Leeds on the boil this time

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 6. Less than a week after the race riots in Oldham, violence erupted in Leeds on Tuesday night when Asian youths clashed with the police whom they accused of wrongfully arresting a Bangladeshi resident and ill-treating him at the police station.

An angry mob set fire to police vehicles and hurled bricks and bottles resulting in minor injuries to two police officers. Two local journalists were also injured in the violence which continued sporadically for nearly six hours. Calm was restored early on Wednesday but anti-police sentiment was reported to be still running high.

Residents emphasised that it was not a race incident, but a demonstration of their anger against the police. ``Tonight is a reaction to the lack of police action following the incident in which a man was sprayed in the face with gas after he was arrested,'' an eyewitness told reporters. The trouble, it was stated, began after word spread that a meeting between the police and the Bangladeshi community leaders to defuse the tension over the man's arrest had failed.

Asians were angry, first over what they alleged was his wrongful confinement, and secondly over the manner in which he was treated. ``They took this man, they arrested him, kicked him and sprayed CS gas at him in front of Asian people..It is not a racist attack, this is because of police inaction,'' one resident was quoted as saying. The identity of the man at the centre of the controversy was not known but people described him as a ``quiet'' person and ``not the kind of guy to get involved in this stuff''. It was not clear why he was arrested, and what exactly the protestors were demanding. Harehills Lane, where much of the violence took place, had witnessed rioting three years ago following reports that a local video rental shop was selling a blasphemous film.

On Tuesday night, the first hint of trouble came when Asian youths came out on the streets and started throwing bricks. Soon, violence escalated as several cars were set on fire and when the police arrived they were confronted by an irate mob. ``The riots continued with police vans making sorties up and down Harehills Lane. But as they did so, they once again came under attack from bottles, bricks and plastic crates,'' one newspaper report said. The situation eased when police reinforcements arrived and dispersed the protestors.

Leeds is a mixed area and vulnerable to tensions, and Tuesday's incident was seen as yet another indication of the deep gulf between the Asian community and the police. The riots in Oldham too were sparked by what Asians there called police ``highhandedness''. A new report, meanwhile, confims that non- whites are more likely to be stopped and search by the police than whites. The author of the report, Prof. Ellis Cashmore of Staffordshire University told BBC Radio 4 that this had more to do with ``police practices than bigotry or xenophobia''. He quoted one police officer being told by his superior to ``pull over more black kids with baseball caps and jewellery as they were likely to have wrong documents''.

AFP reports:

Police said today that the riot during which they were attacked with bricks and bottles by a crowd of mainly Asian youths in Leeds was premeditated.

The local police chief, Mr. Graham Moore, said he believed the trouble had been planned. ``The events were criminal activity, pure and simple.''

He said police were called after reports of a petrol bomb being thrown, but found no trace of any such incident.

``However, this appears to have been the start of a premeditated attack on police officers, who were drawn into the area,'' he told a news conference.

Two officers received light injuries after being hit by missiles, while several police vehicles were also damaged.

``At this stage we do not know the reason for the disorder,'' Mr. Moore added.

Four people were arrested and further arrests are pending.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Hague may keep his mantle after all
Next     : GOP loses control of Senate