Saturday, 20 August 2011

Birmingham for Tariq Jahan

Tariq Jahan lost his son, Haroon, in a hit and run incident during the riots in Winson Green, Birmingham on Wednesday

After the evening prayers at the mosque,

came the looters in masks,

and you three stood,

beloved in your neighbourhood,

brave, bright, brothers,

to be who you were –

a hafiz is one who has memorised

the entire Koran;

a devout man –


then the man in the speeding car

who purposefully mounted the kerb …


I think we all should kneel

on that English street,

where he widowed your pregnant wife, Shazad,

tossed your soul to the air, Abdul,

and brought your father, Haroon, to his knees,

his face masked in only your blood

on the rolling news

where nobody's children riot and burn.

CAROL ANN DUFFY


guardian.co.uk, Friday 12 August 2011 23.28 BST


Please find the original Guardian Article here

© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved

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