LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE UPDATE, 25 MAY 2013

Dear George

As a trusted partner we feel it is important to keep you updated this morning with regards to any local incidents which may be related to events in Woolwich.

It’s reassuring to report that, three days after the tragic events in London, the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland remain calm and there has been no significant incident or activity since our last update. 

Local officers will continue their work in their neighbourhoods across the bank holiday weekend, linking in with faith groups and partners, listening to concerns of our communities and to give reassurance.   

There is still no intelligence to suggest there will be a negative reaction locally to events in London but we will continue to monitor this and will update you of any developments. Similarly, if anyone in your community has any information and concerns they can help us in our efforts by calling 101. 

It was great to welcome the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, to Leicester yesterday and hear him and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, calling for unity. It seems that the people of Leicester support that message too. 

Once again, thank you for your help and assistance over the past few days. The people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are very proud of the excellent community relations and the respect we have for different cultures, communities and religious beliefs and the vast majority clearly want this to continue.

Rob Nixon

Chief Superintendent

Leicester City BCU Commander

ARCHBISHOP & IMAM ISSUE APPEAL FOR UNITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Archbishop and Imam issue appeal for unity

by Dan Martin

The Archbishop of Canterbury today stressed the need for unity among Leicester’s religious communities in the aftermath of the brutal killing of a soldier in a suspected terrorist attack.

The Most Rev Justin Welby, the Church of England’s most senior clergyman, said the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich by two apparent Muslim extremists had “no place in Islam.”

The archbishop spoke about the young soldier’s murder outside the Masjid Umar mosque, in Evington, after rearranging his schedule in a visit to Leicester, planned before Wednesday’s horrific events.He met officials from the mosque, along with the bishops of Woolwich, Bradford and Pontefract as well as Bishop of Leicester Tim Stevens.

he archbishop stood side-by-side with assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain Ibrahim Mogra to address reporters follwing events in the capital.

The archbishop said: “We have all been horrified by the brutal murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich and all of our prayers are with his family, colleagues and comrades, all those who witnessed this crime and members of the community who have been affected by it.

“I want to recognise the response of churches, mosques and other faith and civil society groups, as well as those brave individuals who have done so much to bring our communities together at this time.”

The archbishop, who later signed a book of condolence opened for the murdered 25-year-old at Leicester Cathedral, added: “The strong response from the Muslim Council of Britain and many other organisations have rightly emphasised that these acts have no place in Islam.”

He added: “I think Leicester is a shining example of how communities work together. I am confident because of the very good work Ibrahim (Mogra) has been doing, and we are all doing, that we are in a good position.”

Mr Mogra said: “Muslim communities in Britain are shocked and appalled by the horrific murder in Woolwich.

“The murderers chanted slogans during their heinous crime claiming to do it in God’s name.

“Far from it.

“This is a betrayal of Islam.

“This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn it utterly and unreservedly.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Lee Rigby’s family and friends and especially his two-year-old son.

“Drummer Rigby was a serving member of the armed forces.

“Muslims have long served in this country’s armed forces proudly and with honour.

“This attack on a member of the armed forces is dishonourable and no cause can justify this murder.

“This crime has heightened tensions across the country. The MCB calls on all our communities, Muslim and non-Muslim to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail.

“I am immensely grateful for the leadership of our archbishop during this most difficult time and thank leaders of all our faith communities for your support.

“Your local Muslim communities will welcome your support and I encourage you to knock at the doors of every mosque and offer you neighbourly love.

He added: “There is concern about safety in large sections of Muslim communities who live in mixed areas.

“We hope that the police will ensure law and order is maintained.

“We say to the Muslim community: “Let us continue with our lives as normal.

“If we begin to cower and hide ourselves away then we allow the terrorists win. Life must go on.”

Bishop Tim said: “I hope what is clear is that this terrible incident, from driving a wedge between us will bring us closer together.”

Hundreds of worshippers gathered at the mosque for Friday payers and heard Imam Muhammad Sindhi condemn Wednesday’s tragedy.

He said: “Don’t be extremists. In Islam there is no space for terror or terrorism.

“Islam doesn’t teach, in broad daylight, to go out into the streets of London wielding a butcher’s cleaver and hack someone to death.

“This Stone Age savagery is not the message of Islam.”

LEICESTER'S MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMN WOOLWICH SOLDIER KILLING

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Sheikh Ibrahim Moghra

Leicester's Muslim Leaders condemn Woolwich soldier killing

by Dan Martin

Muslim leaders in Leicester have condemned the murder of a soldier in London yesterday in a suspected terrorist attack.

