After an image of Saffiyah Khan smiling in the face of a member of the far-right English Defence League at a demonstration in Birmingham went viral, Twitter couldn't get enough of the "amazing photo" starring the "heroic woman."
On Monday, Khan told the Birmingham Mail that she had intervened to defend another woman attending the counter-demonstration, as she appeared to be "absolutely terrified" after a crowd of EDL demonstrators ran over to her. Now, Khan has been reunited with Saira Zafar, the fellow Brummie she courageously stood up for, after their first encounter at the rally on Saturday.
"I was just planning to stand towards the back, just carrying a placard which said no to Islamophobia, no to war," Zafar said during their meeting, captured by The Guardian.
"People were shouting all sorts of racist abuse... saying you don't belong in this country, this is a Christian country, you're not English, go back to where you came from," she recalled. "There was one guy who put an Islamophobic banner across my head... someone else was putting the EDL flag over my face," she added.
Speaking to Khan, who has been praised for keeping her cool in an aggressive situation, Zafar said: "I do really appreciate the fact that you did step in. It's very important to have solidarity and to show that if something happens to this person, they're not on their own."
Khan said she chose to get involved because she couldn't see any police responding to the incident. "I wasn't going to let someone who was speaking the truth and being replied to aggressively be put in that position," she explained to Zafar. "You didn't look like you wanted to be there and I have an intrinsic problem with that."
It was an incredible display of defiance, and it's one that Zafar is truly grateful for. "The stance that we both took in that rally, it shows that Muslim women are not how, unfortunately, the narrative is these days," she said. "We are not oppressed, we are not easily intimidated, we are quite strong in who we are." These two are well on their way to becoming inspiring ambassadors for the city.
