Hindutva-inspired violence in UK

  • Thread starter Thread starter Muhammad
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 26
  • Views Views 12K
Salaam

Another update.

Far-right Hindutva nationalists fuelled Leicester violence, finds new evidence

British security source argues that activists connected to Narendra Modi and the BJP are to blame for instigating and perpetuating violence in Leicester last year


AUK security source suggests there is evidence of far-right Hindu rioters conversing in closed WhatsApp groups with supporters of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party. Such conversations are argued to have incited them into carrying out violence against Muslim youth in the English city of Leicester, last summer. [1]

While some reports suggest that the violence against Muslims was carried out after an India-Pakistan cricket match, the local community shared that tensions arose at least three months before the game.

Locals have explained that violence catapulted after a young Muslim man was senselessly attacked by Hindu youths in early May 2022. The subsequent cricket match was just another excuse for Hindutva-inspired youth to target and attack Muslims in the community. [2]

What is Hindutva?

Hindutva is a right-wing fascist ideology that drives the ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP is currently in federal government and has been responsible for continued anti-Muslim sentiment for many years.

The same state-sponsored Islamophobic attacks which have been carried out in India have also been transported to the East Midlands city of Leicester. In the summer of 2022, over 200 Hindutva-supporting youth gathered in the streets in balaclavas, shouting nationalist and other provocative slogans.

Despite there being enough evidence to suggest that the violence was motivated by nationalist rhetoric perpetuated by the BJP and the paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), little effort has been made by the British government to address the growing threat of the Hindutva ideology.

Is the UK government complicit in shoving the Hindutva threat under the carpet?

The current main leaders of the cabinet, i.e. Suella Braverman (the Home Secretary) and Rishi Sunak (the Prime Minister), have a track record of choosing to focus on harmful tropes directed at Muslims.

To this end, the pair recently perpetuated racist and Islamophobic stereotypes by erroneously linking most grooming gangs with Pakistani men, despite Home Office findings from 2020 revealing that the perpetrators of most child sexual abuse gangs were White men under the age of 30. [3]

These distasteful comments come at a time when the Muslim community already feels marginalised by some of the policies pushed by government. These policies are clearly targeting and discriminating against the Muslim community.

In addition, in the wake of Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign, he vilified Islam by associating it with “extremism”. He also vowed to shift the focus from right-wing extremism to “Islamic extremism”, which he describes as the “single largest threat” to national security. [2] This is ironic, given that the British government chose to ignore the violence that was perpetuated by right-wing supremacist Hindutva groups against Muslims in Leicester.

Following the Leicester disorder, little support was given to the Muslim community. Nor was there any inkling of encouragement given to other members of the community to tackle and address the issue.

Hindutva mobs are the same groups that were involved in the Gujarat Genocide of 2002, on top of sanctioning and facilitating the daily persecution and oppression of Muslims in India. [3]

So what is government doing to tackle Hindutva ideology, whose venom is infecting Britain?

A recent report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) belittled hostility towards Muslims in Leicester and ignored the possibility of foreign influences, despite enough evidence indicating that tensions abroad were being exported to the UK.

HJS research fellow Charlotte Littlewood commented on the new evidence via a social media post:

HSS is the UK’s RSS equivalent!

Amongst other problematic normalisations of the harmful ideology is the existence of RSS affiliate groups such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which, incredibly, is a UK-registered charity that has over 100 branches. It has been established in the country for over 50 years.

The HSS charity remains open, despite a covert investigative documentary by ITV that exposed HSS leadership to be inciting violence against Muslims and nurturing its students to discriminate against Muslims. [4]

Maybe it is time that the Charity Commission investigated the impartiality (or lack thereof) of charities like the HSS and HJS, and their support of BJP and RSS sympathisers, especially since these organisations are responsible for the daily persecution and oppression of Muslims in India! [5]

https://www.islam21c.com/news/far-right-hindutva-nationalists-fuelled-leicester-violence/







 
Peace be with you,

Apparently, if you put a hundred red ants; and a hundred black ants together in a jar, they will live peacefully together. If the jar is shaken, the red and black ants will start killing each other, thinking the other side is responsible. The same with people, we can live happily with each other despite our differences, that is until someone shakes our jar. Then we blame the other side.

The role of the peace maker is not so much to see who is in the wrong, but rather to find ways to bring people together despite our differences. After all, it is far more beneficial for the majority to live in peace with each other, than it is to live in fear.

Faith groups should be able to promote peace.

In the spirit of searching for a greatest meaning of ‘One God’.

Eric
 
Peace be with you all,

Violence is violence, no matter what the causes may be. I do believe faith communities can come together ands make a difference. I would love to see an interfaith version of Street Pastors. I have been a Volunteer Street Pastor since 2008, we wonder the streets of our town until 3 – 4am on a Saturday morning. Our role is to care, listen and to help when we can. We come into contact with many wonderful people, deeply troubled souls and violence. We are members of different churches, in partnership with the police and council.

