By: DrewMcLachlan
By Drew McLachlan
A British Asian surgeon faced a slew of racially-charged harassment moments after finishing a 48-hour shift treating victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Naveed Yasin, 38, who practices as a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, told The Sunday Times that he was driving back to Salford Royal Hospital following two straight days of fighting to save the lives of terror attack victims when a “white, middle-aged van driver” pulled up next to him and blasted his horn.
The man proceeded to unleash a racist tirade on the doctor, according to Yasin, calling him a “brown P*** bastard” and shouting: “Go back to your own country, you terrorist! We don’t want you people here; f*** off!”
Yasin, who was raised in Keighley, West Yorkshire and now lives in Manchester with his wife and their two daughters, noted that neither terrorism – nor people like the one who shouted at him – discriminate against race or religion.
“I can’t take away the hatred he had for me because of my skin colour… and the prejudices he had associated with this,” he said. “Manchester is better than this. We Mancunians will rebuild, we will rebuild the fallen buildings, the broken lives and the social cohesion we once had.”
Yasin went on to describe the effect that treating the victims of the Manchester Arena bombings had on him and his colleagues.
“Many of my colleagues and I had never experienced injuries from a bomb blast and the effect it has, seeing these, is extremely profound and traumatising,” he said.
The number of hate crimes reported across Manchester doubled on last Wednesday (24), two days following the terror attack, from 28 to 56, according to the Greater Manchester Police. Reports have ranged from racist graffiti to harassment and violence.
Local Muslim leaders have claimed that the true number of incidents is much higher, though fear is stopping many from coming forward and reporting them.
Chief constable Ian Hopkins said: “It is important that we continue to stand together here in Greater Manchester, particularly against some of the hateful views that we’ve seen from a very small minority of the community that have no place here.”
Last Thursday (25), a 16-year-old boy was attacked by a man with a knife while studying for his GCSE exams at the Arcadia Sports Centre in Manchester, receiving only minor injuries before managing to escape.
Chief inspector Dave Gilbride commented that Greater Manchester Police believe the incident was a hate crime and that they are “treating (it) very seriously”.
“Despite this man’s attempts, the boy received only minor injuries, however he is understandably very shaken up by his ordeal.”
