What led to clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in UK’s Leicester?
For the past few days now, media in the United Kingdom have been reporting on “large-scale” disorder in the English city of Leicester to the northwest of London after street clashes between groups of Hindus and Muslims.
On Monday, the Indian High Commission in London posted a press release on its official Twitter handle, strongly condemning “the violence perpetrated against the Indian Community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and symbols of the Hindu religion”.
Why is there unrest in Leicester?
Tension started prevailing in the eastern part of Leicester on August 28, the day India and Pakistan played a group stage match in the Asia Cup T20 cricket tournament. India won the game by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining after Player of the Match Hardik Pandya blitzed a 17-ball 33.
Violence broke out on that day between Hindu and Muslim communities. Eight people were arrested on “suspicion of assault and violent disorder”, as per media reports. Several disturbances started occurring in the coming days leading to more arrests.
Fresh violence
Fresh violence erupted on September 17 when a group of Hindu men was filmed marching through the city’s Green Lane Road area, where there are several of Muslim-owned businesses and a Hindu temple, according to a report in The Guardian.
One of the Muslim community leaders told The Guardian that loud chants of “Jai Shri Ram” could be heard from streets away.
Another person, described as community activist Majid Freeman by The Guardian, reportedly filmed disturbances on the city’s Belgrave Road. He posted a video online in which the smashing of glass bottles could be heard.
“They were coming past our mosques, taunting the community and physically beating people up randomly,” he said. “That’s when the Muslim community came out and said: ‘We can’t trust the police, we’re going to defend our community ourselves,’” Freeman said.
Hindus there allege that Hindu families were being harassed by some Muslims in the city.
Videos circulating on social media show a man pulling down a flag outside a Hindu temple. In another video, a flag can be seen burning.
On September 20 (Wednesday), nearly 200 individuals gathered in front of a Hindu temple in Smethwick to stage a scheduled protest. Several videos were shared on social media of a sizable gathering walking in the direction of the Durga Bhawan Hindu Centre on Spon Lane. In the video, most of the protesters were masked and were heard chanting slogans.
What is the police saying?
The Leicester Police update said the police were “aware of a video circulating showing a man pulling down a flag outside a religious building on Melton Road, Leicester”, and that they would investigate.
Temporary Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police Rob Nixon said there have been “numerous reports of an outbreak of disorder in parts of the East Leicester area of the city”, following which additional officers and resources have been put on the ground to take control of the situation. “Please do not get involved. We are calling for calm,” he said.
Claudia Webbe, the independent MP from Leicester East, issued an appeal on Twitter calling for “cool heads”, and implored everyone to “go home”. She called for “dialogue to repair community relations”.
