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Former civil engineer Muhammad Jawad Yaqoob has called on transport and delivery workers across Scotland to report racial abuse following an attack during an anti-immigration demonstration in Glasgow. Trade union leaders have simultaneously demanded statutory safety interventions as frontline couriers face mounting hostility on public routes.
A thirty-one-year-old delivery driver from Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, has appealed to public-facing workers across the United Kingdom to report racist violence after he was targeted during an anti-immigration demonstration in Glasgow. Muhammad Jawad Yaqoob, an Uber Eats courier who previously served as a government civil engineer before relocating to Scotland three years ago, was struck by a traffic cone and subjected to xenophobic insults on Bridge Street following a large-scale demonstration originating at Glasgow Green.
The incident, which occurred outside the Palm Tree Kitchen restaurant on 25 July, unfolded when a crowd of demonstrators began chanting hostile slogans. Mobile telephone footage circulating widely across digital platforms captured masked demonstrators shouting abuse before hurling a municipal traffic cone directly at the courier, forcing him to seek refuge inside a nearby commercial premises.
Speaking in the aftermath of the incident, Mr Yaqoob outlined the severe psychological and economic disruption inflicted upon his household. Having relocated to Scotland with his wife while she pursued higher education, he explained that the resulting trauma had rendered him unable to resume his door-to-door delivery shifts, leaving the family without an income for nearly three weeks. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands that Mr Yaqoob has submitted applications for alternative employment within the home social care sector to support his household obligations, including domestic rent and council tax liabilities.
The distribution of the attack footage across international networks generated acute personal distress, as relatives in Pakistan initially misunderstood the circumstances of the recording. Mr Yaqoob explained to journalists that he felt compelled to clarify the facts to overseas family members, reiterating that he resided legally within the United Kingdom and had committed no wrongdoing. He stressed that while the vast majority of Scottish residents remain welcoming, isolated extremist factions must be held legally accountable through official policing and judicial channels rather than allowed to intimidate migrant workers.
The assault has accelerated national campaigning by the GMB trade union, which represents thousands of transport, logistics, and gig-economy workers across Scotland. Union officials launched the No Excuse for Abuse initiative in direct response to an escalating pattern of street hostility directed against ethnic minority couriers, private hire drivers, and frontline retail personnel. Organisers have warned that unchecked street intimidation risks escalating into fatal violence unless statutory protections are reinforced immediately.
Union representatives have formally petitioned Police Scotland and local licensing authorities to classify all recorded verbal and physical confrontations against delivery workers as aggravated hate crimes. The trade union has also urged municipal licensing boards to mandate enhanced safety provisions, designated secure waiting areas, and direct emergency response pathways for lone gig-economy operators working anti-social hours in city centres.
Police Scotland confirmed that a twenty-nine-year-old man was arrested and formally charged in connection with the Bridge Street assault. The accused entered pleas of not guilty to two charges during an appearance at Glasgow Sheriff Court, with judicial proceedings ongoing. Senior police commanders have reiterated that comprehensive investigations into disorderly conduct and hate crimes linked to recent demonstrations remain active across the Greater Glasgow division, with enforcement teams reviewing extensive public closed-circuit television recordings and digital broadcasts.
Mr Yaqoob maintained that public silence only emboldens perpetrators of racial hostility. He urged couriers, taxi operators, and retail staff encountering harassment on public roads to immediately record incidents, contact law enforcement authorities, and formally register complaints to ensure that community safety standards are upheld across urban transport networks.
