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Rediff.com  » News » UK riots: Go home, don't seek revenge, pleads victim's dad
This article was first published 12 years ago

UK riots: Go home, don't seek revenge, pleads victim's dad

Last updated on: August 11, 2011 19:22 IST

Image: Haroon Jahan was killed killed by a car in the Winson Green area of Birmingham
Photographs: Reuters
Tariq Jahan, whose 21-year-old son was among three victims during a hit-and-run in the Birmingham riots, has been hailed as a hero in the United Kingdom after he appealed to the people to go home and not to seek revenge.

Pakistani-origin Jahan's 21-year-old son Haroon, a keen amateur boxer, had been killed along with brothers Shazad Ali, 30 and Abdul Musavir, 31, in the early hours on Wednesday.

They were part of a group of around 80 guarding nearby stores, on Dudley Road in Winson Green, when they were victims of the hit-and-run.

...

'Let law takes its course'

Image: Tarmiq Jahan holds a childhood picture of his son Haroon Jahan
Photographs: Darren Staples/Reuters
"I lost my son. Blacks, Asians, whites -- we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill one another? Why are we doing this? Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home please," 45-year-old Jahan told a crowd.

"Tensions are already high in the area. I don't want the community to fall out. The community doesn't need this, and my family doesn't need this. I want to law to take its course; let the law deal with it. We've seen enough without other people taking the law into their hands," he added.

Impressed by brave words of Tariq Jahan: Cameron

Image: British PM David Cameron paid tribute to UK's riot victims
Photographs: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
British Premier David Cameron, making a statement in the parliament on Thursday paid tributes to the calls for peace made by Jahan. He said, "Everyone have been impressed by the brave words of Tariq Jahan, a father in Birmingham whose son was so brutally and tragically run over and killed".

While Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition called Jahan the "true face of Britain".

A murder inquiry has been launched, and a 32-year-old man is being questioned in connection with the murders.