At 9:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve, England was again rocked by a suspected terrorist attack. Witnesses have confirmed that while attacking the passengers the suspect shouted the words "Allah," this points to an Islamic angle to the incident. The Washington Post has reported that the British police are treating the attack a terrorist act. The assailant attacked two elderly persons and a policeman on duty and injured them The attack took place at Manchester Victoria station on New Year's Eve.
Arrest
The police have arrested the assailant who was carrying a 12-inch kitchen knife.
Though it is not confirmed there are signs that this could be the handiwork of an extremist Muslim group. Possibly the man was acting on his own and a large group may not be in the picture.
The police are now searching the home of the 25-year-old assailant. He is being held for attempted murder and as per reports resides in the Cheetham Hill area of the city.
The Telegraph has reported that an elderly couple was injured and a British transport police officer received a stab injury in his shoulder. The assistant chief constable of the Greater Manchester police has informed reporters that the suspect whose religion has not been specified has been taken into custody on a charge of attempted murder.
Lackadaisical approach
The British government has been somewhat lackadaisical in using the words Islamic terror. This was been contemptuously commented upon by the US President Donald Trump. There was somewhat of a chill between Donald Trump and the British government when in the London Bridge terrorist attack in June 2017 the US President castigated the mayor of London by tweeting: 'Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement'.
Khan happens to be Muslim.
Muslim minority
The United Kingdom has a significant Muslim minority. Unfortunately, unlike the other minorities from the subcontinent like the Hindus and Sikhs, the Muslim minority has a fringe element that believes in an Islamic caliphate. Incidentally, the man while attacking the persons at the station shouted the words "Long Live The Caliphate!" It must be mentioned that only a small minority of the Muslim population in England is influenced by radical elements but even this small minority is able to cow down the vast majority of other Muslims and the chances that more such attacks will take place cannot be ruled out.
Last word
One wonders whether the British government trying to live up to its old grandeur needs to take a leaf out of the French and American book and confront those Muslims who foment terror by combing the areas where Muslims live in a majority
