Leicester Hindu - Muslim violence: 17 arrested in UK; here's what we know so far

Leicester Hindu - Muslim violence: 17 arrested in UK; here's what we know so far

Police have kept mum on the incident, likely in order to avoid fanning the tensions

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, September 19, 2022, 06:04 PM IST
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A total of 17 people were arrested: 2 on Saturday and 15 more on Sunday | Twitter/@JuliaHB1

Following the India - Pakistan cricket match during the T20 World Cup on August 28, communal tensions flared up in Leicester in the UK, between members of the Indian-origin Hindu community and the largely Pakistan-origin Muslim community in the city.

These tension reached a boiling point over the weekend, with disorderly conduct occurring on both Saturday and Sunday.

Police said that "disturbances" broke out at an "unplanned protest" on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

On Sunday, during the latest incident, a group of about 100 had gathered in the city. They told local media that they had gathered to protest against the recent disorder.

Although police blocked off the road, some members of the crowd attempted to push past the barricade, and complained that they were being prevented from marching in protest.

A total of 17 people were arrested: 2 on Saturday and 15 more on Sunday.

What is this about?

Details are extremely sketchy about the incident. The British media have barely covered it -- unsurprising, given the wall-to-wall coverage of the royal funeral.

However, police too have kept mum on the incident, likely in order to avoid fanning the tensions.

What we do know is that Leicester Police released the following statement: "Officers became aware of groups of young men gathering on Sunday afternoon in the North Evington area of the city. Officers spoke to them and took steps, including putting in place a temporary police cordon, to minimise harm and disturbance to communities.”

Temporary chief constable Rob Nixon called for calm on Saturday night, and a police spokesperson said, "Two arrests were made – one man on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and one man on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. They remain in police custody. We are continuing to call for dialogue and calm with support from local community leaders. We will not tolerate violence or disorder in our city.”

After the videos and reports surfaced online and on social media about Pakistani organized gangs were seen vandalising and terrorising Hindus in the UK's Leicester City, and that the Hindu's were seen vandalising mosques and chanting 'death to Muslims', the city police have confirmed that no mosque has been attacked and no chants of β€œdeath to Muslims" have been made, but not without endangering Hindu lives by buying into the false claims earlier.

Leicestershire Police has completely denied it on its twitter handle. It said, "We have seen reports on social media that a mosque is being attacked. Officers on the ground have confirmed that this is not true. Please share information on social media you know to be true. "

How have people reacted?

Predictably, given the communal nature of the tensions, reactions on social media were sharply polarised. Self-proclaimed liberals blamed the incident on Hindutva ideology, while self-proclaimed conservatives blamed it on Islamist ideology.

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