The serviceman was killed in the street near army barracks in Woolwich yesterday afternoon.

Shocked passers-by then took video footage of the two suspected culprits - one of whom said the victim had been attacked because British troops had killed Muslims everyday.

Witnesses reported the soldier was hacked to death after being run over. The suspected attackers were then shot and injured by police before being taken to hospital.

Today religious leaders in Leicester stressed the incident was in no way representative of Muslims here.

Ibrahim Mogra, imam at three city mosques and the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said: “We are shocked at this killing as is every decent human being. It was an appalling killing on our streets in broad daylight.

“One of the culprits claims to have done it in the name of God and Islam. Absolutely not. How dare he use the name of God to try to justify this terrible act. There is nothing in Islam that justifies vigilantism.”

Mr Mogra urged people to remain calm in the aftermath of the killing.He said: “We must allow the authorities to carry out their investigation.

“We should be vigilant against those who would use this awful act to try to divide the community. We cannot allow hate-filled people from any side to drive a wedge between us.

“It must be clear that the vast majority of Muslims stand side by side with all other communities in condemning this brutal killing.”

THe Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) has also condemned the killing in “the strongest terms possible.”

Leicester-based FMO spokesman Suleman Nagdi said "This is a most truly appalling crime.

“Reports about the graphic nature of the incident with the use of a machete to commit murder in full public view, makes this case even more reprehensible. As the situation unfolds, our thoughts are with the family of the victim.

Mr Nagdi added: “The FMO condemns violence for whichever cause in all its hideous guises and it is our sincere hope that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime are brought to justice.

“Muslims historically through the first and second World Wars have contributed greatly to the defence of our country.

“I appeal for all communities to remain calm in the face of this attack and not to allow this evil crime to divide communities in our country.”

The Bishop of Leicester, Rt Rev Tim Stevens, has also called on communities to remain calm following the murder.

He said: “I am deeply distressed by reports of this barbaric attack which took place in front of passers-by in a street in South London.

“It has been confirmed that the victim was a serving soldier and the Prime Minister has said that there were "strong indications that it is a terrorist attack".

“The police now need to be allowed to do their job and ascertain the facts behind what took place.

“Individuals who commit such crimes in the name of religion or politics stand at odds with the compassionate shared values which we stand for as a society.

“Such acts aim to divide our communities and I call upon everyone to remain calm and united.

“At this deeply tragic time, my prayers and thoughts are for the victim and those who knew him, but also those many ordinary people traumatised by this shocking and wholly unjustified event.”

SENIOR LEICESTER MUSLIM LEADER CALLS ON HIS COMMUNITY TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST SEX GROOMING GANGS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Senior Leicester Muslim leader calls on his community to speak out against sex grooming gangs

by Ciaran Fagan

A senior Muslim community leader has said people need to speak out against child sex grooming gangs in his community and all others.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, a Leicester imam and a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, (MCB), said grooming gangs existed in all communities.

However, cases recently uncovered in Derby and Rochdale, have involved Asian Muslims, he said.

He said he was concerned that people were reluctant to speak out against the problem.

Mr Mogra, the MCB’s assistant secretary general, said: “This is an appalling and abhorrent kind of behaviour which is totally unacceptable regardless of race or religion.

“Some of those perpetrators who have recently been convicted happen to be from the Muslim community so we need to be at the very front of the voice that is condemning this.

“It is important that leaders of religious communities speak out against this deplorable and abhorrent behaviour by adults toward vulnerable children.

“We should always be prepared to speak out against this form of criminality and remind our community of its obligation to protect children and young people from this form of exploitation.

“We will keep speaking out until we have eradicated this menace from society.”

The MCB is working with organisations including the police, the NSPCC and Muslim groups to raise awareness of the problem and to highlight people’s need to speak out against it.

The Muslim Council of Britain is planning a national conference to educate people about grooming, he said.

Mr Mogra spoke out against the practice when he appeared on BBC Radio Four’s Sunday programme this weekend.

The programme also spoke to Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, who is chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, which is also investigating the scale of the crime.

Mr Vaz told the programme: “There is no excuse for this kind of criminality, whoever is involved in it, but I don’t think it is a particular group of people, I don’t think it’s a particular race or religion.”

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) said child sexual exploitation spanned “all cultures and ethnicities”, while the recent cases had “highlight that Asian males have been involved in an organised manner in exploiting young women”.

