Hong Kong Muslim community critical of police report warning of Islamic State-inspired attack

Council leader calls such pronouncements in absence of imminent threat ‘disturbing to the core’ and adding to stigma

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(Left to right) Jamal Ashraff; Muslim Council founder and chairman Adeel Malik; Diallo Ali; and Syed Ridwan Elahi urged officials to act cautiously when warning against terrorism attacks in the city. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:01pm, 14 May 2017Updated: 2:02am, 15 May 2017

Members of Hong Kong’s Muslim community hit out against a police report stating Islamic State-inspired lone wolves could carry out an attack in the city, claiming the force was adding to a stigma already felt by the community.

Earlier this month, police said terrorist groups could use the internet and social media to spread their radical ideology and target high-profile global institutions and representatives in the city. The force admitted, however, it had no specific intelligence indicating an attack in Hong Kong was imminent.

Muslim Council chairman Adeel Malik said such pronouncements were “disturbing to the core” and affected more than just the Muslim community.

Malik (left) said inflammatory rhetoric was unhelpful. Photo: Dickson Lee

“Ethnic minorities are facing issues already. There’s a lot of passive racism in Hong Kong ... where we’re always struggling [to integrate] in the local community. Things like this affect not only the Muslim community but also the ethnic minority community.”

Malik thought the report echoed comments made by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and former police commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung in 2015, warning that Hong Kong should not take the threat of terrorism lightly.

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