IAM Launch Leicester

Categories: Past Event Articles
Wednesday February 05 2020
Launch Event 4 November
The Launch event was fittingly at the historic venue of The Guildhall. The Police Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Lord Bach started the proceedings with encouraging words, where he praised the choice of venue and ‘Leicester’s great history’ and expressed that it, “encourages us to work towards an even better future, one where people of different faiths and different backgrounds live in peace, harmony and equality.
Our inclusive event also had Councillor Sue Waddington championing our cause and demonstrating true leadership. A gift was presented to both Sue Waddington and Vijay Riyat to congratulate them on their work in tackling Islamophobia by proposing a motion to adopt a definition of Islamophobia at Leicester City Council.
DC Marina Waka shared her experiences as a British female Muslim joining the police force. Her experiences were entertaining and touching. She talked about the challenges she faced and overcame, culturally and within the workplace to become a proud member of the local constabulary and soon to become Detective Sergeant, we hope!
The highlight and probably the most moving part of the evening was when Zainab Hussain shared her story of being a victim of a horrific, Islamophobic murder attempt. She spoke openly in public for the first time about her physical and mental pain. She related that she was lucky to survive and fortunate to still be mentally able, despite being bed bound for almost two years and living with permanent physical damage to her body.
Zainab also mentioned that she could not understand why such hate was directed at her and where it had come from. Zainab highlighted her plight, explaining how she wanted to forgive the perpetrator, but at court he showed no remorse, regarded himself as a hero and said he did this to redress 7/7. Zainab was tearful but grateful to her Lord that she was alive and expressed gratitude to hospital staff, police and MEND for their support. She thanked our chair, Shockat Adam for attending to her at hospital and for the support that had been given by MEND as a whole.
It was truly a memorable evening attended by police, councillors and the community.
Leicester Working Group