When thuggery raises its ugly head, battering imagined foes with rage and violence, the results are disastrous for any society.
The United Kingdom is the latest epicentre of such unrest, with riots breaking out across the nation from Plymouth in the south to Sunderland in the north, even spilling over to Belfast in Northern Ireland. So far, over 400 arrests have been made, with three swift convictions.
What is going on?
The trigger was the tragic assault and murderous attack on schoolchildren in Southport last week. Three children died in that incident at a summer camp themed on the popular global pop icon, Taylor Swift. The attacker, himself a minor, was rumoured to be a Muslim migrant.
This was blatantly false. The attacker has, in fact, been identified as a 17-year-old Briton, Axel Rudakubana, whose parents immigrated from the African country of Rwanda.
This information was initially withheld to protect his identity. But with weaponised disinformation disseminated across social media, soon mosques were targeted, immigrant shelters and facilities, including hotels, were pelted with stones, and Muslims themselves came under racist and violent attacks. The situation soon escalated to rioting and confrontations, with counter-agitationists confronting the largely white, right-wing mobs.
The growing unrest has been recorded for the whole world to see, bringing shame to the United Kingdom, once hailed as the Mother of Parliamentary Democracy, and also putting the newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led Labour government on the back foot.
Travel advisories
Several countries, including the UAE, Australia, and India, issued advisories warning their citizens against travelling to the UK or advising great caution if already there. The situation, however, seems to be slowly limping back to normality, with quick action and confidence-building measures by the government and law enforcement agencies.
The truth is that anyone who has visited the UK or spent some time there will not have failed to detect an undercurrent not only of hooliganism but also of racism. This is evident even among the football revellers in stadiums in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. They have been seen in uproarious and drunken brawls, bringing disrepute both to their country and to the sport.
But if you are a person of colour, the hostility and bigotry of lumpen Brits is all the more palpable. When I first went to England in the 1980s, the so-called skinheads and punks were to be seen everywhere on the streets of London. They hurled racist slurs at innocent passers-by with a casual insouciance. I, myself, as a much younger man, was called “Paki!”
On one occasion, just to push the boundaries a bit, I turned around and said, “No. Indian.” This startled the tattooed, leather-jacketed man with a shocking pink mohawk. But he quickly regained his supercilious snarl and hissed, “Same difference, mate. Bloody Asians!”
Also startled was my British friend, a fellow university postgraduate student, who quickly whisked me away. “The first rule is never engage. It can be dangerous!” he said, red-faced with embarrassment. I muttered, “Sorry,” and did not repeat such a spontaneous outburst again.
"Violence on a daily basis"
Later that evening, my host, from an established Indian family in Britain, said to me rather startlingly: “There are very few Englishmen left today.” When he saw from my expression that I didn’t understand, he added, “I mean English gentlemen. The whole country has changed. The poorer folk, on welfare, with little access to the good life, live in urban ghettos in subsidised housing and go to schools where they see gangs and violence on a daily basis.”
“Plus,” he added, “there is the problem of uncontrolled immigration.” Weren’t he and his extended family beneficiaries, I ventured to ask. “Yes,” he readily admitted. “We were in West Africa, doing very well. We were kicked out overnight with very little. Literally the shirts on our backs. I am grateful that Britain took us in.”
“But we worked so hard at the corner store just below this flat. We were the first to open and the last to close. Every member of my household worked, whether at cleaning, stocking, sales, or accounts. Now, thankfully, we are doing well. We own several stores. This country has been good for us. But what about the thousands of others pouring into this country from all over the world, many of them illegally? Aren’t they a drain on our resources? And they are not even law-abiding. They do not wish to assimilate.”
Waves of new entrants
This conversation took place some forty years back. After the Gulf War, political destabilisation, climate change, and other factors, more refugees have poured in from all parts of the world to the UK. They are now in a majority in some parts of the country. The tensions between the locals, who see their livelihoods and ways of life threatened, and the waves of new entrants, are bound to flare up.
But one thing is certain. Violence and rioting are not the answer. Lawlessness and anarchy cannot be tolerated in any civilised state. As hate-mongering mobs swarm through the streets, we must also recognise how dangerous lies, disinformation, and motivated conspiracy theories can be.
British multiculturalism, moderately successful earlier at managing diversity and ensuring inclusiveness, is now broken. The state’s resources are also stretched to their limits. Britain is on the brink and, sadly, no easy solution to the present crisis or quick fix is going to solve the problem.
