'They're all murderers': Caller's shocking Islamophobia experience
24 January 2022, 17:00 | Updated: 25 January 2022, 13:58
This caller's account of multiple instances of workplace Islamophobia left Shelagh Fogarty speechless.
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Tory MP Nusrat Ghani alleged on Saturday that her faith was given as a reason for her losing a ministerial role in 2020, leading to accusations of Islamophobia within the Conservative party.
Annie in Manchester phoned Shelagh Fogarty to share her direct experience of Islamophobia in the workplace.
Read more: Fabricant: Nus Ghani Islamophobia claim 'lame' as 'it's not apparent' she is Muslim
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She described herself as someone who doesn't wear a hijab, and not presenting as "what people think a Muslim would look like", as Shelagh put.
The caller told LBC that she was having lunch with colleagues and discussing the upcoming marriage of one of their daughters.
The colleague told Annie: “I don’t care who she marries, so long as it’s not a Muslim.” When she asked why, her colleague told her it is because “they’re all murderers”.
Read more: Raab: Party can't act on Islamophobia claim 'in absence of formal complaint'
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The caller's colleague even challenged her, insisting that she wasn't Muslim. She assured Shelagh that she didn't confront them, only calmly discussed the situation.
“It just reinforces the biases they have.”
Read more: No10 rejects Michael Fabricant's 'Muslimness' claims over Nus Ghani
She shared the anecdote of another colleague who had people checking his computer while he worked to ensure he wasn’t “checking any Jihadi websites” on shift.
Shelagh was shocked, asking the caller if there were appropriate channels set up to make a complaint. She insisted that “not everybody feels able to speak up”, even if there was a channel set up.
