Kasar Jehangir: Birmingham crash victim 'demonised by media because he is British Pakistani'
'Over the last few days I have realised that to be black, brown, Muslim or foreign today is treated as a crime in itself'
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Your support makes all the difference.A man killed in a car crash in Birmingham is the victim of a “character assassination” by the media because of his skin colour, according to those who knew him.
Kasar Jehangir, and five others, were killed after their Audi S3 collided with a taxi on Birmingham’s Lee Bank Middleway in the early hours of Sunday.
Several publications in the wake of the crash resurfaced the 25-year-old’s historic convictions for drug dealing and dangerous driving. In some instances prominently using footage used in evidence during a 2016 court case which showed Kasar speeding.
Maz Saleem, a neighbour of the victim, said his past was irrelevant and accused the media of vilifying him because of his ethnicity.
She said sensationalist media speculation was preventing his family from grieving without judgement.
“Over the last few days I have realised that to be black, brown, Muslim or foreign today is treated as a crime in itself. Suspicion and false accusations come naturally in the case of all these groups,” she wrote in an op-ed piece for The Independent.
“Sensationalised media headlines of Kasar’s past convictions, labelling him as nothing more than a drug dealer, make it feel like a trial is taking place now in the media. But this is a trial in which he has already been found guilty and in which he has no fair representation or voice – because he has been killed in a horrific car crash.
“He did the time for his conviction and this news has to differentiate from the crash – as it may have absolutely nothing to do with it.”
Mohammed Fasha, 30, and Tauqeer “Tox” Hussain, 26, travelling with Jehangir were also killed. A 22-year-old man, Zakkria Khan, who was in the same car, was seriously injured.
Taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed, 33, a father of six, also died in the collision, along with sign language interpreter Lucy Davis, 43, and her boyfriend Lee Jenkins, 42.
Kasar was arrested in July last year for driving 120mph on the M6, while occupants of the car threw heroin out of the windows. He admitted dangerous driving and possession with intent to supply Class A drugs in November 2016 and was sentenced to 36 months in jail, but was released on a home detention curfew, which ended on 12 December, The Times reported.
It was unclear what caused the Birmingham crash, and West Midlands police superintendent Sean Phillips said it was too early to speculate.
“It’s a harrowing scene. There are families involved, these are real people involved. It is very distressing for everyone,” he said.