Good morning.
While much of the country’s focus was on the Queue in London, large-scale clashes broke out over the weekend in Leicester, mainly between young men from Hindu and Muslim communities. The violent confrontations are the latest in a series of incidents that point to heightening tension in the city. Leicestershire police have confirmed that, so far, 47 people have been arrested, with one 20-year-old sentenced to 10 months in prison.
The violence has caused alarm, with warnings from one of the city’s MPs that they could spread – but questions remain about what exactly happened and why. I spoke to Aina J. Khan, the Guardian’s community affairs correspondent who’s been reporting from Leicester, to find out. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
Politics | Liz Truss will use her speech at the UN general assembly to encourage world leaders to follow the UK in embracing a Reaganite economic policy of broad tax cuts. President Biden however has ignored her calls, posting on social media that he is “sick and tired” of trickle down economics.
Ukraine | Following reports that the Kremlin is planning to hold referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine on joining the Russian Federation, Joe Biden will urge world leaders to continue standing firm against Russia in a speech at the United Nations later today.
Iran | For the fifth evening in a row, protesters took to the streets of Iran to demand the abolition of morality police, after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody. Amini was detained by the morality police for not wearing the hijab and her trousers correctly. Three protesters have been killed so far.
Railways | The RMT union has announced that there will be fresh strikes on Saturday 1 October. The industrial action will coincide with the start of Conservative party conference.
Energy bills | Ministers are expected to announce a cap on energy prices for businesses later today. The support package would cut their bills by up to half this winter.
In depth: A city on edge
Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in the UK. It was the first in which the majority of residents identified as non-white British and the city prides itself on its multicultural heritage. So the unrest that has plagued it for the last three weeks has left residents stunned and concerned.
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What’s happened?
Over the past month, conflicts between groups of Muslim and Hindu men have forced the police to launch a major operation in an attempt to restore calm. Many point to an India-Pakistan T20 cricket match on 28 August as the trigger of the unrest. After their team won the game, India fans in Leicester gathered and reportedly chanted antagonistic and offensive remarks about Pakistan.
However, Aina suggests that this may not be as straightforward as a sporting feud that has gotten out of hand: “It seems like there were simmering tensions before this cricket match.” She points to a case, which occurred before the 28th, in which a young Muslim man alleged that he was assaulted by a Hindu gang. No one has been charged, but the allegations alone appear to have been enough to stoke further tensions.
In the weeks following the cricket match seven disturbances in east Leicester have led to dozens of arrests. The tensions reached boiling point last weekend, when Leicestershire police received calls reporting 200 men gathering for an unauthorised protest. Officers scrambled to the scene.
Eyewitnesses claimed a group of Hindu men marched through Green Lane Road, where there are several Muslim-owned businesses. Residents said they heard the group chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, a holy Hindu chant that translates as “hail Lord Ram”. The phrase has in recent years been co-opted by Hindu extremists, and become associated with anti-Muslim violence in India. In Leicester, fights broke out, bottles were thrown, property was smashed and a religious flag was pulled off a Hindu temple. Over the weekend, multiple retaliatory marches and protests further escalated tensions.
Local residents told Aina they were very fearful: “One shopkeeper locked her door the next day and she only opened her shop door to let customers in. She told me that several of her friends who work along that street shut their business for the day because they were just scared of retaliation or further marches.”
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Disinformation
The Hindu and Muslim communities in Leicester have peacefully coexisted for decades, and there is no clear explanation for this unprecedented hostility. The city’s mayor, Peter Soulsby, has partially blamed social media disinformation about recent events for stoking further division – and drawing people from outside the local area. Speaking to BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, Soulsby described the content he’s seen as “very, very, very distorting” and “some of it just completely lying about what had been happening between different communities”. Unverified stories and videos have been circulating far and wide in WhatsApp groups, causing further friction.
This disinformation has been seen by people across the country, some of whom reportedly came to Leicester in response to what they had seen online. A report by Aina, Rajeev Syal and Geneva Abdul revealed that almost half of those arrested on Monday came from outside the county.
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Hindu nationalism?
Narendra Modi, the leader of India’s ruling party, the BJP, has been increasingly candid about his ethnonationalist aims for his country. His hardline stance has been accompanied by a significant rise in violence against Muslim and other non-Hindu groups in India. The Indian government has also shifted its policy towards the Indian diaspora, moving away from non-engagement, instead endorsing the idea of a “global Indian family”.
