Social Media Igniting the Communal Rift
For decades, Leicester owned the honour of being a model town in the UK for unity in multiculturalism. However, the recent communal unrest between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Leicester has become a challenge for the government.
According to a 1951 census report, the South Asian population living in Leicester was just 624. In the past 70 years, the city has witnessed an expansion in the number of British South Asians in Leicester. This is an outcome of steady migration from time to time.
The recent racial tension started with two cricket matches, India vs Pakistan in August, which were held in the UAE, and has continued till now in the form of small and large issues. Social media has been widely used to fuel the incidences that are happening related to that.
In a recent video, it shows a man climbing onto the roof of a temple and pulling down a religious flag and setting it on fire in a Hindu majority area. And in another video, it appears they are shouting Jai Sri Ram and Pakistan Murdabad slogans in Muslim majority areas. However, the credibility of these videos is still unknown, and it has ignited the tension between the communities through the misuse of social media.
Some police arrests based on racial tension have been reported. The police must take strict action and arrest all perpetrators of the issues, regardless of their community, to prevent it from happening elsewhere in the UK. The UK’s cyber authorities must be vigilant against any kind of misuse of social media for communal unrest. Communal harmony must be well maintained for global peace and prosperity.
Therefore, we should be wise and prudent enough to discern our course of action and reactions. May goodwill prevail and may harmony and brotherhood win.
