Muslim radicals were falsely claiming that Hindus were harassing girls in the lead-up to the recent sectarian riots in Leicester, a report into the incidents has claimed.
Radicals from within the Muslim community are said to have spread rumours that Hindus in Leicester had been harassing teenage girls, with some individuals being said to be associated with an Indian nationalist extremist group, in the lead-up to sectarian riots in the city.
The widespread violence has left many in Leicester “living in fear”, as masked men from both communities clash with one another while shouting slogans such as the Islamic “Allah Akbar” or the Hindu-nationalist “Jai Shri Ram”.
However, a report by the Henry Jackson Society — a national security think-tank that describes itself as fighting “for the principles and alliances which keep societies free” — has now said in a report that the violence was largely promulgated by false rumours spread by Islamic extremists.
According to the organisation, rumours surrounding local Hindus kidnapping and harassing local teenage Muslim girls, as well as being members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Hindu paramilitary group.
Some of these rumours were then reportedly spread by various Muslim influencers, some of whom are claimed to have previously voiced support or offered prayers for Islamic terror and extremist groups.
As a result, the think tank says that Hindu-owned property was vandalised and that a number of young men from the community were forced to leave Leicester for a time over the seemingly false accusations that they were associated with the RSS.
“The methods employed have included… claims of racists, terrorists, extremists etc; misinformation regarding crimes being committed; attempts to have the uptake of their narrative by mainstream press and collaborating with political leaders to gain sympathy for their narrative and potentially influence future policy,” the report reads.
“The successful spread of these claims has led to a security threat posed to the Hindu community and attacks on their places of worship,” it went on to say.
While the think-tank appears confident in its finding — recommending that an independent judicial investigation of the sectarian riots be set up to examine the riots — some from within the British Muslim community have challenged the report.
For example, two popular online influencers within the Muslim community whom the report accuses of spreading false information have dismissed the report, saying that it is pushing an angle.
“This is an agenda driven piece of propaganda,” one influencer reportedly told The Telegraph. “The aim here is clear, to further demonise Muslims, while providing a bill of health to the Hindutva ideology that has driven the violence in Leicester”
Another netizen reportedly told the publication that there was a “clear agenda” against him “and the Muslim community at large”, before alleging that the claims made against him were unsubstantiated.
Yet another individual named in the report “categorically rejected” that he had enflamed tensions, though vowed that he would continue to resist perceived examples of Hindu radicalism.
“We will not allow any BJP, RSS, Hindutva open event to take place in any part of the UK and will challenge them robustly with stiff action and opposition,” he said, despite the report itself claiming that there was “[t]here has never been a Hindu extremist terrorist attack in the UK and the youth [accused of wrongdoing by Muslim activists] had no affiliation to RSS.”