Oslo, Aug 1: The Jul 22 Norway attack has left the Muslim immigrants under vulnerable feeling. Drammen, a port city in Norway’s east where 22 per cent of the population are immigrants, many people, especially Muslims, have told Mediathat they are feeling vulnerable.
The city, home to Pakistanis, Iraqis, Turks, Norwegians and Christians, represent everything Breivik despises – multiculturalism at the heart of Norwegian life.
Councillor Yusuf Gilani said people are scared. “There was so much hate coming from one man and it was about us”, he said. He added: “People are asking are there other people like him? Some have been wondering if they should move away.”
Nazim Rizvi, who runs a support group for women of Pakistani and Indian background, said: “If people like Breivik would do what they did to make a point about us, what would they actually do to us?”
“Many who think like him (Breivik) have distanced themselves from what he did. But they have the same thoughts about us and that is frightening,” she said. “And you have to wonder how big is the gap between a thought and an act,” she added.
Nazim and other Muslims joined the marches over the last week, holding roses in the air in a very Norwegian show of strength.