A CEOP spokeswoman said: “Some of these cases involved offenders from different backgrounds as well, although CEOP are investigating why there may be a majority of Asians in these particular kinds of offence.”

Mr Mogra's radio appearance can be heard here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rqgys/Sunday_07_04_2013/

SOULSBY AND CO CAN'T FACE REALITY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Soulsby and co can't face reality

I initially wrote a letter responding to the article about Clarissa Dickson Wright, but considered it would not be published, although it voiced a real concern and the view of many whose voices are being muted. I decided not to post it.

It was, therefore, refreshing to see the Mercury would print such views and having read the letter by T Green, I wish to support the views expressed.

Ms Dickson Wright touched on the reality of what is happening to Leicester. Ibrahim Mogra, Manjula Sood and Sir Peter Soulsby all have their heads in the sand and cannot accept the truth when it is put in front of them.

Like the magic suit of clothes, it takes someone whose views have not been clouded by the progressive indoctrination of multi-culturalism to see the reality of the enclaves of this city.

I do not judge the situation from a one-off visit to the city, as Ibrahim Mogra would have us believe, but from a lifetime of seeing a city I once knew becoming a complex of enclaves.

John Croft, Leicester

FURY AT TV CHEF CLARISSA DICKSON WRIGHT'S COMMENTS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN LEICESTER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Fury at TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright's comments about Muslims in Leicester

A celebrity chef has come under fire after making "hurtful" comments about the city's Muslim community.

In her new book, Clarissa Dickson Wright describes a visit to Leicester "as one of the most frightening experiences of my life".

The 65-year-old dedicates a chapter of Clarissa's England: A Gamely Gallop Through the English Counties to each county in England, discussing their culinary, cultural and historical merits. On Leicestershire, she writes of the city's "ghetto".

She describes coming off the ring road to escape a traffic jam and becoming lost.

"I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them," she wrote.

She said the men would not talk to her "because I was an English female and they don't talk to females they don't know".

She said: "Here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah.

"If multiculturalism works, which I have always been rather dubious of, surely it must be multicultural and not monocultural.

"I can only hope that in generations to come there will be a merging of the cultures and not the exclusion zone that is the ghetto."

Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and a city imam, said: "How is she judging an entire community on her one-off rare time of getting lost in Leicester?

"I find it very hurtful to read because everybody is working so hard to create a peaceful and happy Leicester.

"It showed a complete lack of appreciation of the fact we are almost two million in this country, doing our bit for our country.

"When she says that she was in the centre of a city in the centre of her own country, I take objection. This is also my country and this is also my city.

"I would like to call on Leicester people to be even more welcoming and hospitable than we've been so far."

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "That is the sort of thing that makes me very angry – when someone breezes in from outside and paints a picture of Leicester that does not have any foundation in reality."It may help sell books but it is cheap."

Councillor Manjula Sood, chairman of Leicester Council of Faiths, urged readers to ignore her comments.

"I don't believe a meeting with one person on one street should mean you can label a whole city," she said.

Both Coun Sood and Mr Mogra invited Ms Dickson Wright back to the city for an opportunity to change her opinions.

When contacted by the Mercury, the chef, who lives in Edinburgh, said: "I'm surprised any of the people who might object could read what I wrote as it is written in English.

"When you get to 65, you will think back on this conversation and I think you might find yourself in my frame of mind."

She said she had a lot of Muslim friends but her experience of Leicester was "unpleasant".

"It scared me and I am not scared easy," she said.

Asked why, she said: "Because it was part of my country that I was born in and there are a lot of radical Muslim preachers in this country.

"I was in London when the July 7 (2005 bomb attacks) happened and this to me was proof for those people who have been saying we're getting ghettoisation of Muslim areas.

"I have never believed that political correctness was a reason not to say what I have experienced."

She said she had "done a lot" for Leicestershire, campaigning for the protected geographical status of Melton pork pies and Stilton.

In her book, Ms Dickson Wright praised Melton's food festival, saying "it was just everything that a good food festival should be".

She also wrote about "charming" Market Harborough, and "pleasant" Oakham.

She is signing copies of her book at Northfield Farm Christmas Fair, in Cold Overton, on Saturday.

---

ON THE COUNTY

In her book, Ms Dickson Wright wrote:

Melton: I first came across it at the original Melton Mowbray Food Festival, which, in the first two years, was held in the cattle market in Melton Mowbray and was to my mind without doubt the best food festival in the country.

