NEW YORK MUSLIM RIDER STABBED

A crazed, and possibly drunk, 21-year old wingnut pulled a knife on a New York City cabbie and slashed him multiple times during evening rush hour on August 25 after inquiring if he was a Muslim. The incident, coming amid a fervid debate over a proposed mosque close to the site of the 9/11 tragedy, sparked off a debate about possible growing Islamophobia in the United States. Michael Enright’s cab ride after he hailed the taxi driven Ahmed Sharif, a 44-year old Bangladeshi immigrant appears to have begun calmly enough. Enright actually greeted him with a “Assalamu Alaikum” and inquired about how the holy month of Ramdhan was going for him. At some point, the young man began making fun of Ramdhan, upon which Sharif says he went quiet to avoid any further aggravation. But as the traffic inched down on Third Avenue, close to a block lined with Indian and Bangladeshi eateries, Enright began some soldierly shouting and cursing at Sharif. Yelling “This is a check point...I have to bring you down, mo..fo”, Enright pulled out a knife, reached across a plastic divider that typically screens drivers from passengers and slashed Sharif across the throat and his hands as they went up in protection. He then bolted from the cab in slow moving traffic. Police officers alerted to the incident by a bleeding Sharif apprehended Enright, who claimed the cab driver had tried to rob him.