When Asad Dandia received a message from a young man named Shamiur Rahman in March 2012, he had no reason to suspect that he was under the watchful eye of state surveillance.Rahman simply seemed interested in deepening his relationship with Islam and getting involved in charity work. As a Muslim community organiser in New York City, Dandia was happy to help.
The young man quickly became a regular at meetings, social events and efforts to help low-income members of the community. Rahman even spent a night in Dandia’s family home.
But nearly seven months later, Rahman made a confession over social media: He was an undercover informant for the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Dandia ultimately joined a class-action lawsuit, alleging the city of New York singled out Muslim communities for surveillance as part of the wider “war on terror” in the United States.
Four years later, the city settled, agreeing to protections against undue investigations into political and religious activities. Advertisement
But Dandia sees an echo of his experience in the present-day arrests of pro-Palestinian student protesters from abroad.
He is among the activists and experts who have observed an escalation of the patte …
