Leicester City in England’s East Midlands region has witnessed a sharp increase in targeted attacks against the Hindu community. The orgy of violence by Islamists began soon after India clinched victory against Pakistan in the group stage match of the Asia Cup on August 28. After that, there were spates of violence against Hindus where Hindu houses were burnt, mobs beat up Hindu men, cars were destroyed and temples were vandalised.
The violence was made far worse by Islamists spreading misinformation on social media, targeting Hindus specifically. One of the Islamists, Majid Freeman, had spread dangerous lies like a mosque being vandalised and a Hindu man attempting to kidnap a Muslim girl, both of which were proven false by the Leicester police.
Another claim that was spread by Islamists during the spate of violence against Hindus in Leicester, was that a Muslim traffic warden was beaten up by Hindus. Hinduphobic South Asian Journal posted a video on the 12th of September where an Imam was seen talking to his nephew, who was allegedly a traffic warden. In the video, the nephew then claims that he was assaulted by Hindus.
In the video, one Imam Khalid Hussain from Leicester points to another Muslim man, Mohammed Shakeel Abdullah, claiming that he was his nephew and was assaulted by Hindus.
On the 13th of September, the Leicester police took note of the video and said that Mohammed Shakeel Abdullah was safe and well. They also said that the incident was under investigation.
By this time, the claim had travelled far and wide. Several Muslims had started circulating this news where the alleged traffic warden says that a group of Hindus travelling in a car attacked him after he told them to get in their car and leave. He claims that one Hindu reached into the car and pulled out a knife and questioned him if he was a Muslim. When he answered in the affirmative, the Hindus attacked him. This was narrated with a sheepish smile on Mohammad’s face and was shared by several Muslim individuals across social media platforms.