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Racial killing leaves South Asians jittery

Suleman Din in New York

The killing of the Bangladeshi photojournalist Mianzor Rahman by a mob on August 12 in Ozone Park has brought to the fore the racial tensions between Bangladeshis and Puerto Ricans, which has been accentuated after the September 11 terror attacks.

Mohammed Anwar ul-Islam, who lives a few yards away from where Rahman was killed, said, "The fighting and intimidation of Bangladeshis has become more severe after 9/11. It became an excuse to pick on us."

He wants the street to be renamed after the photojournalist and Rahman's killers to be apprehended.

"Maybe then," he said, "the violence between Bangladeshis and Puerto Ricans in Ozone Park will stop."

The police arrested two men on August 14, who confessed to beating Rahman with a blackjack (a small baseball bat) and wooden chair leg. Witnesses identified the men as Rafael Santos (21) and Hardy Marston (18).

"This appears to be a bias crime," said NYPD Inspector Michael Gabriel, commanding officer of the Brooklyn North detective squad. "He was attacked because he was Bangladeshi."

Islam and other witnesses, however, said there were more attackers, as many as 20. He added that the community would not be happy until the entire mob was found.

"We are not just satisfied with two people, we want all the culprits," he said. "They must be punished, and made an example of for the whole community."

The police said Rahman, a photojournalist with the Bangladeshi newspaper Inkilaab, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the night of August 11, violence flared between Bangladeshis and Hispanics after a Bangladeshi teen rode over the foot of a Hispanic teen with his bike.

Rahman had gotten out of the subway around midnight, returning from his job at the Garden Café in Manhattan.

He was walking home, talking on his cell phone when some Hispanic teens attacked him at Liberty Ave and Forbell St.

A prayer rally was held for Rahman on August 13 nearby where he died, and another is set for August 18.

Rajiv Gowda, president of South Asians and Caribbeans for Political Progress, said the community expressed their feelings of sadness and fear.

"There is a lot of anger, there is a lot of pain," he said. "Because people are worried, and wondering what's going to happen next."

Like Islam, Gowda said the attacks on 9/11 made the community feel that much more vulnerable, and the feeling has never gone away.

"Some Bangladeshis are just afraid to be out late in their own neighborhood," he said. "This is the right time to have dialogue. This is such a diverse community. We have to learn how to live together peacefully."

"The perpetrators must be found, because the community won't tolerate this anymore," he said.

Rahman came to the United States in 2000 to cover the presidential election and stayed on.

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