Prayer for peace in Birmingham by a dad of a victim
BRIMINGHAM: Tariq father of one of the boy killed by rioters conducted prayer for peace from hours after his son was killed, may have saved a city from further bloodshed.
Haroon Jahan, 21, was one of three men killed by a hit-and-run driver while helping to protect a mosque and shops from rioters in Birmingham.
West Midlands Chief Constable Chris Sims said, “The intervention was one of the most powerful, generous and far-sighted I think I’ve ever seen – at a moment of absolute grief and devastation.”
“I think it had a decisive impact in preventing Birmingham from suffering from tensions and violence between communities.”
Garage boss Mr Jahan had stood outside his home on Tuesday and said: “Blacks, Asians, whites – we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill one another? Why are we doing this? Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise calm down and go home… please.”
Chief Constable Sims spent ten minutes with Tariq in the terraced house yards from where his son and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were killed.
Car wash boss Shazad’s pregnant wife Khansa, 22, was last night said to believe the three men are now “watching over us”.
Shazad’s sister Sumera, 25, said yesterday: “She is bearing up. She is saying they are lucky to go in this blessed month of Ramadan. The doors of hell are closed and straight away they will go to heaven to watch over us.”
Chief Constable Sims went for a walkabout in Dudley Road, Winston Green, where the three men died, after meeting Mr Jahan. He added: “Those words were so powerful, so heart-felt, so spontaneous and generous.
Mr Jahan yesterday went to a local mosque where he met the grieving parents of the brothers who died with his son.
Family friend Mohammad Ghalib, 59, said: “I think Tariq is a very brave man. He has shown great courage in stabilising the community, even though he has lost his son. Some people would not be able to control their emotions.
“Although he lost a loved one, Tariq has shown his commitment to the community by asking everyone to calm down and stay within the law.
Mr Jahan joined hundreds of Muslims and Sikhs who staged a vigil and prayed together at the spot where the three victims were killed early on Tuesday.
Sikh community leader and organiser Gurpreet Singh, 28, said: “Muslims and Sikhs, two religions who are usually enemies, are coming together to pay respects to three men who died. We are showing the country peace is possible.”
Muslim Ansar Majid, 28, added said, “We are all in this together. We are doing this to send a message to the world that we have to be united. The madness has to stop.”
