By James Simons-
Bradford is heading for disaster because the Council is allowing racial hatred and the perception of fear to “become a real problem”, according to the chairman of a scrutiny committee has warned.
Councillor Arshad Hussain, who chairs Bradford Council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee announced the sad state of affairs in a report circulated to some sections of the media. Hussain said there were”many areas in this city” where people were afraid to go, depending on their ethnicity.
Bradford is predominantly Asian but has had its fair share of racial tension and crime over the years. Some of it has been caused by some of the despicable acts of crime committed by some of the Asians there, as angry white individuals reacted violently to them. Many of those reactions have turned into an unjustified sweeping generalization of Asians and Muslims in the area as criminals.
The backlash has led to revenge and more attacks by various groups on targeted sections of the society.
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Cllr Hussain (Lab, Toller) dubbed the situation a “horrible state of affairs” as the committee discussed a new report on community cohesion and how the Council’s diversity and cohesion team was working to strengthen community relations.
A team has been put together to work with all religious groups and other organizations in its response to the Louise Casey report. The report on opportunity and integration has made a set of recommendations to the government.
However, Cllr Hussain said the work being done by the team was not enough and said too many people were “scared to speak up in case they caused offense”.
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He said: “Community relations in this city were a lot better 25 years ago. Are we really achieving what we are supposed to be achieving? I don’t think so. Last month on Bonfire Night in my ward, three pubs were stoned by Asian youths.”
The Red Lion and Round Thorn pubs, in Thornton Road, were among those targeted on November 5.
“These were the only white businesses in the area. No Asian businesses were attacked. They were targeted because they were white.” he added.
“I am really cheesed off with things like this. There are so many areas in this city where white people are scared to go into.
Likewise, there are other areas where Asian people are scared to go into. That is a horrible state of affairs and it should never have got to this stage.
Perhaps you should start to do things in a different way. You tend to use the same organizations time and time again. Perhaps you should start delivering on the doorstep and getting new groups on board because I think we are heading towards disaster”.
TENSION
The tension has escalated to the extent that Asian Muslims in Bradford are allegedly attacking whites in the area in retaliation for what they claim to be racial oppression and Islamaphobia. One Bradford councilor anonymously told The Eye Of Media.Com that ”since the conviction of the New Castle Asian gang jailed for sexually abusing white girls, racial and religious tensions have intensified in Bradford”.
The allegations of racial and religious tensions have led to an arrangement for The Eye Of Media.Com to schedule two evenings in the area in the next week to see what we observe. Our only hope is that with the new year, a new way of thinking can be communicated to these feuding groups to help them see things differently.
“There has been a huge increase in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Hate crime has risen threefold but the majority still is not reported. The biggest challenge for you is to acknowledge there is a problem, rather than being in denial and then work accordingly.”
Cllr Simon Cooke (Con, Bingley Rural) said: “At a recent event at the synagogue there were armed police posted outside. Is that an example of community cohesion that a Jewish event needed police protection? I think we are kidding ourselves
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