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In Leicester. The uK.
Community affairs correspondent
Image caption,
Restaurant manager Jay Patel says people have been cancelling their bookings
"People are not coming out. They're scared."
Jay Patel was running a busy dinner service at his vegetarian restaurant, Shiv Sagar, on Leicester's famous Golden Mile, on Saturday night. The dining room was packed with about 80 customers - couples, families, even a local councillor - when suddenly, huge crowds of young men marched past.
It's estimated there were hundreds of men out that night. Most were masked and dressed head-to-toe in black - and some appeared to be armed. It was terrifying, Mr Patel tells me.
"People were running on this side, on that side, banging on the door… we closed all the lights and all the curtains," he says. "It was very scary."
Since then, customers have been calling Shiv Sagar to cancel their reservations - and when we go in, the dining room is almost completely empty. This is unusual, Mr Patel says - they've been open for four years and the restaurant would normally be busy at this time.
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"People are cancelling their tables and saying, 'We don't want to come there because this is happening,'" he says. "People are usually coming in in groups of three and four - but now there are no people."
The weekend's unrest in Leicester was the culmination of several weeks of growing tension between parts of the Hindu and Muslim communities in the city. It reportedly began after a cricket match between India and Pakistan, at the end of August - and although India-Pakistan cricket matches are highly politically charged, one thing everyone I speak to in Leicester agrees on is none of this is about cricket. Whether the match inflamed existing tensions or served as an opportunity for outside instigators is now the subject of intense speculation.
A total of 47 people have been arrested, 20 at the weekend. Some have been sentenced for possession of weapons.
The fight has spilled online, too. Claims of attacks on people because of their religion have gone viral - though many are unverified and, in one case, confirmed by police not to have happened. On Wednesday, officers urged people not to share unverified claims on social media. Leicester Magistrates' Court heard one man sentenced for carrying a knife had been influenced by social media.
Footage shared by both Hindus and Muslims on social media, allegedly taken during the unrest in the past few weeks, shows groups from both sides - masked men banging on people's windows in Hindu-majority areas and pulling down religious decorations, and others marching down predominantly Muslim-populated streets, chanting: "Jai Shri Ram", a religious chant now commonly co-opted by far-right Hindu nationalist groups in India.
Leicester disorder: Fear lingers among city's Muslims and Hindus
By Ashitha NageshCommunity affairs correspondent
- Published
18 hours ago
- Published
Image caption,
Restaurant manager Jay Patel says people have been cancelling their bookings
"People are not coming out. They're scared."
Jay Patel was running a busy dinner service at his vegetarian restaurant, Shiv Sagar, on Leicester's famous Golden Mile, on Saturday night. The dining room was packed with about 80 customers - couples, families, even a local councillor - when suddenly, huge crowds of young men marched past.
It's estimated there were hundreds of men out that night. Most were masked and dressed head-to-toe in black - and some appeared to be armed. It was terrifying, Mr Patel tells me.
"People were running on this side, on that side, banging on the door… we closed all the lights and all the curtains," he says. "It was very scary."
Since then, customers have been calling Shiv Sagar to cancel their reservations - and when we go in, the dining room is almost completely empty. This is unusual, Mr Patel says - they've been open for four years and the restaurant would normally be busy at this time.
ADVERTISEMENT
"People are cancelling their tables and saying, 'We don't want to come there because this is happening,'" he says. "People are usually coming in in groups of three and four - but now there are no people."
The weekend's unrest in Leicester was the culmination of several weeks of growing tension between parts of the Hindu and Muslim communities in the city. It reportedly began after a cricket match between India and Pakistan, at the end of August - and although India-Pakistan cricket matches are highly politically charged, one thing everyone I speak to in Leicester agrees on is none of this is about cricket. Whether the match inflamed existing tensions or served as an opportunity for outside instigators is now the subject of intense speculation.
A total of 47 people have been arrested, 20 at the weekend. Some have been sentenced for possession of weapons.
The fight has spilled online, too. Claims of attacks on people because of their religion have gone viral - though many are unverified and, in one case, confirmed by police not to have happened. On Wednesday, officers urged people not to share unverified claims on social media. Leicester Magistrates' Court heard one man sentenced for carrying a knife had been influenced by social media.
Footage shared by both Hindus and Muslims on social media, allegedly taken during the unrest in the past few weeks, shows groups from both sides - masked men banging on people's windows in Hindu-majority areas and pulling down religious decorations, and others marching down predominantly Muslim-populated streets, chanting: "Jai Shri Ram", a religious chant now commonly co-opted by far-right Hindu nationalist groups in India.