I can remember the first big fight we came across, and we faced a dilemma. Do we obey all the risk assessments, stand back and call the police, or do we walk towards the fight and pray as we go? As we approached, I saw a man punched to the ground, another was being kicked whilst on the ground, I saw a man swing round and punch a woman in the face.

Moments later we are in the middle of all this conflict. The most we can do is stand in the middle somewhere, and try and stop the guy in front, hitting the guy behind me. I hold out my hands to my side, it’s pointless saying anything. The only person I can calm down is me, I can’t change anyone else. I can only say, by focusing only on my peace, others around me seem to absorb my peace, I seem to absorb their anger. It feels like a sponge soaking up all the aggression.

After a while, the fight stops, we stay with them, people have been hurt, they are still angry. But when it comes time to leave, they are shaking our hands and giving us a hug. I was about 60 at the time, the two remarkable ladies I was with, were both in their 70’s. I cant remember how many times we have intervened in fights. We have been in the middle of 40 plus, when brokwn bottles have been used to cut someones face open. On two occasions, we have asked someone to hand over theit knife.

We don't go out in our strength, we put all things in God's handss and go. The most amazing thing for me is, I have never been hit in fifteen years, that is beyond my understanding, we give thanks to God for all the good things that happen.
 
Salaam

Another update.

A more general introduction to the subject.

Blurb

India’s 200 million Muslims are at the mercy of an ultra-nationalist government that looks to create an exclusively Hindu Bharat or homeland. Since the rise of the BJP government, led by Narendra Modi, Muslims have been subject to discrimination, alienation, daily religious abuse, economic marginalisation, state-sanctioned mob violence and pogroms like in Gujarat in 2002. This Hindu nationalism is underpinned by a pernicious cultural and political ideology, Hindutva, framed by an antagonism towards Islam and a rewriting of Indian history.

Our guest this week Professor Irfan Ahmad, helps us understand the precarious state of India’s Muslims and the Hindutva ideology. Born in India, he now lives in Istanbul, where he is a professor of sociology and anthropology at Ibn Haldun University. Prior to istanbul he was research professor in Germany at Max Plank institute and he has taught anthropology and politics in the Netherlands and Australia He has written numerous books and articles on India and Islam and recently published a provocative piece on Hindu Orientalism.



 
Salaam

Like to share.

Blurb

Ayodhya has been one of the most hotly contested arguments on the planet - in theory affecting well over a billion people. In his speech today consecrating the new Hindu temple there, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said people would talk of this in a thousand years time.

The temple is where Hindus believe the deity Ram was born - akin to Jesus for Christians. And in 1992 a Hindu mob tore down a sixteenth century Muslim mosque they claimed had been built on the ruins of the original Hindu temple. In the last thirty years alone thousands have died over this. In a nation where religion and politics were supposed to be separate - they became more intertwined than ever today.


 
Salaam

Another update.

Majid Freeman exonerated as court quashes Hindutva riot conviction​


Leicester Muslim activist Majid Freeman has been fully exonerated after a court quashed his conviction for a public order offence following a retrial related to the 2022 Hindutva-inspired Leicester riots.

Freeman was jailed in 2024 after being convicted of “intending immediate unlawful violence” and using abusive words to a police officer during Hindutva-inspired riots in 2022.

But today, Judge Robert Brown at Leicester Crown Court found that there was no evidence to prove that conviction and praised Freeman for his positive work in the community.

“We have listened with great care to the evidence provided by Mr Freeman. As a witness he has impressed us. He was measured, restrained and showed humility when providing evidence. And it is apparent to us that he has been, on multiple occasions, a bridge-builder, working with the police, to ensure there was harmony in his community.

“We are not satisfied that the Crown has proven to us that Mr Freeman had acted with intent in relation to his conviction. We have allowed Mr Freeman his appeal against this conviction and we now quash that conviction.”

Judge Brown also praised the effort of the police officers who were active on the day but did not feel that evidence provided by the Crown was sufficient. The claims made against Mr Freeman, which were defended in court, were that he pushed an officer, swore at police and incited for a fight with his language on the day of the unrest.

Mr Freeman admitted to using bad language but according to the judge there is a clear difference between using bad language in a heated situation and threatening behaviour.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Freeman gave a statement to a crowd of supporters.

“Today I stand fully exonerated after a long and deeply distressing prosecution by Leicestershire Police. For more than three years, this case has hung over me and my family, causing immense anxiety and strain. No one should have to endure such a prolonged ordeal for standing with their community and working to prevent harm.

