteer based in Blackburn. However, we would appreciate
offers from churches in the area who would meet with her and provide some comfort and support, please email admin@britishpakistanichristians.org if you can help.
Moreover, due to her taking time off work to recover she has lost her employment as a packer with Foxes Biscuits. Nikki had only started her new employment three weeks earlier and was not entitled to statutory sick pay. Losing her employment meant Nikki had to apply for Unemployment benefit/Job Seekers Allowance, however due to a rather jobsworth officer deeming her absence from work as her fault, she has been offered a government Hardship Fund for 6 weeks at £35 per week, this is because her injuries did not fall within the tariff of injuries within the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Nikki is appealing her benefits situation and your help would be appreciated in signing a petition calling for her claim to be expedited with a favourable conclusion, in consideration of her mitigating injury. Please sign our petion by clicking (here)
Nikki said:
“I can’t understand why the culprits have not been found yet.
“I have informed the police of the school from which two of the youths wore uniform and would have thought that investigations would have started from there.
Somebody must know who the three boys are; they would have to be travelling from a certain direction to get to their school from the location of my attack.
“This silence is sickening, it only allows these vicious youths to attack other innocent people.”
British Pakistani Christian Association are calling for local police to consider reviewing this crime as a religiously motivated crime rather then racially motivated. We conclude that the attack is religiously motivated as growing evidence is emerging that radicalized Muslim youths in the UK are finding themselves at odds with British culture and values – a growing social malaise being ignored by statutory agencies. This radicalisation is most evident in the North of England – illustrated by incidents like Nikki’s and other assaults on non-Muslims. Moreover Batley curently supports a 30.5% Muslim population which will have increased no doubt since the 2011 census. Hindus and Sikhs make up 0.5% each making it very unlikely that this hate attack was from their communities. Moreover, the area in which Nikki lives is notably densely populated with Pakistani’s a country with
low religious diversity.
In a recent report by Quilliam a Muslim NGO ‘Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation: Dissecting Grooming Gangs’, they describe how many UK based grooming
gangs operate from Northern English towns and cities. They wrote:
“When David Cameron spoke of the failings of multiculturalism in 2011 he was attacked from all sides,” Ms Adil continued. “What these critics failed to see was the numerous self-segregated northern towns, the plethora of organisations that preached problematic attitudes towards women and other faiths, and the hundreds of young men and women being radicalised right here on British soil.”
The common denominator in Nikki’s attack and that of Pakistani Christian Tajamal Amar (click here),
is that both victims were innocently attacked without any intended provocation. The only provocation we can determine from both the accounts provided is that the two victims were non-Muslim.
Nikki will have permanent scarring because of the attack.
In the Koran people of faiths outside of Islam are often named Kaffir a very derogatory term that can serve to breed animosity – though not always.
The fact that Nikki’s attack occurred on the morning of Halloween a date when ‘Kaffir’ involve themselves in ‘pagan festivities’ may have been a trigger for the violence. Halloween is a day many Muslims detest and they abhor the cultural practices in Britain around this date. One Muslim website provides Islamic families with guidance on how to teach their children the negativity of Halloween (click here).
In one part it states:
4) Explain your position: Present your research about Halloween. Allow your spouse to support you. Explain what your position will mean for your children. Emphasize that this is you and your spouse’s position and remind them that you love them. Do not over emphasize fatwas or what people in the community might think. You do not want your children to think that Islam is limiting their lives or that you care more about what people think than about your kids and what they want. Be sure to help them understand the following facts:
- Halloween has pagan roots
- It is associated with celebrating superstition, black magic, and devil worship
- Costumes are often inappropriate and immodest
- Trick or treating can be seen as either blackmail or begging and Muslims are not supposed to beg or extort people.
The phrase about not over emphasizing Fatwas causes BPCA great concern…
A vulnerable Kaffir woman on her own may well have been the perfect target to vent the frustrations that many Muslim youth feel around the festive period of Halloween, in certain communities. This is not to say that all Muslims will hold such frustrations but BPCA is noticing a rise in intolerance towards people of other faiths in Northern regions of the UK. One such example is the attack on Nissar Hussain a man who had to flee his home twice because of the outrage his public renouncing of Islam caused. His final exit from Bradford was accelerated by local police who stated he had two weeks to leave Bradford due to the imminent threat on his life. Worse still he had to be escorted by 4 police cars, each filled with 4 police officers all of whom brandished semi-automatic weapons, in what must have been the largest armed security presence this country has ever seen for the
purposes of a civilian retrieving a box from his house (click here).
Tajamal Amar who I referred to earlier, is a Pakistani Christian from Derby who innocently donned two large poppies on his car and dangled a cross from his rear view mirror. He is believed to have been brutally beaten till unconscious for displaying both offensive items only a week before Remembrance
Sunday – a date when many Muslims take to the streets in poppy burning protests named ‘Hate for Hero’s’ that are part of an annual campaign by Islamists.
BPCA are calling for Councils, Police Authorities and the Government to start referring to such hate crimes under a new category of ‘Kaffirophobia’. We believe the classification should be adopted within an amendment to the Racial and Religious Hate Crime Act 2006. BPCA has for some time condemned the political correctness and fear of being labelled Islamophobic that has stifled our statutory authorities.
In the Quillam report we mentioned earlier the NGO also urged police and politicians to dismiss political correctness, they wrote:
“The notion that certain cultures are out of bounds when it comes to criticism is not just misguided and misinformed, but often allows the most vulnerable individuals from society to continue to be victimised and abused.”
In each of the examples BPCA have shared above i.e. Nissar Hussain, Tajamal Amar and Nikki Hurst, their local police constabularies failed to report the crimes against them as hate crimes until media intervention was enacted. The current system is simply not fit for purpose which has led to BPCA
submitting a report to the UK Hate Crime Inquiry (click here).
Nikki Hurst has asked BPCA to help with the financial ruin she and her partner have had to go through as a consequence of her attack. She has got herself into debt with her father-in-law, Step-dad and brother and owes them all a combined total of £410. When Wilson Chowdhry met with them he found them without money to pay for necessary electricity and helped with a small donation of £40. Mr Chowdhry also took the endearing couple out for a meal at a local restaurant and has spoken of how charming and friendly both of them were. We would like to settle the family’s debt for Christmas and would like to offer to cover the £410 with your help, if you would like to donate please (click here).
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“Kaffirophobia is an existential problem and one that has worsened in recent years, unless it is properly addressed we cannot expect this pattern to decline.”
“Ignoring crimes of this nature do not make them disappear, quite conversely impunity usually results in an exacerbation of the original situation.
“Our Government has a responsibility to protect all Britain’s citizens.
“People of good conscience everywhere, irrespective of their faith have a responsibility to one another.
“Humans stem from the same origins whatever your belief – our common ancestry demands mutual respect.”
Wilson Chowdhry with Nikki and her partner
