Cricket craziness
India win over Pakistan last month sparks violence in Leicester
A POLICE chief has called for calm after violent clashes broke out between groups of Hindu and Muslim men in Leicester over the weekend.
Videos show officers being pelted with bottles as they try to keep two gangs apart.
The east of the city has been rocked by violence in recent weeks, sparked by India’s T20 cricket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai last month.
Police have been called to dozens of incidents and have made more than 30 arrests for offences including making threats to kill, possession of a firearm and affray.
A police officer and a member of the public were assaulted when crowds gathered following the end of the match.
A video circulating online shows a man pulling down a flag outside a Hindu temple. A significant police presence will remain in Leicester in the coming days.
A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said two people were arrested after ‘serious disorder’ on Saturday night and yesterday morning. The force said large crowds formed when groups of young men gathered for an unplanned protest.
In a video filmed at 9pm on Saturday, temporary Chief Constable Rob Nixon urged people to go home, saying: ‘Please do not get involved, we are calling for calm.’
Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe added on Twitter: ‘ This is a time for cool heads. I implore everyone to go home. We can strengthen our dialogue to repair community relations. Your family will be worried for your safety, please accept the advice of the police who are trying to defuse this and are calling for calm.’
One man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and another on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. They remain in custody.
Videos posted online show gangs of men, dressed in black and with many wearing masks and hoods, marching through the city and chanting. Other footage shows cars and buildings being vandalised.
Police and religious leaders urged caution over social media posts, which appear to have fuelled some of the violence. Suleman Nagdi, of the Leicester-based Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: ‘What we have seen on the streets is very alarming.
‘There have been problems in the community since the India and Pakistan cricket match and while that game often sparks gatherings, they have not in the past turned this ugly. We need calm – the disorder has to stop and it has to stop now. There are some very dissatisfied young men who have been causing havoc.
‘We need to get the message out that this must end and try to do this through parents and grandparents talking to their sons.’
Sanjiv Patel, who represents Hindu and Jain temples across Leicester, said: ‘Across the Hindu and Jain community and with our Muslim brothers and sisters and leaders, we are consistently saying “calm minds, calm heads”.’
Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: ‘Things got very nasty indeed last night and I am very worried on behalf of the people who were caught up in it and I was impressed by the way police responded to it.’
He added: ‘It’s mostly young men in their late teens and early 20s and I have heard suggestions people have come in [to the city] from outside looking for an opportunity to have a set-to.’
‘Things got very nasty’