“Despite serious provocation, I consistently called for calm and, as the court heard today, I helped save the life of a young Hindu man on the night of the unrest. I worked alongside community leaders, councillors and the police to de-escalate tensions and protect life. The evidence made that clear.

“It is deeply troubling that I was prosecuted at all. I did not incite disorder. Rather, ordinary people were left to protect their communities when the police failed to keep the peace. Instead of reflecting on their own failings, Leicestershire Police chose to pursue someone they had previously relied upon. I am relieved this ordeal has ended. I hope today’s outcome leads to serious reflection and that the real threat of Hindutva extremism is no longer ignored.”

The 2022 Leicester unrest

In September 2022, Leicester experienced heightened religious tensions between Muslims and Hindus following a cricket match between Pakistan and India.

These tensions were inflamed by largely young Hindus who adhere to the Hindutva ideology, a Hindu supremacist political ideology which originates from India.

The Hindutva ideology is a form of extremist Hindu nationalism, a political ideology that dates back to the 19th century. It encompassed a broad range of groups but at its core is a belief that Indian national identity and culture are inseparable from the Hindu religion and that other religions need to be purged.

The unrest lasted for some days and even spread to near by Birmingham before eventually cooling off.

The violence appeared to have erupted out of nowhere but, as 5Pillars reported at the time, tensions between the two communities had worsened following the arrival of the Hindutva ideology to Britain’s streets via the Indian diaspora.

The day which saw a sizeable portion of the violence was September 17, where a mob of around 300 Hindu men marched on a Muslim area of Leicester. They confronted local Muslims who mobilised after locals noticed the Hindutva mob chanting sectarian slogans and marching in an intimidating way.

Missiles were thrown, locals were injured and police were forced to intervene to keep rival sides from engaging in violent clashes. Bricks were torn off a local mosque and used as projectiles during the clash.

Freeman, who was instrumental in exposing Hindutva violence during the Leicester riots, was later sentenced at Northampton Magistrates Court after being convicted during a trial in June 2024.

The conviction was related to an incident of public disorder in Leicester on September 17. The court decided that Freeman intended “immediate unlawful violence” and used “abusive words with the intention that violence would be provoked.” This has now since been fully overruled.

Heroism and injustice

During the retrial, several witnesses were heard including police officers who policed the fighting which erupted on September 17, 2022, the day which Mr Freeman was also accused of committing a crime.

Also numerous locals and eyewitnesses to the trouble spoke to the court.

Defending Mr Freeman was a local Leicester Hindu named Ajay Nagla. Mr Nagla grew up in the same area as Mr Freeman and knew him well. He witnessed the violent events on 17 September and played a role in calming tensions.

“I was visiting my mum but as I headed home I stopped off at a shop near the Belgrave area. Speaking to people I knew locally, they were talking about things that happened recently in the local area. After, I heard lots of noise from outside so headed over to investigate. There were crowds of Muslims, people from my community was there. I saw Majid too and the other side. They are people who I call the right-wing who follow Indian politics.”

When asked what he saw Freeman was doing during the nights events, Mr Nagla replied: “He was doing what I was doing. Trying to defuse the situation.” When asked whether he saw Majid use violence he said “no.”

A video was also played out during the retrial which showcased a Sky News report from 2022 which detailed a story of heroism from the riots. It was Majid Freeman’s efforts to save a local Hindu from a vicious beating during the unrest.

The video also shows Ram Keshwala being attacked by a group of Muslim men. Freeman stood in front of the car and protected Mr Keshwala as his car was attacked.

Another prominent voice to defend Freeman was former MP Claudia Webbe who served as a Labour MP in Leicester (2019-2024) during the time of the riots. She didn’t appear in person for the retrail but a statement was read out to Judge Robert Brown.

“Majid is someone that I saw as a trusted mediator in the community whom I had previously contacted when incidents occurred. For example, I had contacted Majid on 30 August 2022 to obtain his understanding of the disorder that occurred on the night of Sunday 28 August 2022 in the Belgrave area of my then constituency of Leicester East.

“It is my impression that Majid Freeman is someone who seeks to bring harmony to communities. He was a community organiser doing good deeds. He is an anti-knife crime campaigner and has twice invited me to speak at major events that he had organised to prevent crime and knife crime in particular.”

Various other local Muslims came to vouch for Majid, claiming he is a beloved member of his community who plays a positive role as an activist, community leader and neighbour.

Outside court, Mr Freeman pledged to continue engaging in activism to empower local Muslims, build bridges between different groups and to defend the Palestinian cause.

In a statement sent to 5Pillars after the result, Claudia Webbe said: “As a former MP for Leicester East, I regarded Majid Freeman as a trusted mediator, anti-knife crime campaigner, and community organiser doing good deeds who sought to bring harmony to communities. I welcome his acquittal and was pleased to provide evidence in support”

 

Similar Threads

Back
Top