THE Muslim leader at the centre of a targeted racist campaign has said he will not give in and stop his prayer meetings
Noor Ramjanally, 35, of Valley Hill, Loughton has been the subject of a series of attacks since he started prayer meetings at Murray Hall in March, and last week was kidnapped from his home at knifepoint.
He now has regular police patrols outside his home, security cameras, and a panic alarm with a direct link to Essex Police.
He told the Guardian: “I'm just a normal guy. I've no extremists. The only reason I started the prayer meetings was it was taking me too long to get to South Woodford. We've got a good community of about 30 people here, so instead of all going down there we can do it here. It's not like I want to convert Loughton to Islam.
“We live here and everyone knows us. We've never had any trouble with anybody. All we want is somewhere to pray quietly. It's only two hours a week. It's not like we have any hidden agenda.”
Since he started his prayer meetings, Mr Ramjanally has received a letter threatening his family, had his flat firebombed, and been racially abused in the street.
He admitted he had thought about giving in after his abduction, but said he would continue to hold his Friday prayer meetings.
“For the moment I'm going to carry on,” he said. “I could understand if I was doing something wrong. But I can't see I'm hurting anyone. I can't see we're trying to convert anybody.
“It's very worrying. We've had to give up our car, we've had to give up everything. We're not opening the door to anybody if we're not expecting anybody. We've had our freedom snatched. If we go out it'll be 7 or 8 O'clock at the latest we'll be home.”
Mr Ramjanally's story has now featured on both the BBC and ITV as well as several national newspapers.
He said: “I didn't want to go to the media but people advised me to make it national because it needs to be resolved once and for all. Nobody should have to go through this ordeal, and I don't deserve it. I'm just helping a local community here.”
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