Leicester: Amid friction in the air, South Asian communities strive for normalcy

One of the first tasks of the new British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has been to deal with the unprecedented violence between Hindus and Muslims of South Asian origin on the streets of Leicester and Birmingham, large Asian ghettos in Central England.

Indian-origin Braverman came down heavily on those who created unrest in Leicester saying “Those who bring disorder and thuggery to our streets will face the full force of the law.”

Braverman, who visited Leicester on Wednesday (September 22) and met Chief Constable Rob Nixon and Leicester police officers, praised “the police for their expert handling” of the unrest and said she was now focused on “restoring safety and harmony” to the city after the ugly scenes witnessed over the previous weekend.

On Saturday (September 17), hundreds of masked and hooded men marched through the largely Asian areas of East Leicester raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, intimidating local residents and vandalising businesses. The police were called in but they were outnumbered.

“My officers were confronted by in excess of 300 people and there were eight officers at the time and they did the best they could in the circumstances,” said Nixon. Reinforcements were brought in from other forces nearby and in the ensuing violence, 25 policemen and a police dog were injured.

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The Saturday standoff was followed by a demonstration on Sunday night with around 100 youths hitting the streets in response to the previous day. The febrile atmosphere had been aggravated by videos circulating online over the weekend showing a man pulling down a flag outside a place of worship and another video of a flag being burned.

Almost half of the 18 people arrested over the weekend were not from Leicester giving credence to the argument that outsiders were being brought in to foment trouble. “It does suggest that there are people with other battles to fight who are coming to Leicester to fight them. It’s distressing that they choose to do it in our city. We pride ourselves on good relations between communities,” said Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester’s Mayor. “It does not represent anything that is simmering in Leicester, and does seem to have more to do with sub-continental politics,” he added.

Rumours and fake messages on social media have added to the tensions and the Independent MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webb, warned that some social media accounts appeared to be “preying on this unease” by “spreading misinformation”. She wrote to Nixon, urging vigilance and passing on reports “of incitement to hate”.

Both the Hindu and Muslim communities have lived harmoniously in Leicester since the 1970s and were shocked by the scenes they witnessed over the weekend. “There were some ugly scenes at the end of August when India lost the cricket match to Pakistan, but nothing like what we saw now. We have always had great relations with our Muslim neighbours. Someone is trying to force a divide in our community,” said Bharat Solanki, who has lived for 50 years in Leicester.

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The tension spread to the industrial town of Smethwick on Tuesday (September 20) when a group of mostly Muslim youths gathered outside the Durga Bhawan Temple to demonstrate against Sadhvi Ritambhara, founder of the RSS’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini, who was scheduled to speak there.

Smethwick was at the start of Ritambhara’s five-venue tour of the UK, which was to be followed by lectures in Nottingham, Coventry and London. However, Ritambhara was forced to cancel her UK tour and return to India due to “ill-health” before it began. Ritambhara was previously on a speaking tour of the US which had prompted protests from Muslim and Christian groups.

Sam Terry, Labour MP for Ilford South, one of the venues for her visit, had written to Home Secretary Braverman, calling her “a hugely divisive figure, known for her xenophobic speeches and rhetoric, in particular against the Muslim community in India”. He added: “It is my constituents and my belief that her Islamophobic rhetoric has no place within our multicultural and diverse community of Ilford, and I am deeply worried about the potential stoking of communal tensions, should her visit be allowed to progress”. It is believed that the temples were asked to ‘uninvite’ Ritambhara by the Home Office.

Ahead of the Smethwick protest, Nasir Akhtar, imam of the local Abrahamic Foundation had called for peace and urged people to stay at home and not attend the protest because the ‘controversial’ event had been called off. However social media rumours made out that Ritambhara was continuing with her lecture. The following day Durga Bhavan Temple trustee Ash Kumar praised the multi-faith support and the work of the police, telling the Birmingham Mail: ‘We are very grateful to the police who kept us safe and also to other faith leaders who remained on our premises to show a united front through the night.’

Both communities in Leicester and Smethwick are reeling from the events of last week and faith leaders have called for calm. In a joint statement, leaders from the Jama Mosque and Iskcon Hindu temple in Leicester stressed the close bonds of friendship between the two faiths and called for an immediate end to the ‘provocation and violence’. Delivered on the steps of the Mosque by the Hindu leader Pradyumna Pradip Gajjar, the statement emphasised the struggles both Hindus and Muslims had battled to make the city their home and told those inciting violence and hatred ‘we will not let you succeed’.

Their words were echoed by Sadiq Khan, the Pakistani-origin elected mayor of London who called the ugly scenes of Leicester and Smethwick ‘heart-breaking’. “For a generation, Asian families have lived side by side in the UK as friends and neighbours – not allowing the politics of the sub-continent to spill over here at home or to affect our relationships” said Khan.

London’s first ethnic minority mayor, Khan, who is now serving his second term, said he remembered the solidarity between Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, White and Black Londoners who all stood together against the far-right white supremacist groups in the 1980s and 1990s.

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“British Muslims and British Hindus should always be allies, not adversaries. And any attempts to drive a wedge between our communities by a small minority should be called out and resisted by all. Now is the time for us to rekindle and strengthen our bonds of solidarity. We need the silent majority to continue raising its voice and deploring this disorder” said Khan.