Islamophobia 'as bad as it was in the 1980s'

The sister of a 13-year-old boy who was murdered by a fellow pupil in their school playground 40 years ago has said Islamophobia "is as bad as it was in the 1980s".

Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a British Bangladeshi, was stabbed at Burnage High School in Manchester on 17 September 1986.

A subsequent inquiry into the teenager's death examining racism and violence in Manchester's schools concluded that race was a key factor in the Bangladeshi's murder.

Speaking on the 40th anniversary of Ahmed's loss, Selina Ullah said: "I've got children and grandchildren now and for them to experience what I experienced - what my generation, my friends, my brother experienced - is heartbreaking and terrifying."

His killer, 13-year-old Darren Coulburn, was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years.

Two days before the murder, Ahmed had intervened when Coulburn attacked a younger Asian pupil in Ladybarn Park, near his school.

The following day, Ahmed and Coulburn had a physical altercation in the park.

The next morning, Coulburn brought a knife to school and stabbed Ahmed in the stomach.

Four decades on from her brother's murder, Ullah said she would like to see the perpetrators of daily acts of racism to be held accountable.

She said she wanted laws such as the Race Relations Act to be properly implemented.

The Act was first introduced in 1968, as the second of three laws related to race in the United Kingdom.

All of the laws made it illegal to discriminate against somebody because of the colour of their skin.

She said: "We have policies - we just need to enforce them.

"There is a discrimination in our society, there is unfairness and some communities are adversely impacted."

Reflecting on the last 40 years, Ullah added: "We've moved backwards. It feels unsafe, which is really sad for me.

"There's a pattern of incidents that show an increase in violence and casual racism.

"We have a silent majority of people who are very uncomfortable with what is happening, the direction our country is going in, and my appeal to them would be to speak up."

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Ullah said she thought social media played a role in fuelling racism.

"There is some really positive, wonderful, beautiful human stories and people showing solidarity and support. And on the other side, it is very negative, hostile, hate-filled.

"There's an aspect of social media and people laughing when families have drowned in the sea - that is not healthy.

"For me, the sad element of this, is that people are fed this by social media and hear such negative things, that they feel they can also respond in the same way."

Since the death of Ahmed Uqal Ullah, the family has worked to "turn his death into something positive" and in 1999 set up the Race Relations Resource Centre in Manchester.

Ullah explained: "We didn't want him to be just another statistic, another news front page report for a few days and disappear.

"Even though Ahmad isn't with us, his legacy lives on."

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