Concerns raised of further religious unrest in Leicester
SUPPORTERS of a leading Hindu activist accused of being a “divisive” figure have prompted fears of renewed community tensions after planning to stage protests in Leicester.
Rashmi Mishra is accused of aggravating tensions between the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities.
One Labour MP withdrew his patronage from her Indian charity after it was accused of publishing offensive tweets about a fellow parliamentarian and members of the Sikh religion.
Now her supporters are planning to stage a protest in Leicester, where tensions between Hindus and Muslims led to violent clashes in September.
They are angry at what they claim is a bias against Hindus shown by Leicester City Council and Leicester University’s Centre for Hate Studies over who was to blame for the disturbances.
There are fears that any protest could again raise tensions in the city.
In a letter to the Home Secretary last Thursday Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, whose sister Jo Cox MP was murdered by a far-Right extremist, said: “Everything possible should be done to restore good community relations in Leicester and elsewhere. The intervention of politically motivated outsiders is deliberately designed to set back progress.”
Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing and Southall, withdrew his patronage of the Inspiring Indian Women (IIW) campaign group run by Ms Mishra after it published a series of offensive tweets, including one describing another Labour MP as a “rat”.
The contentious tweets were taken down and IIW issued an apology.
Ms Mishra told
“I strongly refute claims that I am divisive. I have nothing to do with anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim sentiments.
“As a women’s organisation we strongly condemn the violence that happened in Leicester and Smethwick.”
She added: “Sadly the Labour Party is making the UK the breeding ground for anti-India movements. We are for India and its welfare and greater harmony in the UK with better ties.
“One of our tweets was misquoted and misinterpreted. We immediately tendered an unconditional apology and the matter ended.”