East Leicester has become the scene of a war between two faiths. Hundreds of Hindu and Muslim men and youths in their teens and early twenties have been slugging it out, over a cricket match and a number of simmering issues over the last few months, at least.
Breaking News 25th.09.2022: A further Riot occurred in Birmingham with 200 Muslims outside a Birmingham Hindu Temple on 20th September, and plans for a similar protest/riot outside a Hindu Temple in the London Borough of Brent have been condemned by the local MP. Read more (here)
In a BBC report it has been suggested that trouble started after an ‘unplanned protest’ by young Hindu men.
Video footage of the protest however, would suggest the participants were kitted out for a skirmish. The young Hindu men wore balaclavas, carried bats and other weapons as they sang Jai Shiva and Jai Hind (long live Shiva and Long live India).
A Muslim couple can be heard discussing the unplanned protest which has continued into Sunday Morning 18.09.22.
The same BBC article quotes Suleman Nagdi, of the Leicester-based Federation of Muslim Organisations, he said:
“What we have seen on the streets is very alarming.
“There have been problems in the community since the India and Pakistan cricket match and while that game often sparks gatherings they have not in the past turned this ugly.
“We need calm – the disorder has to stop and it has to stop now. There are some very dissatisfied young men who have been causing havoc.
“We need to get the message out that this must end and try to do this through parents and grandparents talking to their sons.”
However, a 5 Pillars a Muslim website suggest this reaction was in the making for a while. They are putting all the blame on the Hindu community. It reads as follows:
“A lot of people have been asking whether the tensions in Leicester are over a cricket match, however nothing could be further from the truth.
“Over the past few years there have been an increasing number of Hindus in the Spinney Hill/Green Lane Road area who have been getting drunk both at night and in the daytime.
“They’re constantly engaged in anti-social behaviour from blasting music late at night while people are trying to sleep to urinating openly on the streets, fly tipping, consuming drugs etc.
“This has been reported to the police on numerous occasions by many concerned locals, however they have said no action has been taken.
“It would be interesting to see how many complaints and reports Leicestershire Police have had for the anti-social behaviour in this area over the past two years.
“Ripped Quran pages have also been found on the streets near Melton Road (a heavily populated Hindu area).
“There is a video circulating of a Muslim sister and a few Muslim brothers who were picking the pages up off the roads.
“It is unclear who threw the ripped Quran pages on the road and the exact date of the incident.”
They include a timeline of grievances the local Muslim community have with local Hindus, which includes:
- A Muslim man purportedly being beaten with poles and bats by 30 Hindu men in May this year, After running to a friends house their family were also beaten. When CCTV was sought by police the local Hindu Temple claimed footage had been lost.
- In august Hindu youth were chanting ‘death to Pakistan’ after a cricket match between India and Pakistan and then attacking a Sikh man and a police officer.
- A recent a rise in groups of Hindus celebrating Indian Independence Day outside Mosques and horning loudly.
- In recent weeks another 20-year-old Muslim teen was attacked late at night with poles and bats after the Pakistan vs India cricket match. This was a minute’s walk away from the initial attack on the other Muslim teenager in May. That same night a car went outside a nearby Mosque where two men [believed to be Hindu] got out and urinated on the walls.
- On Thursday September 8, a 17 year old Muslim teen was on his way to work at approximately 11:30am when he was stopped by two Hindus who asked him if he was Hindu or Muslim. They then grabbed him by his neck but he managed to beat them both up and escape.
Woefully small police presence fails to cope with large groups of Muslim and Hindu rioters – brave police officers needed a larger team.
The author of the post expressed concern that police had made no arrests and that the culprits were walking free on the streets carrying on their intimidation of the local Hindu Community unfettered. he was also concerned that Police have declared in various media articles that this was a clash between rival cricket fans and failed to mention the attacks on the Muslim men. He explained that:
“Leicester’s Muslim community took to the streets in their hundreds in a display of frustration at the police’s inaction and to show their defiance of the Islamophobic thugs who were targeting them.
