Riots between Muslims and Hindus in Britain have spread from Leicester to Smethwick – and may “spread all over Britain”, community leaders warn.
A mob of over 200 Muslims shouting “Allah akbar!” gathered outside the Durga Bhawan Temple in Smethwick, a post-industrial town in the West Midlands, on Tuesday night, with mob members trying to scale its perimeter fence before scrapping with intervening police officers, according to reports.
The violence, which saw police pelted with fireworks and other missiles, was ostensibly triggered by word that the temple had invited Sadhvi Rithambara, an Indian described by the press as a Hindu nationalist, to deliver a sermon.
The incident follows now long-running violence in Leicester, in the East Midlands, between Muslims and Hindus, initially linked to an India versus Pakistan cricket match, which at one point saw a member of a Muslim mob vandalise a Hindu temple in front of the police.
Now, community leaders and residents are warning that the violence could well “spread all across Britain, wherever there are South Asian communities”, which functionally is almost everywhere.
One Leicester resident, named as Vinod by The Telegraph, said that “[t]his [disorder] will continue to spread” and blamed social media for “playing a big part” in escalating the situation — “people are looking at creating disarray between communities – not just in Leicester but across all of the UK,” he alleged.
“We’ve been informed that there’s going to be something similar in Nottingham and Coventry. It’s well-planned with a narrative of anti-Islam and anti-Hindu sentiment and it’s the actions of a few fanatics who are trying to get a reaction.”
Dozens of arrests have been made in Leicester and Smethwick already, for offences ranging from affray and making threats to kill to possession of knives and firearms.
Some conservative commentators have said the communal violence between Muslims and Hindus, marked by disputes over the political situation in far-off countries and foreign cries of “Allahu akbar” and “Jai Shri Ram!” — which roughly translate to “[Our] God is greater!” and “Victory to Lord Rama!”, respectively — highlight the downside impacts of mass migration and multiculturalism on Western society, and indicate that diversity may not necessarily be a strength.
“We have to stop importing foreign drama,” urged Calvin Robinson, an Anglican deacon and GB News presenter who is himself of mixed race heritage.
“Social media isn’t to blame; the problem is insufficient integration and mass immigration!”, he said.
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