GDN:Alleged racial attack probed

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 22 October 2006

HUMAN rights activists in Bahrain have expressed concern about an apparently racially motivated attack on an Indian barber.

Police and embassy officials are investigating the assault on Mustafa Hamza, who required hospital treatment after being bound, gagged, bundled into an alleyway, beaten and slashed with a carpet knife by five Bahrainis.

The 30-year-old was robbed of BD41 during the incident on October 13, but authorities are probing the possibility that the attack was racially motivated.

Mr Hamza initially thought he was being mugged, but said his attackers kept on telling him that he did not deserve a Bahraini passport – despite the fact that he has never applied for one.

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 22 October 2006

HUMAN rights activists in Bahrain have expressed concern about an apparently racially motivated attack on an Indian barber.

The 30-year-old was robbed of BD41 during the incident on October 13, but authorities are probing the possibility that the attack was racially motivated.

Mr Hamza initially thought he was being mugged, but said his attackers kept on telling him that he did not deserve a Bahraini passport – despite the fact that he has never applied for one.

The expatriate, from Palakkad, Kerala, said the five Bahraini attackers told him Indians do not deserve to get Bahraini citizenship, but just “work here like dogs”.

He also claimed that attacks on migrant workers were common in the Manama area where he was ambushed and that Indian and Pakistani men were often “terrorised” by locals, including youths who throw stones at them.

The incident happened when the father-of-two was returning home, in Sanabis, after visiting a friend and has not been able to work since.

“It is important that the authorities concerned realise the serious nature of this attack and work swiftly to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure that the victim receives redress,” said the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights vice-president Nabeel Rajab.

He said the authorities must look at the underlying reasons for the attack if such incidents were to be prevented in the future.

“The reason many Bahrainis are angry about foreigners holding jobs is that they see others being brought to the country to do jobs while they are unable to find employment,” he said.

“Although these contributing factors do not justify the attack on Mr Hamza, it is important to understand the simmering tensions that motivated such a hateful attack.

“These are genuine grievances and those who are suffering attack people who they see as representing these problems, even though it is not the workers’ fault.”

Mr Rajab also called on the authorities to ensure that Mr Hamza is compensated for the time he has been unable to work because of his injuries.

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