Hawzah News Agency- a public meeting was held on Monday at the Stittsville Muslim Association (SMA) with dozens of citizens and local officials in attendance. The meeting was convened following an incident of racist graffiti vandalism targeting the association's building on the night of September 5th.
Amir Siddiqi, president of the Stittsville Muslim Association, described this incident as just one of the recent cases of Islamophobia faced by the Muslim community. He stated that the goal of the meeting was to raise public awareness about the frequency of such events and to call for action from all levels of government.
"We were so surprised that this room was full of people, and not only from our Muslim community'', Siddiqi said.
The Mayor of Ottawa, the local Member of Parliament, and the Stittsville City Councillor were seated in the front row, all emphasizing their support for the Muslim community.
The Mayor of Ottawa also announced plans to hold a symposium this fall to bring together leaders from various religious communities to find collective solutions.
Fariha Irshad, a long-time resident who attended the meeting, expressed significant hope but stressed, I won't say that everything can happen magically.
We must work hard. God willing, with community solidarity and practical action from officials, we will see a reduction in such hate-motivated incidents.
Source: yahoo news
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