Thread by @INSIGHTUK2

THREAD: Leicester Attack on Hindus

Timeline of the Leicester Violence: The Real Story

#Leicester #HindusUnderAttack #BritishHindus

Leicester Demography

Total population: 561,365

Christian: 181,882 (32.4%)
Muslim: 104,413 (18.6%)
Hindu: 85,327 (15.2%)
Sikh: 24,700 (4,4%)
Buddhist: 2,245 (0.4%)
Jewish: 561 (0.1%)

Sources: Census 2021 and World Population Review

28th Aug: After a #INDvsPAK2022 cricket match rival fans bantered. Such banter is commonly seen amongst boisterous football fans too, it was non-religious & became serious only when an individual supporting the #Pakistan cricket team snatched and disrespected the #India flag.

Without evidence, this was given Hindu-Muslim angle by some Muslim community leaders in Leicester. An email by Leicestershire Police to the Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths unfortunately repeated this falsehood, wrongly implicating India fans. This further escalated tensions.

4th Sep: When Pakistan won the cricket match, riots started. Amongst many incidents a Hindu home celebrating #GaneshChaturthi was attacked. Eggs were thrown into the house, attempted knifing of a young Hindu male and his aunt was punched on the nose when she came to save him.

The incident took place while guests were arriving for Ganesh (#Ganpati) darshan. Instead of condemning the incident, many Muslims on social media and beyond have made light of the fact that eggs were thrown - yet this is comparable to pork being thrown at a mosque.

5th Sep: Appeal for peace made by both Hindu and Muslim community leaders.

Hindus listened to their leaders but 100s of Muslims, some from outside Leicester gathered & orchestrated approx 50 Hindu hate attacks. 1 Hindu youth was stabbed & another barely escaped. Hindu homes attacked, windows broken & Bhagwa dhwaj debased.

6th Sep: 3rd consecutive night of attacks. 100s of Muslim youth on the rampage. 50 homes & cars damaged. Hindu homes identifiable by symbols like Om, Shubh Labh & Ganesh pics targeted. House gates/doors broken. Mob tried to enter house where a newly married Hindu woman was alone.

Many claimed and projected this as a Hindu-Muslim clash which it was NOT. The selective and one-sided nature of the attacks establishes that this was a Pakistani Muslim attack on peaceful Hindus.

At a community meeting, after the evident failure of Muslim leaders, a local imam cunningly and divisively labelled recent immigrants from Daman-Diu community as "uneducated", blaming them for the violence. The Hindu community stands as ONE, without division.

"During peace talks, an imam blamed the current political environment in India. Another questioned commonly used Hindu flags depicting Hindu gods, calling them ""orange RSS flags"".

Such statements are nothing but outdated weapons of 'communal narrative building factories'."

Hindus of the area are living in fear. All easily identifiable symbols like Om, Shubh Labh, pictures of Gods & Goddesses are being removed from the doors. Fear of being selectively targeted for their faith by Islamists has forced them to erase all markers of their Hindu identity.

In this video, a man uses foul language for a group of 15-16-year-old Hindu girls doing Garba (a dance done on Navratri dedicated to & honouring Mother Goddess). The video exemplifies the kind of extreme hate and intolerance Islamists have for the Hindu faith and its traditions.

Leicester isn't new to Hindu hate crimes. July 2017, group of Pakistanis pushed a Hindu carrying India flag off his bike causing grievous injury. Reducing/normalising crimes against Hindus & failing to recognise Hindu hate has led to increase in incidents. bit.ly/3BxIQTz

Political demography of Leicester.

The current composition of Leicester City Council out of 54 seats:

Labour: 50
Independent: 2
Lib Dems: 1
Conservative: 1

#Labour #Hinduphobia

Hindus in Leicester are fearful after 3 nights of targeted attacks. Authorities failed to protect Hindus despite assurances. Do they have to fend for themselves? In a month the biggest Hindu festivals start (Navratri,Divali). Will Hindus be able to safely celebrate? @LPCityCentre