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My Name Is Samayya

Samayya Afzal takes a deeply personal look at the issue of Islamophobia and mosque safety in the UK, as she seeks answers from faith leaders, fellow worshippers and the government.

As a young Muslim growing up in Bradford, Samayya Afzal has never felt anything but British but she’s no stranger to Islamophobic slurs and attacks. As she says, “It was at a young age that I realised I was different. And people want to punish that difference”.

And when 50 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, Samayya noticed a sharp rise in Islamophobic incidents in the UK – a spike apparently confirmed by the monitoring group Tell Mama.

The ѿý Office has now pledged an extra £5 million to help make Mosques and other places of worship safe but Samayya feels much more needs to be done.

In this programme, Samayya takes a deeply personal look at the issue of Mosque safety and Islamophobia in the UK, as she seeks answers from faith leaders, fellow worshippers and the government.

Presenter: Samayya Afzal
Producer: Mend Mariwany
A Whistledown production for ѿý Radio 4

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Wed 22 Jan 2020 11:00

Broadcasts

  • Mon 20 Jan 2020 20:00
  • Wed 22 Jan 2020 11:00