Hundreds of residents attended the event organised on the Corniche in remembrance of the slain Qatari youth and as a stand against racism and violence. (SHAIVAL DALAL)

Residents wear yellow in tribute to slain Qatari student

DOHA • People from different communities yesterday assembled on the Corniche, near Doha Sheraton, to take a stand against racism and also to show their sympathy for the family of Qatari student Mohammed Al Majed who was murdered in Hastings, UK recently.

The silent stand event was co-ordinated jointly by different groups like qatarliving, iloveqatar.net (ILQ) and expatwomanqatar.com.

The gathering saw approximately a hundred people participating in the stand. Those participating in the event wore yellow cloths to distinguish themselves from the rest of the crowd. Due to Ramadan the event was held between 4:45pm to 5:00pm.

The family members of Mohammed Al Majed also attended the silent stand. "It's a tragedy to lose our loved one. We are out here to support the groups who organised the event," said Rana Salatt, the aunt of Mohammed Al Majed.

The people who were present at the event expressed their condolences. "We are planning to use this opportunity to show our sympathy for the family of Mohamed and also make a stand against this kind of meaningless violence. Hopefully, the UK government and others around the world will take note and give this kind of behaviour zero tolerance," said Gwen Newnham.

"I have gathered to pay my respects to the family of Mohammed Al Majed," said Andrew Sandilands, a construction manager at El Seif.

"The event was a great success as there were a lot of Qataris besides other residents," said Khalifa Haroun of iloveqatar.net.

"In our culture, we believe that for every death, there is a reason as it is in God's hands. I'm sure that young Mohammed's death will open a lot of peoples' eyes in the world and it would not have been in vain."

Families also took part in the event. "The incident was pretty distressing. Racism affects us all. We are here to say no to it. This sort of behaviour should not be tolerated in a civil society," said John Gregg from Qatar Foundation. John and his family took part in this event and paid their last respects to Mohammed Al Majed.

"We are gathered here to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future," said Shikharvaieye of Darwish Travels, who was accompanied by his wife.