‘Saddened, heartbroken over violence’: Hindu, Muslim leaders issue joint statement over Leicester tensions

Tensions have remained heightened in Leicester city of United Kingdom over a communal brawl between Hindu and Muslim groups, which led to bouts of violence in the city. Now, Hindu and Muslim community leaders have presented a joint statement over the violence.

While talking about how Leicester is “no place for any foreign extremist ideology that causes division", one of the community leaders said in the video, “We, the family of Leicester, stand in front of you not only as Hindus and Muslims but as brothers and sisters.”

The leader further read from the statement, “Our two faiths have lived harmoniously in this wonderful city for over half a century. We arrived in this city together. We faced the same challenges together. We fought off racist haters together, and collectively made this city a beacon of diversity and community cohesion.”

The two leaders expressed how both the communities are “saddened and heartbroken” by the brawl that broke out in Leicester a few days back, which resulted in violence and tensions. They further said that these incidents are “not part of a decent society”.

“We are from one family. We settled here in this city together, we fought the racists together, we built it up together. The recent violence is not who we are as a city.”
Joint statement on Hindu / Muslim tensions in Leicester pic.twitter.com/PPZLkusMeX

— Darshna Soni (@darshnasoni) September 20, 2022

The leaders further urged the people of Leicester not to “give in to provocation with loud music, flag-bearing, derogatory chants or physical attacks against the fabric of worship". “We ask all to respect the sanctity of religious places, both mosques, and temples alike,” he further said.

Further, the Daily Mail reported that violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester were the result of outsiders coming to the city and inflaming existing tensions, community leaders have said, as per IANS reports.

Over the weekend, police made 47 arrests after clashes between large groups of mostly young men in the east part of the city, as tensions boiled over following a recent cricket match between India and Pakistan.

According to local media reports, the relationship between the two communities has been strained for several months due to misinformation being spread online, and due to outsiders travelling to the city from areas like Birmingham.

(With IANS inputs)

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