The widespread unrest – after the Asia Cup cricket match on August 28 – led to the jailing of one man and 47 arrests in total, with a religious leader saying it was sparked by a “dispute in the country” after the cricket. On Tuesday, city leaders urged “hate mongers” to stop “provocation and violence – both in thought and behavior” and urged out-of-town rioters to stay away. “Leicester has no place for any divisive foreign extremist ideology,” they said in a joint statement. “We, the Leicester family, stand before you not only as Hindus and Muslims, but as brothers and sisters. “Our two faiths have lived in harmony in this wonderful city for more than half a century. We came to this city together. We faced the same challenges together, fought racist haters together, and collectively made this city a beacon of diversity and community cohesion. “That is why we are saddened and saddened to see the explosion of tension and violence. “Physical attacks on innocent people and unwarranted damage to property are not part of a decent society and indeed are not part of our faith. What we have seen is not what we are about.” The statement added: “We ask everyone to respect the sanctity of places of worship, both mosques and mandirs – be it challenging with loud music, flag-waving, derogatory chants or physical attacks against the fabric of worship. This is not acceptable or supported from us you believe”. Suleman Nagdi, from the city’s Federation of Muslim Organisations, said “loyalty started” after the cricket match. Tensions escalated over the weekend after unplanned protests on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The problem had been fueled by some “very twisted stuff on social media” as well as people coming from outside to “knock some time” in Leicester, the city’s mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Monday. Police had previously warned people not to post “useless speculation online” about incidents. However, Majid Freeman, a Muslim activist from Leicester, says the situation has been worsening since May, when a young Muslim man was attacked. “They reported it to the police instead of taking matters into their own hands. It’s been over three months, three and a half months and the police haven’t charged anyone,” he says. Since then he says there have been other incidents, leading to frustration with the police. “Now everyone is angry saying if you took action in the first place why didn’t you take this case seriously?” He says reports that the violence started with a cricket match between India and Pakistan on August 28 are incorrect. Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe warned that police and community leaders must act urgently to stop the violence. “This has the potential to spread to other areas or to spread to other areas of Leicester and it has the potential to spread across the country,” he says. “We’re talking about a minority of people who were intent on causing division and if they think that if it’s not those people in particular we’re going to stop, they’re going to find other areas that cause a number of divisions. “And I think that’s going to happen. If it’s not caught early it’s going to spread.” Deputy Chief Constable Rob Nixon of Leicestershire Police said the investigation would last for “a few months” until those responsible were identified and brought to justice. He told Sky News: “I’m very encouraged by the level of support across the leadership in Leicester – the traditional community leaders, the partners to actually say it’s time to come together, have a very detailed dialogue about some of these tensions . how we got to where we are and how we resolve them and how we move the issues forward.” Leicestershire Police said Amos Noronha, 20, was jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in connection with the violence. He appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Monday, the force said, adding that several of those detained were from outside the city, including some people from Birmingham. Police officers were pulled from the Queen’s funeral to deal with unrest in the East Midlands, including the West Midlands, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Horses from Thames Valley Police have also been deployed to the city, the force added.