The rise of Hindu nationalism in mainstream politics has led to the growth of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a rightwing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. That has influenced the Indian diaspora, including the British-Indian community. “It’s the elephant in the room,” Aina says. “Concerns have been raised from the Muslim community about what they perceive to be this kind of RSS influence.” Seeing the hostile backlash to Aina’s own reporting on social media over the weekend was a stark reminder of the globalised nature of such threats.
Muslim residents of Leicester told Aina that while there had, of course, been scuffles in the city in the past, there have never been any major issues between the Hindu and Muslim community until now. “They attribute that to the migration of a recent wave of Indian Hindu migrants who, they claim, are bringing some RSS-inspired ideology with them,” Aina says.
The truth of that accusation is far from settled, with parts of the Hindu community in turn blaming Muslims for raising tensions. A video has been circulating online of a religious Hindu flag being set on fire, another video shows a flag being removed from a Hindu temple. But with religious leaders from both communities calling for calm in a joint press conference earlier this week, Leicester residents will be hoping there will be no further repeats of the ugly scenes from last weekend.
What else we’ve been reading
70s pop might not sound particularly edgy but, as Will Hodgkinson explains in his great piece, there was more to their cheery exterior: Jamaican singer Millie Small sent up Enoch Powell, while The Sweet raised Mary Whitehouse’s hackles. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters
This brilliant piece by Moya Lothian-McLean on her staunch republicanism, in a country awash in monarchic deference, really resonated with me. Nimo
You almost certainly didn’t have “Adnan Syed of Serial fame being released from prison” on your 2022 bingo card. Yet that’s exactly what’s happened, with the hit New York Times podcast charting his journey to freedom in a new bitesized episode. Hannah
When Yvon Chouinard announced that he was transferring 98% of Patagonia’s stock to a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to fighting the climate crisis, he was applauded by many for his altruism. However, Carl Rhodes argues that philanthropy is a flawed way to effect change. Nimo
Farewell to ready meals: green veg, potatoes and – surprisingly – aubergine and pasta are among the microwave-friendly foods recommended in this week’s Kitchen aide column. Hannah
Yesterday we directed you to Tim Jonze’s excellent interview with Steve-O from Jackass – but we had a dodgy link. Here it is again.
Sport
Cricket | An Alex Hales half-century in his comeback match, guided England to a Twenty20 victory over Pakistan in the first match of their tour in Karachi. Hales’s 53 helped England to a six-wicket victory.
Football | Arsenal face a tricky trip to Amsterdam next week, after a 2-2 draw at home to Ajax put their hopes of reaching the Women’s Champions League group stage in the balance.
F1 | Next year’s calendar for Formula 1 has been announced, and it has a record number of 24 races. The season will open in Bahrain and, despite signifiant pushback from human rights groups and some drivers, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is still set to go ahead.
The front pages
It’s back to normality after the Queen’s funeral, and that means that Liz Truss’s plans for the economy lead many of the papers. “Truss to cut stamp duty in push for prosperity”, says the Times, while the Mail is rather more emphatic: “Freedom begins with tax cuts”. The FT has “Truss signals profound shift in policy with defence of tax cuts” and the i says “Mortgage rate shock as Truss cuts UK taxes”. The Guardian has a very different angle and says “Biden rejects PM’s embrace of Reaganite tax policies”. It also reports that Vladimir Putin is planning to hold referendums in Russian-held parts of Ukraine and that’s the lead in the Telegraph: “Putin set to declare occupied land part of Russia”. The royal story still has legs elsewhere with the Express saying “Public backs king over slimmed down monarchy”, and the Mirror a similarly themed “Thoroughly modern monarchy”. The Sun says “Queue-jump Holly fights to keep job”
Today in Focus
The police killing of Chris Kaba
The killing of a 24-year-old black man by firearms officers in south London comes at a time of plummeting faith in the police and serious questions about accountability for the new Met chief, Damien Gayle tells Nosheen Iqbal.
Cartoon of the day | Martin Rowson
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
In the southern Netherlands, the Meuse River has galloway cows and konik horses grazing its banks, and otters and beavers inhabiting its waters. Wolves are thought to be watching the area as a spot to move in. But the river was not always so welcoming. The charity Rewilding Europe has been working since 2007 to undo 500 years of Dutch water engineering in what has become the largest river restoration project in Europe. “Rivers should be biodiversity hotspots but all over the world they are being damaged by human activity and slurry and pesticides runoff from farms,” writes Phoebe Weston in a sweeping look at how the €550m (£438) project – funded largely by organisations that plan to use sand and gravel from the riverbed and bringing about €1bn of revenue to the Meuse area – benefits both wildlife and people.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
