UK: Disorder breaks out between Muslims, Hindus in Leicester

Disorder broke out between Muslims and Hindus in the British city of Leicester this weekend, with police making 15 arrests to "deter further disorder".

It follows tensions that began after a cricket match between Pakistan and India in late August.

The slogan "Jai Shri Ram", or "hail Lord Ram" – a phrase commonly used during attacks on Muslims in India – was chanted in the city this weekend, The Guardian reported.

Footage showed Hindu men marching past Green Lane Road, an area which contains several Muslim-owned businesses. A Hindu temple is located close by.

Police arrested two people after unrest erupted at an "unplanned protest" late on Saturday and early on Sunday, according to a PA Media report.

Both Muslims and Hindus in Leicester have said "they felt targeted, taunted and attacked", The Guardian said.

Speaking with BBC Radio 4, Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby said: "I've seen quite a selection of the social media stuff which is very, very, very distorting now and some of it just completely lying about what had been happening between different communities."

Soulsby said "there's no obvious local cause for this at all" and highlighted disinformation on social media.

He said there were attempts to draw people to Leicester from elsewhere to increase tensions in "an otherwise very peaceful city".

The mayor said "in Leicester, 'normal' is the very good relations between people of faith", adding that he believes his city is "resilient enough to be able to return to normal relations very soon".

Leicestershire Police tweeted on Saturday that they had "seen reports on social media that a mosque is being attacked", adding that "officers on the ground have confirmed this is not true".

Relations between Hindus and Muslims in India have worsened during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's time in office, and the effect of this has been felt elsewhere.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is Hindu nationalist – a philosophy criticised as exclusionary towards Muslims and other minority groups.

University of Leicester visiting fellow Gurharpal Singh said he believes the "tensions which have risen" are "part of a broader social change which is occurring within the city", The Guardian reported.

He highlighted demographic shifts and a rise in poverty deepened by Covid.

"Also, one perhaps should not rule out the increasing influence of homeland politics, you know, the mobilisation of the diaspora by the BJP", said Singh, who is also an emeritus professor of Sikh and Punjab studies at SOAS.