Fears of attacks 'on anyone who looks like a Muslim'

Amid the fallout of Thursday's blasts, Muslims across Britain fear a backlash of the kind of anti-Islamic reprisals which followed 9/11. Then, Muslims were abused and their places of worship attacked. Despite immediate condemnation of the bombs from Islamic leaders, Chaudry believes the attacks will leave many people suspicious of "anyone who looks remotely like a Muslim".

He said: "We used to have standing in the community where we could raise our heads, but a lot has changed since September 11. It used to be that when a Muslim with a beard got on a bus people thought he was religious and they would offer him a seat. Now they wonder if we've got bombs in our pockets."

Like most Asian families in Scotland, the Chaudrys have risen from humble origins since their arrival in 1962. After working on the buses in Glasgow, Jalal, now 61, passed his Highers at night school and, after studying at Heriot-Watt University, became a chartered engineer for Edinburgh City Council. The family now live in Musselburgh.

Although it remains unclear who was responsible for Thursday's atrocities, Chaudry fears that life for British Muslims will become tougher because of the suspected links between al-Qaeda and the London attacks.

He said: "The attacks in America were terrible but they were thousands of miles away. This has happened here and British people have been killed. Even though we don't know who did this the perception is that it was done by people who identify themselves with Islam. The perception will be that if one Muslim did it all Muslims did it."

But he added: "People should remember that Aldgate is a Bengali community and Edgware is predominantly Arab. Many Muslims will have died in London."

Chaudry's wife, Touqeer Fatima, spoke of her fears for the family. She said: "Our daughter, who lives in Liverpool, was verbally abused within hours of the bombs. She was picking up the children from school when a couple of people had a go at her for wearing the Hijab. This has made Muslims more unsafe. They will have to be more vigilant because it is possible that people will want to harm them."

The couple's youngest son, Hammad, 18, said the atmosphere among younger Asians was tense. "Things are probably worse in England than here, but you know that people are thinking the worst. The BNP could try and use this to their advantage but nobody knows what will happen next. We are just waiting for the dust to settle."

In London, meanwhile, life goes on but it is clear that things are far from normal. Like so many, Maano's peaceful world fell apart when she was attacked in the wake of the devastating London terror blasts. The 33-year-old Somalian refugee, already the victim of a racist attack in November last year, fled to Britain more than three years ago as her home country continued to slide into civil war. She believed she had escaped persecution for freedom.

She described how she required hospital treatment for a severe head injury following the attack and is still waiting for the results of further tests to establish if there has been any permanent injury.

She said: "I'm not sure why they hit me. But I was wearing my Hijab at the time. They didn't say anything to me. I was very afraid. They came at me from behind and hit me across the back of the head with something. I am very worried now after what happened. My friends have told me not to go out wearing my Hijab as people are very angry."

There seems little doubt that anti-Muslim feeling in London and Scotland will be exacerbated by last week's events. As Chaudry walked to work within minutes of the attacks on Thursday, he saw anti-Islamic banners on a set of railings near Princes Street gardens, urging people to pursue "all these terrorist mullahs" who "are the forces of all evil".

"Extremists are everywhere," Chaudry added, shaking his head in despair.