Boyan Chowdhury, a founding member of the Liverpool band in the early 2000s, has lost faith with the way racism is dealt with and fears the UK is entering "a really dark phase".
Image: Boyan Chowdhury is a founding member of The Zutons. Pic: Wilko Wilkinson Photography
A former member of indie band The Zutons has spoken after being seriously injured in a racist assault, telling Sky News he could have been killed and that he wants his attackers to face justice.
Boyan Chowdhury was treated in hospital following the incident, described by police as an "abhorrent" hate-related assault, which happened in the Wavertree area of Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Chowdhury, who is in his 40s, says a group of young males, believed to be in their late teens, started shouting racist slurs when he asked them to move away as they were smoking near to him and his five-year-old son.
After taking his son to a neighbour's house, he says two of the group continued to abuse him, and he was approached from the side and hit by a third.
"Something in my head just said, turn around quick. Instinctively I turned and I raised my hand, I took some of the blow away."
Mr Chowdhury says he was left with a wound splitting his forehead down to his skull. He shared these graphic images, which we have blurred, on social media.
'If I hadn't turned, I don't think I'd be here'
"I honestly believe if I hadn't turned around at that time, I don't think I'd be here because it would have been the back of my head," he says. "It would have been a lot more serious."
The musician says he has had little sleep since the incident and has been left "constantly looking out the window".
He continued: "My hands don't seem to stop shaking... My wife is scared and we've got our little boy as well - he was scared to go to school [on Monday]. But I don't want to feel like I'm trapped. I can't feel like I'm trapped."
He says he wanted to speak out to show he is not ashamed. "There's no shame in it. Why is it ok?
"People with that mindset, they do believe it's okay. They do believe in a greatness of themselves over others. That's what it comes down to and it's a greatness embedded within this system...
"You can't really turn your head away from it anymore. I think everyone has to start facing the reality, the horrible truth that this country is going into a really dark phase of its history and I still believe we're in the early stages of it."
He believes the reason for this is "rhetoric being peddled by people who want to make money off other people".
Image: The Zutons at the Mercury Prize show in London in 2004. Pic: AP/ John D McHugh
Mr Chowdhury, whose parents moved to the UK from Bangladesh, is proud of his heritage, "proud to be the child of an immigrant".
But he says he has always faced racism. Growing up in the West Derby area of the city, "we used to get bricks and stones thrown", he says. "It never went away."
He says he has lost faith in the way incidents of racism are dealt with.
"I'm sure other people with other experiences of crime and assault have possibly different experiences, but these are my personal experiences through the '80s, '90s and 2000s."
'A shocking assault'
Mr Chowdhury was a guitarist and founding member of The Zutons, who had hits with Valerie, famously covered by Amy Winehouse, and songs including You Will You Won't, Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? and Oh Stacey (Look What You've Done!) in the mid-2000s. Their debut album, Who Killed... The Zutons? was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2004.
He left the band in 2007 but returned for reunion shows in 2019 and is now working on other music and acting projects, as well as production.
He says he wants to keep busy following the attack and thanks his neighbours for their support. "We've got a really good community here."
Merseyside Police are appealing for people with information to come forward.
Detective Inspector Debra Morley said: "This was a shocking assault that has absolutely no place in our communities. To racially abuse someone and then attack him with a weapon is abhorrent and I'm sure the public in Merseyside will be just as appalled as we are about what happened
"Violence and hate crime will simply never be tolerated in our communities."
博扬·乔杜里（Boyan Chowdhury）作为21世纪初利物浦乐队的创始成员之一，对当前种族主义问题的处理方式已失去信心，并担忧英国正步入"一个极其黑暗的时期"。
独立乐队The Zutons前成员在一起种族主义袭击中受重伤后首次发声，他向天空新闻表示自己险些丧命，并希望袭击者受到法律制裁。
博扬·乔杜里在事件发生后被送往医院接受治疗。警方称这起事件为一起“令人发指”的仇恨袭击，事发于周六下午利物浦的韦弗特里地区。
40多岁的乔杜里先生表示，当时一群据信十八九岁的年轻男子在他和他五岁的儿子附近吸烟，他要求对方离开时，这群人开始高喊种族主义辱骂言论。
将儿子送到邻居家后，他称该团伙中仍有两人继续对他施暴，随后第三人从侧面靠近并袭击了他。
我脑海中突然有个声音催促我迅速转身。我本能地回头并举起手，从而卸去了部分冲击力。
乔杜里先生表示，他的前额留下了一道深及头骨的伤口。他在社交媒体上分享了这些经过我们模糊处理的血腥画面。
“若非当时转身，我恐怕已命丧于此”
他说道："老实说，如果当时我没有回头，恐怕我现在就不会站在这里了，因为子弹会击中我的后脑勺，那后果可就严重多了。"
这位音乐家表示，自事件发生以来他几乎无法入睡，终日"惶惶不安地望向窗外"。
他继续说道："我的双手似乎一直在颤抖……我妻子很害怕，我们的小儿子也是——他周一都不敢去上学了。但我不想觉得自己被困住了。我不能有被困住的感觉。"
他表示自己选择发声是为了表明并不以此为耻。"这没什么可羞耻的。为什么这能被接受？"
持有这种心态的人确实认为这是合理的。他们坚信自己比他人更优越。问题的核心就在于此——这是一种根植于整个体系中的优越感……
人们已无法再对此视而不见。我认为所有人都必须开始正视现实——这个国家正步入历史上一个极其黑暗的时期，而我坚信我们仍处于这一阶段的初期。
他认为，这背后的原因是"某些人为了从他人身上牟利而兜售的煽动性言论"。
乔杜里先生的父母从孟加拉国移居英国，他为自己传承的血脉感到自豪，并称“作为移民后代深感骄傲”。
但他表示自己始终遭受种族歧视。在这座城市的西德比区长大时，"我们常被人扔砖头和石块"，他说，"这种歧视从未消失。"
他表示，自己对种族主义事件的处理方式已失去信心。
我确信其他有过不同犯罪或侵害经历的人可能会有不同的感受，但这些都是我个人在上世纪80年代、90年代以及2000年代的真实经历。
一场骇人听闻的袭击
乔杜里先生是乐队The Zutons的吉他手及创始成员，该乐队在2000年代中期曾凭借《Valerie》（艾米·怀恩豪斯翻唱版本广为人知）、《You Will You Won't》、《Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?》以及《Oh Stacey (Look What You've Done!)》等热门歌曲走红。他们的首张专辑《Who Killed... The Zutons?》曾入围2004年水星音乐奖提名。
他于2007年离开乐队，但在2019年回归参与重组演出，目前正致力于其他音乐和演艺项目，并从事制片工作。
他表示在遭遇袭击后希望保持忙碌状态，并感谢邻居们的支持。"我们这里的社区氛围非常融洽。"
默西赛德郡警方呼吁知情人士提供线索。
探长黛布拉·莫利表示：“这是一起令人震惊的袭击事件，在我们的社区中绝不应发生。对他人进行种族辱骂并用武器实施攻击的行为令人发指，我相信默西塞德郡的民众会和我们一样，对这起事件感到震惊。”
我们的社区绝不容忍暴力和仇恨犯罪。
原创文章，作者：郭峰，如若转载，请注明出处：http://m.gaochengzhenxuan.com/keji/13524.html
