Leicester, a city in United Kingdom has witnessed number of clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the past year. There have been instances of vandalism, desecration of temples and physical attacks, this comes at a time when India, home to majority Hindus is also witnessing such attacks. In this regard, researchers at the Centre for Democracy Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR), presented a fact-finding report on ‘The Rise Of Territorial Majorirarianism And Hinduphobia’ in UK parliament on March 23. The house for commons was chaired by MP Bob Blackman.
Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR) is an organisation broadly working in the area of human rights. Through various programmes and activities, CDPHR intends to advocate human rights. Before this report on Leicester, UK they have released reports on USA Human Rights, Human Rights reports in Tibet, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Afghanistan.
The report throws light on the events that took place in Leicester, UK in August & September last year and their implications for democratic values and human rights of micro-minority communities. The report finds that the violence in Leicester was a direct assault on democratic institutions and the rule of law. There was a flood of misinformation, with biased media coverage and attempts to undermine the fundamental principals of democracy.
How attacks on Hindu Communities triggered in Leicester?
The report quoted, “The first incident in the entire timeline of the Unrest falls on the 28th of August, 2022. It was the day India played the Pakistani cricket team as a part of the series of matches leading up to the Asia Cup 2022 and defeated the latter by 5 wickets. Immediately after the match, there was an altercation between the fans supporting the two cricket teams. Tensions flared up when a man, who first introduced himself as a Pakistani Muslim, started disrespecting the Indian flag. Several attempts were made to stop him, but all of them failed and the Indian community members thrashed him up. Enraged by the incident, a bunch of Muslim boys attacked some of these Hindu boys going to Ganesh Puja”.
For about a fortnight of September 4, people walking on the streets were stopped and asked about their religion. If they turned out to be Hindu, they were harassed. Within no time there were clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities on the streets in Leicester.
The continuous misinformation campaign against the hindu community progressed to accusations of an attack on the local mosque in Leicester by the Hindu community.
The report by CDPHR analyses the motive behind these attacks; social media posts that triggered the attacks of Hindus and the repeated attempts of maligning the ‘Hindtuva’ by terming Hindus as Hindutva mob have also been taken into consideration.
For instance Tweets by a handle name @Majstar7. Here are some of his tweets:
On August 30 he Tweeted, “Someone in Leicester must know who these Hindutva cowards are. They attacked a few people and were chanting against Pakistan on Melton Road. We all know they were really chanting against Muslims. These scum need to be caught and justice needs to be served!”
https://twitter.com/Majstar7/status/1564372187947180032?s=20
He then wrote, “It wasn’t too long ago ripped up Quran pages were found on the streets not far from this same road. I hope the people responsible are caught asap before things really escalate”.
Sunny Hundal, a Journalist wrote, “In Leicester extremist Hindutva groups go on the rampage in Leicester. Shocking stuff”
https://twitter.com/sunny_hundal/status/1564662378712780805?s=20
On September 8 2022, there was widespread social media reporting and targeting of a young Hindu boy. The targeting started off with subtle provocative messages, doxxing of identity using photos and car plate number with suggestions that the boy was involved in violence against the muslim community.
The report quoted some of the comments, “This bastard has sent voicenotes egging Hindus on to fight Muslims I’ve heard them myself. He’s saying don’t fear them etc. If anyone knows how to share vns on here let me know”
The accusations progressed to accuse the young Hindu boy in question of attempting to kidnap a minor muslim girl. In the midst of the misinformation being spread about the kidnapping of a minor Muslim girl, new misinformation began to surface regarding the stabbing of a Muslim Traffic Policeman by Hindus.
However, On the 17th of September, Leicestershire Police issued a statement saying that “We’ve seen reports on social media that a mosque is being attacked. Officers on the ground have confirmed this is not true.”
The report says, “On August 31, 2022, Hindus celebrated the festival of Ganesha Chaturthi. It is a week-long celebration in which Ganesha Murthis are placed in decorated homes, and community members are invited to participate in poojas, viewings, and overall festivities. One such home, adorned with Hindu flags and conducting extended celebrations, was vandalised on September 4, 2022. A mob threw eggs inside the house, and when the Hindu residents went outside to investigate, a young boy was almost stabbed, but he managed to escape with the help of his Figure 19. Images of the home and Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations targeted on September 4. Images of Hindu homes vandalised on 5th September, aunt who was punched in the nose in the process. This incident occurred on the same day as a cricket match between Pakistan and India, which Pakistan won. Groups were observed mobilising and targeting Hindu homes, as the decorations were seen as a marker of their religion, leading to heavy targeting”.