(It had) produce from the Asian communities, in particular in Leicester, and the West Indian community, and it was just everything that a good food festival should be.

Market Harborough: A charming old town.

Rutland: Rutland is a triumph and a lesson to us all.

Oakham: A pleasant town with all the right sort of shops and bookshops and I am always happy to visit it.

ON LEICESTER

I had one of the most frightening experiences of my life there.

Leicester has a very high Asian Muslim population and I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them.

None of the men would talk to me when I tried to find out where I was and how to get out of there because I was an English female and they don’t talk to females they don’t know, while if the women could speak English they weren’t about to show it by having a word with me.

(She bought a map at a newsagents.) Somebody, very reluctantly, pointed to where I was and then I had to work out the rest myself.

I have many good acquaintances and even some friends among the Muslim community, yet here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah.

If multiculturalism works, which I have always been rather dubious of, surely it must be multicultural and not monocultural.

However, everything has an upside and one of the results of this is that Leicester has a very good selection of Asian restaurants.

I can only hope that in generations to come there will be a merging of the cultures and not the exclusion zone that is the ghetto.

FEDERATION OF MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS RADIO SHOW ON EAVA FM

This morning I'm presenting the Interfaith Hour on Ramadan Radio, going out live on 102.5 FM and online at www.eava.com between 1000 and 1100. This is part of the schedule of programmes run by the Federation of Muslim Organisations during the Muslim month of fasting.

The hours in which FMO broadcast during Ramadan are donated by EAVA FM  Multilingual Radio. EAVA FM broadcasts in a variety of community languages including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Ndebele, Punjabi, Shona, Somali and Urdu. English content is definitely a minority interest for the station and its listeners. I've been on EAVA FM once before, in April 2009, when I was a guest on the Andy Cooke Show (which I blogged here). The station is located in the Leicester Business Centre on Ross Walk, which runs parallel to Melton Road. The front of the Leicester Business Centre has been demolished and rebuilt since then, so I spend several minutes going back and forth on Ross Walk, looking for something that isn't there any more. By the time I give up and phone the studio for directions, it turns out I'm so close, someone in the Leicester Business Centre could have leant out of a window and waved me in! Some of the Radio Ramadan programmes are broadcast from the offices of the FMO in Highfields. I was originally told to ge ther, but the equipment at their offices isn't quite good enough to do programmes with a lot of speech content, so the venue was switched to permit a better quality broadcast.

I'm in the studio half an hour before the start of the show, which gives me time to chat with Dee, (Manager at EAVA FM), Ashokhbhai (who is presenting a Hindi programme which finishes just before 1000) and Ismael Bin-Sulaiman (AKA Izzy), producer of the Interfaith Hour. Dee dangles before me the possibility of the Council of Faiths having a weekly hour-long show on the station (dependent on us obtaining sponsorship for it). That's something worth following up. During this conversation, I learn that typical listening figures for the FMO's Ramadan broadcasts are around the 300,000 mark. Most of those listeners access the show online, through the FMO website. The largest concentration of listeners is in  Chicago. Who'd have guessed?

Luman Ali at the the FMO invited me to do this programme a couple of weeks ago. I've been given carte blanche to fill the hour with my choice of content (within reason), so I've put together a programme about how the other seven communities represented on Leicester Council of Faiths approach fasting. I've recorded five short interviews with a Buddhist, a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew and a Sikh, each one of them responding to my questions about how they think about and practise fasting. Following a belt-and-braces approach, I've brought those recordings to the studio in a variety of formats: one CD with the interviews saved as MP3 files; another CD with the interviews saved as data files; a memory stick with MP3 files; my laptop with MP3 and data files; even the handheld digital recorder that I used for the original interviews. I'm not taking any chances! Thankfully, the first of these formats works without any problems.

Each of the interviewees has something interesting and distinctive to say about their religious beliefs and practices on this topic, as well as their personal experience. I invited a Jain friend to contribute too but we couldn't arrange a recording session in the time we had available. Not for the first time, I present the Jain perspective (reading a brief extract from a published source), as well as speaking briefly on my own behalf as a Bahá'í. The recorded interviews are linked by a brief chat between me and Izzy, whom I prompt for a Muslim's response to some of the points raised in the recordings. I think it goes alright, though it's a little rushed toward the end. I fit in everything that I'd wanted to get in, which is good. And thanks to Suleman Nagdi, who sent an SMS to the station, wishing me luck, from a train en route to Manchester.

