A surgeon of Pakistani origin, who had spent hours working to save lives of those caught up in the Manchester bombing attack, was subjected to racist abuse by a “white, middle-aged van driver”.
According to the British media, the surgeon named Naveed Yasin was on his way back to Salford Royal Hospital to save victims of the worst terror attack in the UK since 2005 when he was subject to the abuse.
The trauma and orthopaedic surgeon said he was driving when a “white, middle-aged van driver” pulled up beside him and blasted his horn.
The man reportedly shouted, “You brown, P*** b******. Go back to your own country, you terrorist. We don’t want you people here.”
Yasin’s great-grandfather came to the UK from Pakistan in the 1960s. He grew up in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and now lives in Manchester with his wife and two daughters.
The media quoted him as saying: “I can’t take away the hatred he had for me because of my skin colour... and the prejudices he had associated with this.”
Yasin described how and his colleagues helped the Manchester Arena victims after a suicide bomber blasted himself on May 22, killing 22 mainly teenagers and injuring over 100 others.
“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.
Greater Manchester Police have said there had been a spike in hate crimes after the attack, including a suspected arson attack on a mosque in Oldham.
Salman Abedi, a British man, triggered an improvised explosive device in the foyer between Manchester Arena and Victoria Station after the Ariana Grande concert had ended.
Police have arrested 16 suspects in connection with the attack, including a brother of Abedi.
(With IANS inputs)
