Fact-finding report on Leicester violence blames Muslim majoritarianism

On Thursday (March 23), the Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR) tabled a fact-finding report [pdf] on the anti-Hindu violence, which took in Leicester final 12 months, earlier than the UK’s House of Commons. The report, ready by activist Rashmi Samant and political analyst Chris Blackburn, highlighted how the Leicester assault on the Hindu neighborhood was a direct assault on “democratic institutions and rule of law.”

It identified how the Islamists weaponised misinformation to undermine freedom of expression, dedicated human rights violations by focusing on practitioners of Hinduism and tried ethnic cleaning that resulted within the short-term displacement of Hindu households.

On March twenty third, 2023, we revealed a report on human rights in regards to the 2022 Leicester violence @HouseofCommons. The report particulars the emergence of territorial majoritarianism and hinduphobia within the UK previous to, throughout, and after the violence. @BobBlackman pic.twitter.com/X2YSkJm0Id

— Rashmi Samant (@RashmiDVS) March 23, 2023

To confirm the explanations and key circumstances that led to the anti-Hindu Leicester violence, CDPHR despatched a group of researchers to floor zero. In their report, Rashmi Samant and Chris Blackburn discovered that the unrest befell primarily within the East Leicester space.

The findings reveal that East Leicester is a Muslim-dominated space with a minority presence of the Hindu neighborhood. The report famous that the assault on Hindus was a direct fallout of territorial tensions and localised majoritarianism (of the Muslims in East Leicester).

“Symptoms of territorial ethnic cleansing were found through the analysis of the different slogans and speeches made by the majority community of East Leicester and the temporary displacement of Hindu community as a result of the unrest,” CDPHR mentioned in its report.

Screengrab of the CDPHR report

The report additionally discovered {that a} concerted try was made to defame the Hindu neighborhood as ‘Hindutva nationalists’ and nationwide mobilisation exterior of Leicester (solely succeeded in Birmingham)

“There was an increased misuse of law enforcement and security measures and appropriation of public good by false reporting to the police and local media bodies regarding the actions of the Hindu community,” CDPHR emphasised.

“Institutional Hinduphobia and bias was deduced through the analysis of the reporting of the Leicester unrest by the media houses BBC and the Guardian when compared to the verified police reports, witness accounts and corroborating reports from think tanks,” it added.

Recommendations given by the fact-finding report

The fact-finding report by Chris Blackburn and Rashmi Samant gave 4 suggestions to forestall unrest and focused violence, as witnessed in Leicester between August and October 2022.

The report emphasised the necessity to sort out misinformation on social media by selling media literacy among the many basic public and growing collaboration between social media platforms, governments and civil society organisations.
It additional acknowledged that biased media reporting should be curtailed by holding media shops accountable, supporting unbiased media that report information, imposing laws to advertise neutral reporting and inspiring transparency.
CDPHR sought curbing sentiments of majoritarianism and transnational political externalities by selling tolerance, and pluralism and educating the general public about democratic values and the risks of majoritarianism.
Lastly, the report highlighted the necessity to cease rising Hinduphobia and safe the susceptible mico-minorities by growing legal guidelines that prohibit hate speech, and discrimination, offering authorized recourse to victims and adopting the definition of Hinduphobia.
Think tank discovered no proof of RSS, or Hindutva gangs in Leicester

In November 2022, a UK-based assume tank debunked the false claims made by Islamists in regards to the presence of ‘RSS terrorists’ and ‘Hindutva extremist organisations’ in Leicester metropolis.

The disinformation was peddled by Islamists to rationalise their focusing on of the Hindu neighborhood and camouflage their acts of aggression as violence perpetrated in self-defence.

The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), based in 2005, launched a 39-page report [pdf] on November 3 and concluded that the false allegations had uncovered the Hindu neighborhood in Leicester to hate, vandalism and assault.

“Contrary to press reports at the time, the investigations did not find Hindutva extremist organisations operating in Leicester, but instead discovered a micro-community cohesion issue falsely presented as an issue of organised Hindutva extremism and terrorism,” the abstract of the report learn.

HJS emphasised, “It finds that false allegations of RSS terrorists and Hindutva extremist organisations active in the UK has put the wider Hindu community at risk from hate, vandalism and assault.”

“Some members of the Hindu community in Leicester imposed a voluntary curfew, some relocated to stay with family or friends until they felt safe to return, while still others were unable to return to work owing to fears for their personal safety,” it additional added.