As I'm leaving the studio, two chaps are setting up for the next programme, which I'm told is a "requests show". What that means in this case is that listeners send in their requests (by email or SMS) for one of the presenters to chant verses from the Qur’án, Hadith or another Islamic source, to heighten the devotional experience during Ramadan. This is one of those moments where I'm grateful for the work I do, and how permits me insights into ways of living that would otherwise not be visible to me.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: BBC RADIO LEICESTER

I'm appearing on John Florance's show this morning on BBC Radio Leicester. He’s interviewing me on the subject of Inter Faith Week, which begins today. I've been asked to come on just after the 8 o'clock news. I walk to the studio from home in Stoneygate. It's much too early for the first bus and I seem to have spent a small fortune on taxis recently.

It's a pleasant misty autumn morning and I arrive at the studio a few minutes before the hour. I enjoy the walk (even if the city centre doesn't look its best this time of a Sunday morning, before the debris from the night before has been cleaned away). Tomorrow, however, I'll be getting a cab here. I don't cover this route as quickly as I think I do and I have to be here a full 90 minutes earlier to read my Thought for the Day at 0630 on Ben Jackson’s Breakfast Show.

I'm brought into the building, then into the anteroom to the studio by John's producer, Becca Bryers. Three years ago, I was in the same spot with Shaikh Ibrahim Moghrah and Noel Singh, speaking with John on air about the first Inter Faith Week to be held in England and Wales. Back then, in November 2009, we didn't really know what to expect - or whether Inter Faith Week was going to be more than a one-shot deal.

John interviews me for a quarter of an hour or so, in which I get to explain the purpose of Inter Faith Week, promote some of our activities for it and announce the launch of Leicester Council of Faiths' 25th anniversary, which we're tagging on to this week. We were hoping to have someone from Phoenix Square here today, to talk about the Faiths Film Festival that’s running there this week, but I couldn't persuade any member of staff to come out at this time of the morning. But I hold my own on this too.

John raises that hoary old chestnut about whether we're doing no more than preaching to the converted during this week. I'll credit him with playing Devil's Advocate on this one. I make what I’d like to think is a spirited response and point out that all the activities sponsored by Leicester Council of Faiths during Inter Faith Week are outward-facing, aimed at the general public and that they’re taking place in venues not normally associated with religion or belief. The accusation that we might be "preaching to the converted" certainly doesn't apply to what we're doing this year (or, hopefully, in either of the past two years, for that matter).

Before I leave, I fix a time during the week when Becca can come to Highcross and gather some information about the Multi-Faith Prayer Room there, for next Sunday's show. I’ll have to clear that with Highcross management first, of course.

Then it's off to Bishop Street, to round up everything we need to set up the exhibition in Highcross - and to await Rosemarie Fitton and her little van.

PS: Later this evening, the interview was broadcast again.

ANTI-SEMITISM INCIDENTS IN UK REMAIN HIGH

Nicky Campbell's phone-in on BBC radio 5 Live this morning is on the topic of Anti-Semitism in Britain today. A Jewish charity which monitors acts of Anti-Semitism in the UK says it recorded 639 incidents of violence, threats and abuse last year. The figure, from the Community Security Trust, is the second highest since it began its work in 1984.

One caller is from Leicester; he identifies himself as "Abdul". He speaks up for Leicester as a place where a lot of work is being done to combat Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia by the faith communities getting together and working together. In fact (in the part of the show I hear) Leicester sounds like the only place with anything positive going on to tackle religious prejudice. Nicky Campbell gives a name check to Sheikh Ibrahim Moghra as a prominent figure in inter faith work, not only in Leicester but also further afield.

Read an article about the Anti-Semitism figures on the BBC News website.

PREJUDICE STEMS FROM THE WAY WE DISCUSS FAITH

The Bishop of Leicester's First Person column appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Prejudice stems from the way we discuss faith

The Bishop of Leicester says society's superficial treatment of religion can be very dangerous

Just before the election Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was asked by the Radio 4 presenter Eddie Mair: "In a television debate you volunteered you are not a man of faith. Why don't you believe?"

Nick Clegg's answer began with a few seconds of stunned silence followed by "Em – gosh – that's one of the most difficult questions I think I can imagine… I… why do, why do I not know… whether God exists or not... it's not something, it's not something…"

Many people find it extremely difficult to speak confidently about their faith and why they do or do not believe in God. This week, Baroness Warsi, a member of the House of Lords and co-chair of the Conservative Party, gave a high-profile speech at the University of Leicester which hit the national headlines.