“Due to the understandable anger of the demonstrators matters escalated leading to small outbreaks of civil disturbance.”
You can read the entire post (here)
Video: Muslim man removes a flag with an Om symbol (click here) from Hindu temple on Melton Road while police watch. Terrified Hindu families were hostage inside the temple. This is the protest (17th September) that the author of 5 Pillars stated had small outbreaks of civil disobedience.
Hindu youth chanting ‘death to Pakistan’ after India v Pakistan cricket match
The Hindu community themselves are complaining about a list of grievance they have after a series of attacks from the Muslim community. In a video that was posted on Facebook on 6th September 2022, relating to attacks on 5th September, a Hindu man calls police for help, while also shouting to people below him to run to safety. The video shows a number of Muslim men kitted with knives and poles as they travel from door to door terrorizing and attacking Hindu unprepared, innocent Hindu families. Reports suggest that more attacks were reported at the same time and after this incident.
Video: A man can be heard calling police while screaming down to others on the street warning them of Muslim men with knives and poles on the road.
The Hindu Human Rights Group, wrote:
“Far-right Islamists for over a week on social media have been making threats of violence and rape against Hindus and have been asking other Islamists to join them to come down to #Leicester today to start their witch hunt of ‘Pagan Kafir’ Hindus.
“But instead, Hindus turned up in numbers to protest against them.”
They shared a lot of videos and images of the events that unfolded on 17th September. Read more (here)
An article in the The Daily Guardian on 9th September read as follows:
In a horrifying incident, Pakistani organised gangs were seen vandalising and terrorising Hindus in the UK’s Leicester City.
The violence took place on August 28 after India won the match against Pakistan in the 2022 Asia Cup.
Various videos and reports have been circulating on social media about further attacks following last weekend’s incident. ”
The author described how ‘gangs running riot’ were ‘escalating attacks on Hindus’, that ‘innocent Hindus have been terrorised in their own homes’ and that there was ‘rampant vandalism of Hindu properties’
The article confirmed that Suleman Nagdi, a spokesperson for the Federation of Muslim Organizations, said:
“A meeting will be held tomorrow with the police and other stakeholders to inform people what’s going on and give reassurances to the community that they are taking things seriously,” Read the article (here)
Rashami Samant, a human rights activist, tweeted.
“Trouble in Leicester, UK.
“Pakistani Muslims are targeting Hindu households, desecrating religious symbols, and using racist slurs (mushirks),”
On her twitter account Ms Samant shared this video of Muslims burning a Hindu flag:
On Facebook a further video (belived to from 17th August) is circulating that displays a Muslim group chanting Allah-hu-Akbar before a Hindu temple as one of their cohorts scales the roof of the temple and rips a religious flag off the building. A few police officers can be seen watching while this act of desecration occurs before wailing and frightened Hindu families. Many Facebook commentators are suggesting a number of Hindus including children were inside of the building frightened and scared for their lives. They complain that Police presence was inadequate.
Hindu commentators say that after a series of attacks on the Hindu community in their homes temples, and on the streets – young Hindu men in their twenties and teens got together to hold an ‘unplanned protest’ on Saturday 17th September at approximately 7pm.
However things escalated after the protest became more vitriolic and chats of Jai Shiva (long live Shiva) and Jai Hind (Long live India) were sung. Moreover some of the protestors began throwing bottles at the Muslims on Melton Road, but bottles were also being thrown in the other direction and it is not known who started the attack. For certain in various videos both Hindu and Muslim rioters can be seen holding, sticks, poles and other weapons. However, Police have only reported one arrest for possession of a bladed weapon.
The riots have continued this morning and police are still trying to bring order and calm to the city, but from all accounts seem unable to cope with the size and scale of gatherings, and years of schism and angst that has built up between the two communities.