The report by CDPHR claims, “In the days, weeks, months and years leading up to the unrest and aggression in Leicester and Birmingham, a coordinated pattern in social media misinformation and on-street violence against the Hindu community has been observed across the world. A week before the unrest in Leicester and Birmingham, there was a smear article against the Hindu Community of the United Kingdom backed with no proof whatsoever which indicated that Hindus in the United Kingdom and beyond were internally racist towards the muslim community. The origins of such unfounded allegations and subsequent misinformation campaigns can be found in the rise of Hinduphobia across the world. Hinduphobia is a term used to describe prejudice, intolerance, or discrimination towards Hindus, Hinduism, or things related to Hindu culture.”
The report also digs into the spread of unrest and tensions to other English cities in the wake of misinformation and violence in Leicester. The researchers also focused on the misuse of law enforcement and the weaponization of social good by nefarious groups seeking unrest and violence and last but the least they focus on the biggest problem of biased media reporting and the rise of Hinduphobia.
CDPHR has urged all stakeholders, including the government, law enforcement agencies, civil society, and the media, to take immediate action to address the underlying issues that led to the Leicester violence.
The timeline of spreading vandalism, attacks and desecration of temples when compared to the misinformation on the internet regarding the Hindu community demonstrates that there is a direct relationship between malicious narratives and violent unrest. A number of emerging trends were observed during the unrest including calls for mobilisation of muslims from major Islamic countries suggesting intentions to marginalise the global minority that the Hindu community already is. It was concluded that there was a failed attempt at causing widespread tensions against the Hindu community in England beyond Leicester from the insinuations on social media.
Some of the key highlights of the report are:
- Hindu community in the United Kingdom is one of the most law-abiding, peace loving, co-existing and contributing communities with the lowest prison population (0%), highest educational attainment rates, second highest median earnings and employment rates.
- Due to translational political externalities and a spillover effect from South Asia, there has been a development of ethnic enclaves (organised by religion) among the migrant population in Leicester
East Leicester is the ethnic enclave of the muslim community residing in Leicester and has a minority presence of Hindu community - The presence of these ethnic enclaves gave rise to territorial tensions and localised majoritarianism, which were witnessed both before and during the unrest in East Leicester.
- There was an attempt to defame and vilify the Hindu community as Hindutva nationalist and extremists with malicious propaganda of false kidnapping of a minor muslim girl, false stabbing of muslim traffic warden, false account of a mosque attack and false accusation of desecration of the Quran.
- There was an increased misuse of law enforcement and security measures and appropriation of public good by false reporting to the police and local media bodies regarding the actions of the Hindu community.
- There was an attempt to target and vilify the larger Hindu population of the United Kingdom. There were failed attempts at nationwide mobilisation against Hindu community using extrapolated versions of the misinformation about the Hindu community in Leicester.
- Institutional Hinduphobia and bias was deduced through the analysis of the reporting of the Leicester unrest by the media houses BBC and the Guardian when compared to the verified police reports, witness accounts and corroborating reports from think tanks.
The report also have some recommendations on how to control the escalation of such riots. They suggest there should be efforts to tackle the spread of misinformation on social media platforms. This can be done by promoting media literacy and a corroborative approach. The report suggests that there should be efforts to tackle biased media reporting. The report further suggests that there must be efforts to curtail sentiments of majoritarianism and transnational political externalities. Also, efforts should be made to curtail growing Hinduphobia and secure the vulnerable mico-minorities.
- Promoting media literacy : People should be educated on how to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources of information.
- Foster independent media : Support independent media outlets that prioritise factual and unbiased reporting, and provide resources to help them grow and reach a wider audience.
- Encourage civil society engagement : Promote the involvement of civil society organisations in promoting pluralism and tolerance, and provide them with the resources they need to be effective.
- Adoption of definition of Hinduphobia : Government agencies and law-enforcement additionally need to adopt definitions of Hinduphobia to readily understand and support the community in fighting tensions as a result of the same.
The report has been authored by Rashmi Samant & Chris Blackburn, Rashmi is a recent Oxford graduate where she was elected its first Indian-Female President of the Student Union. Professionally she serves as the Executive Director of the Punarnava group in Bharat. Chris Blackburn is a British political analyst. He provides advice to NGOs, law firms, political campaigns, think tanks, and private organisations. Early in his career, he worked with the 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism lawsuit with this he campaigned for the trials of war criminals associated with Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971. The Bangladesh government for his efforts honoured him with “Friend of Bangladesh” title.
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