At the heart of her speech was criticism directed at aspects of society, including the media, about the lack of ability when it comes to discussing faith issues.

In her speech Baroness Warsi said that prejudice against Muslims is growing and she blamed "the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters, including the media".

Perhaps this concern with the superficial way in which faith is often discussed explains why Baroness Warsi has agreed to be one of the panel of judges of a new writing prize for young people launched this week by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The prize is called "Faith in the World" and its purpose is to help younger people develop their ability to speak about faith. It also aims to help young people use this new-found ability to contribute their faith perspective to public debate on issues such as money or the environment.

This year the "Faith in the World" competition is inviting young people aged between 13 and 21 to submit essays about how faith relates to some of the big national topics and competition titles include "Does God care about global warming?" and "The Bible says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Can money make you happy?"

Ibrahim Mogra, a leading Leicester imam and chairman of the mosques and community affairs committee at the Muslim Council of Britain, supported the comments made by Baroness Warsi.

He too is concerned about the anti-Muslim messages in the media and regrets the fact that Muslims' positive contributions to British society attract less coverage.

Building communities of people who get on well together and feel that they belong is central to the well being of our society. Society, including the media, has a vital part to play in this by avoiding discussion which risks dismantling the very fundamentals of a civilised world.

POLICE FEAR PROTESTORS PLAN TO ATTACK LEICESTER MOSQUE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Police fear protestors plan to attack Leicester mosque

Police fear protesters plan to attack a city mosque before marching into the heart of Leicester's Muslim community.

Concerns were voiced by Chief Constable Simon Cole in a report to Leicester City Council about the planned march by the English Defence League on October 9.

The Chief Constable said that an intelligence and threat assessment indicated a "major threat" to public order.

His report said: "Intelligence dated September 8, 2010, indicated that the EDL intend to come to Leicester and attack a mosque before marching into the Highfields area, which represents the highest resident population of the Muslim community.

"This reflects previous intentions of EDL processions, such as that within Leicester, where actions were targeted to cause disruption to the Muslim community by provoking serious public disorder."

Leicester City Cabinet yesterday agreed to apply to the Home Office to ban the planned procession under the Public Order Act 1986.

However, the EDL, in a statement, rejected the police claims.

EDL event organiser Guramit Singh said: "We are coming to Leicester to peacefully demonstrate and we denounce attacks on any mosques.

We are here to fight militant Islam, not moderate Islam. The intelligence provided by the police is incorrect."

The EDL submitted an application to march through the city to police this week. United Against Fascism has applied to hold a counter-demonstration on the same day.

Up to 5,000 people could take part in the rival protests.

If the Home Office agrees to ban the EDL march, the group could still hold a static protest, which the authorities would be powerless to prevent taking place.

Muslim groups said they were concerned by the police intelligence reports.

Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "An attack on a place of worship is an attack on us all, the relationship and resilience among Leicester's faith communities is very strong and we are confident that this will not break our unity."

Ibrahim Mogra, associate Imam at Evington Muslim Centre, said: "The news of a planned attack is very worrying. There have been a number of mosques up and down the country that have suffered attacks at the hands of far-right groups. Everything possible needs to be done to prevent that."

Speaking after the meeting, city council leader Veejay Patel said the council was determined to secure a ban on the march.

He said: "The evidence we are now able to put to the Home Secretary shows overwhelmingly that this march will bring massive disruption – and possibly violence – to Leicester, and therefore it should not be allowed to take place."

The city's three MPs, who were present at yesterday's meeting, said in a joint statement: "The EDL cannot and will not affect Leicester's long and proud history of community cohesion which the city council, voluntary, community and faith groups, local public services and businesses have all worked hard to build and maintain."

After the meeting, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz said: "I have directly contacted the Home Secretary Theresa May to emphasise the strength of feeling here in our city. All three Leicester MPs will be lobbying her directly on this issue."

Leicester West MP Liz Kendall said: "It is a massive decision to attempt to ban a group's right to protest, but it's the only option available."

In a report on the proposed English Defence League march in Thursday's Leicester Mercury, we reported that campaign group Hope Not Hate was planning a counter demonstration.

We have been asked to point out that Hope Not Hate is, in fact, hoping to hold a peace vigil the night before the proposed EDL protest and is not planning a counter demonstration.

It is also involved in plans for a celebration of the city, which is scheduled to take place a day after the EDL event on Saturday, October 9. We are happy to clarify the situation.