'Poisonous hate'

COUNCIL CHIEF'S POWERFUL MESSAGE ON HOW DIVISION IS TAKING ROOT IN SCHOOLS AFTER SON IS 'STRANGLED' ON PLAYGROUND

- JANE HAYNES

A SENIOR Birmingham City Council director has posted a powerful message after his son was threatened and 'strangled' in a racially aggravated incident at school amid calls for urgent, united action against hate.

Waqar Ahmed has praised other pupils for reporting the attack when his son was too frightened to do so, calling them 'heroes.' But he said the case brought home graphically how racist 'poison' is taking root in playgrounds, 'fuelled by online rhetoric, dinner table conversations, and the growing normalisation of division.

The circumstances of the incident were set out on Mr Ahmed's LinkedIn profile in a post titled 'Where are we heading?'

His powerful post about the shocking incident has gone viral with dozens of comments expressing concerns and sharing similar examples.

He later said: "I never thought (my son) would grow up talking about experiences of racism in schools - thought that was just our generation and the ones before."

Mr Ahmed is assistant director for community safety and resilience at Birmingham City Council, where his job is to help drive forward initiatives and policies that inspire cohesion and unity and push back against hate and division.