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Fresh race riots in Bradford

Shyam Bhatia
India Abroad Correspondent in London

Fresh race riots broke out on Saturday in the British city of Bradford following clashes between whites and others of South Asian origin.

On Saturday night at least two men were stabbed and five arrested amid tension resulting from a planned rally by the racist National Front.

The rally was banned by the local authorities, but after supporters of the National Front insisted they would go ahead, a counter demonstration was held in a local square attended by an estimated 500, mostly Asian, men.

Local witnesses have told radio and television that trouble was sparked off after a gang of white men emerged from a local pub and shouted racial insults. Fighting broke out after a group of young Asians challenged them.

As the violence escalated in the Manningham suburb of the city, where there have been race riots in the past, petrol bombs, bricks, stones and road signs were thrown at police.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire police confirmed to rediff.com that there had been five arrests by early Saturday night and that petrol bombs and burning barricades were in evidence on one of the city's main roads. The spokesman also confirmed that five National Front supporters had been intercepted at Bradford railway station earlier in the day and persuaded to turn back to where they came from.

Local Asian community leader Mohammed Riaz commented, "What is happening here is terrible. Businesses are being attacked, cars are being set on fire and I cannot believe these scenes are taking place in a city in England."

Another Asian community leader claimed outsiders had sparked off the trouble and very few local people were involved.

Naveed Butt, 31, told Britain's Press Association, "There are just a handful of people from Bradford involved. The local people are just standing on the streets shocked and bewildered that this has gone on. They are burning our businesses and our cars - it is just senseless."

Bradford is the latest northern town to fall victim to race riots this summer. Last month Oldham, Burnley, Leeds and Accrington suffered ugly incidents in which whites fought pitched battles with South Asians mainly of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.

Bradford is different because it has one of the largest South Asian concentrations anywhere in Britain. Some 80,000 - 100,000 British Pakistanis, Bangladeshi and Indians represent about 30 per cent of the total population. The city is also home to a violent drug culture, which has in the recent past resulted in a number of deaths from shooting.

West Yorkshire Chief Superintendent Phil Read appealed for calm and told a news briefing on Saturday, "I would urge troublemakers and those intent on causing disorder to stay away. They're not welcome either by the police, the council or the local community."

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