Condemn the communal violence in Leicester!  

The British State is responsible for fanning racial and communal violence!

Incidents of communal clashes occurred in Leicester, Britain, in early September, 2022. The Indian Workers Association, Great Britain, and Ghadar International issued a statement condemning the British state for fanning communal violence, and appealing to the people of the South Asian community to preserve and strengthen their unity. We are reproducing below, excerpts from the statement:

In September, the Leicester community faced a flare up of communal violence on its streets following a cricket match between India and Pakistan in Dubai. The mainstream media of Britain promptly portrayed it as a communal conflict between Hindus and Muslims.

The South Asian community along with the rest of the British working class is very familiar with the tactics of the British State and the Indian State in orchestrating communal violence to divide people and weaken their common struggles against the exploitative capitalist system.

The communal conflict in Leicester has to be seen in the light of the economic crisis facing British capitalism and the global economic crisis affecting all capitalist countries. Dividing working people using racism and orchestrating communal violence is an age-old policy used by imperialist powers and capitalist states, especially during severe economic crisis. Ultra-Right-wing organisations are propped up to serve these ends.

In Britain, in the seventies, the racist, fascist National Front was promoted by the British State to cause divisions amongst British workers fighting against attacks on their livelihood and Thatcherite anti-worker legislations, in order to weaken the people’s opposition to such laws. South Asians and other migrant communities became victims of racial abuse, racial violence and murders.  South Asians and all working people in Britain together forged their unity and defeated the National Front.

Earlier, British imperialism organised communal violence between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs resulting in the deaths of millions of innocent people in the South Asian subcontinent, and carried out the partition of the subcontinent. All this was carried out to protect British imperialist interests in Asia and the world after the Second World War, at a time when it had become very clear that Britain could no longer continue its hated rule over the Indian people.

During the 1980’s the Congress government of Indira Gandhi collaborated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to fan communal violence between Hindus and Sikhs and use that as a pretext to attack the Sikh community. It was used to crush the struggles of people of Punjab for their rights.

Genocide of Sikhs following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and that of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 were all engineered by the communal Indian State to drown peoples struggles in blood. Communalism and ruthless state terrorism have been used to preserve the rule of the bourgeoisie headed by the Tatas, Ambanis, Birlas, Adanis and other big monopoly capitalists.

The press release on September 19, by the Indian High Commission, condemns attacks on the Hindu community and temples. This is revealing the completely communal character of the Indian state. It is deliberately fueling communal tensions by portraying Hindus as victims. It makes no mention of provocations organised by communal organisations targeting Muslims. Such organisations have been actively fanning hatred against the Muslim community in Leicester and other cities in UK. The British State has been promoting Islamophobia against Muslims in Britain. The Indian State and the British State are complicit in fanning communal conflict amongst South Asians in Britain.

We cannot rely on the police or any other institutions of the British State for communal harmony amongst South Asians in UK. South Asians in Leicester and throughout Britain have a proud tradition of living together peacefully and defending each other against communal and racist forces. Progressive sections of the South Asian community have come out with statements condemning the communal violence and called for strengthening their unity against efforts to divide them. They have upheld the slogan “Injury to one is Injury to all”.

The capitalist system is facing unprecedented economic crisis and beginnings of a severe recession. Inflation is on the rise, energy prices multiplying, cost of living soaring. All this is leading to intensification of united struggles of working people of all backgrounds, refusing to allow the monopoly capitalist class to pass the burden of the crisis onto shoulders of working people.

We stand together in struggles against racism, unjust wars and for peace in South Asia. We oppose policies of privatisation of public services and robbery of public assets and uphold struggles against inflation and spiraling living costs. We refuse to pay for the crisis caused by capitalism. Through our common struggles, we want to pave the way for a new society, a society continuously uplifting the livelihood, quality of life and cultural standards of the majority.

Long Live the Unity of the South Asian community and all sections of British Workers!

Indian Workers Association                                                                  Ghadar International

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