The Muslim author of the 5 pillars post is suggesting that the angst has bult up from the Radicalisation of Hindu youth under Hindutva (Hindu Nationalism [Click here]) a social and political malaise that is growing in strength in India under the BJP Party. They accuse the young rioters of being members of RSS (click here) a known Hindu extremist group with a history of violence. Whereas the write of the Daily Guardian article places blame squarely on Islamists it is very clear that both groups have been significantly radicalised and that Police and other authorities, groups and other stakeholders will have a long job ahead of them restoring peace for the long term.
Every video on Facebook illustrates that the police force sent to tackle the riots was inadequate in size and was being bullied by both sides:
Video: Police being bullied by large pack of Muslim rioters.
Video: Muslim and Hindu Rioters take over Leicester streets on Sunday morning (18th September) and police seem overwhelmed. In the video Hindu men attack two Muslim men until stopped by local police.
At its peak the Hindu Protest last night on Saturday 17th September became extremely dangerous. Police officers trying to protect the Muslim community were pelted with glass bottles.
Green Lane Road in East Leicester became a scene of violence and police struggled to separate the two sides during the ‘unplanned protest’ as t. Officers can be heard shouting for people to ‘get back’ and ‘go home’.
Bottles were being thrown from both sides, and a very small force of police officers bravely placed themselves in the middle ground. They performed a gallant role, acting as a physical barricade keeping the two sides at bay while in the firing line as they tried to keep the peace.
Video: Police bravely place themselves in the line of fire as they try to separate the Hindu and Muslim groups.
Section 60 stop and search powers were made available to police and two men were arrested, one on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and another on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. They remain in police custody.
During the riots Muslim men destroyed a car and attacked an innocent Hindu driver. In the video one of the men asks whether the Hindu driver tried to run the Muslim men over, but this seems to be a ruse to deflect blame and there is no evidence the driver did anything to trigger the violence.
Video: A car is smashed and the Hindu driver is attacked by Muslims in East Leicester.
A Muslim twitter account ‘1tachi’ later boasted about the attack while sharing venomous comments about Hindus. You can read his twitter account (here)
Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, said:
“We have spoken to Asian Christians in the affected areas of Leicester they are reporting that they are safe and have remained unharmed.
“These clashes seem to be between Muslims and Hindus only.
“It is hard to believe that the ferocity of these attacks is due to a recent concern over the cricket.
“The level of hatred on display suggests a deep-rooted angst that will have developed over a number of years.
“With Queen Elizabeth’s funeral taking place tomorrow I am concerned that the UK police are strained to their limit.
“This would explain the tiny number of police preset during such a large riot.
“UK Police chiefs will have to take this matter more seriously if peace is to be restored.
“Their inability to cope with the numbers of antagonists is exacerbating the issue resulting in increased bravado and violence.
“Already Muslim groups and Hindu groups from around the country are sharing content on social media suggesting they will travel to Leicester to support their local communities.
“Failure to act now, will escalate this problem to an enormous scale and that would create a very dangerous situation.”
She added:
“Years of prevent strategy has done to quell extremism of multiple natures in the UK.
“These attacks remind us all of the hatred that had developed between Sikhs and Muslims in the 1980’s.
“That was based on Police ignoring calls for protection of girls being groomed by Muslims, which was identified later as a major concern (click here).
“I am saddened that this has occurred so close to the funeral of Elizabeth II.
“Moreover, I fear these riots will shame Britain globally, a nation where most of us live in peace – it tars a legacy Her Majesty worked hard to build”
Video: Muslims travel from Birmingham to join riots in Leicester shouting Allah-hu-Akbar
British Asian Christian Association is a charity that provides advocacy and aid to Christians in South Asia. We write articles that inform on political and social matters that affect Christians and other groups. We are involved in outreach ministry in South Asia and print Bibles. We also provide disaster recovery assistance to people of all diversities across the globe, where we can. If you would like to donate towards our work please do so (here).
Video: Police bravely place themselves in the line of fire as they try to separate the Hindu and Muslim groups.
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