An Imam and his assistant died in a cold-blooded shooting on the streets of New York in the early afternoon of 14th August (local time). Reports indicate that the two men were walking down a road in the Queens district of New York when a lone gunman came up behind them and shot them in the head at point blank range, one after the other, before they had time to react.
The victims have been named as Imam Maulama Akonjee, a 55 year old Bangladeshi national who had been in New York for two years, and his assistant 64 year old Thara Uddin. Imam Akonjee, who was married with three children, died instantly. Mr Uddin was taken to hospital but died shortly after arrival. The shooting occurred in the Ozone Park area, close to the al-Furqan Jame mosque which is used by the large local Bangladeshi community. The two had just left the mosque, after attending Saturday prayers there.
There are few eye witnesses, but the police do also have some CCTV footage. The gunman was seen leaving the area after the shooting but descriptions of him are vague, indicating that he had a “medium complexion” or could be Hispanic, and no arrests have been made.
The New York police are taking a cautious line, stressing that there are no signs that the men were attacked because of their faith – although the shocked local community feels strongly that this is a very likely reason, pointing out that the two men were wearing Muslim dress.
Members of the community have gathered at the mosque, calling for the incident to be treated as a hate crime. Some of them have pointed out that the shooting comes after repeated Islamophobic comments from Donald Trump, the Republic candidate for US President in the elections due to be held in November.
Milat Uddin, a local resident who attends the mosque, told CBS New York, “It’s really threatening to us, threatening to our future, threatening to our mobility in our neighbourhood, and we’re looking for justice.”
Khairul Islam told the New York Daily News, “We blame Donald Trump for this… Trump and his drama has created Islamophobia.”
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