Sheffield Muslim leaders criticise police over Wath hotel attack and racist violence
There have been terse exchanges between police and Muslim community leaders at a meeting called in Sheffield to discuss the policing of recent far-right riots and the potential for future trouble.
The Pakistan Muslim Centre (PMC) on Woodbourn Road hosted the event last night (August 6), where representatives of all Sheffield mosques plus community associations met with South Yorkshire Police and members of Sheffield City Council.
Muslim community representatives told police that people, especially women, fear going out because of racist incidents that have taken place.
The meeting was co-chaired by Irfan Khan, chair of the PMC, and vice-chair Ashfaq Khayani.
Mr Khayani said: “For us, the situation seems to be escalating by the hour and day. In some sections of the town, the situation has become quite volatile. We’re here to discuss the best way forward.”
Mr Khan stressed: “We need to act collectively, we need an action plan. We need an action committee to update the police and council and other communities.
Marvellous
“There’s a youth situation with the riots. What’s happening, how can we stop things, so everybody is aware.”
He said that mosques were taking steps to ensure that prayers could be held on time with no disruptions.
Muhammad Ali of the Sheffield Federation of Mosques said that security is being increased at mosques. He added: “What we want is keeping Sheffield and the community safe and together.
“It doesn’t matter your colour or creed, we want to be here together. The police have done a marvellous job.
“You can go to protests, nobody’s stopping you, but don’t take the law into your own hands. We don’t want our children and youngsters locked up for four years.”
He added: “My heart goes out to the youngsters in Southport who lost their lives.”
Unprecedented
Police Supt Paul Ferguson said he had been in charge of the police operation on Sunday (August 4) when a hotel housing asylum seekers in Wath near Rotherham was attacked by anti-immigrant rioters who smashed their way in and attempted to set the building on fire.
He said: “We had very little information about what to expect and very little time to plan what might take place.
“The level of violence was unprecedented. I’ve been in the police 27 years, I’ve policed lots of football matches and situations.
“I’ve never experienced a situation like that. They were trying to kill those residents and set fire to that hotel.
“Our officers had to stay there to defend those residents. We said 44 officers were injured but more or less they were all injured.
“We got officers in from Durham to Leicester and by degrees were able to get control and able to push them away.”
Disrespectful
Supt Ferguson said that he had to send officers to Sheffield in the middle of the day because of a group of young men “literally running around the centre of Sheffield”, running into the Leopold Hotel, “looking for somebody to fight with”.
Jawed Sidiqi of anti-racism organisation The Monitoring Group protested: “I was there every minute of the day, that isn’t an accurate picture. That’s disrespectful to our boys.”
Supt Ferguson said that more disorder is expected but “we don’t know where, when, who”. He said that attacks have been anticipated against immigration solicitors tonight (August 7) in Sheffield and Rotherham.
They appeared on a list of 25 towns and cities publicised on social media.
He said there was also the potential for trouble in Sheffield city centre this lunchtime.
The first batches of people accused of riot-related offences appeared in court in Sheffield yesterday, he said, adding: “From the top, from the prime minister, they will get remanded, charged, strong sentences.”
Support
Sheffield police District Commander Jamie Henderson said all police leave has been cancelled and officers are working 12-hour shifts.
Deputy council leader Coun Fran Belbin said the authority is working closely with the police on tactical planning and prevention, making sure communication remains in place with communities.
She said that the youth service has put extra support in place for young people who say they don’t know how to respond and whether it is safe to go out.
She stressed that, although some places in the city centre would not be operating today, all council services would be up and running.
“I spent Sunday at the Mela (festival) in Firth Park,” Coun Belbin said. “That’s what Sheffield is all about – people coming together and sharing our diversity and unity.”
Coun Nighat Basharat said: “Having that unity and awareness amongst the organisations is reassuring to the community.”
She said that reporting racist incidents to the police shows the level of what’s happening on the ground, although language barriers can make that more difficult.
Trust
She said that women’s group Ashiana heard from a pregnant woman who is too frightened to attend a medical appointment: “The fear is directly out there. I’ve even had calls about ‘is it okay to go out’?”
Council LibDem group leader Coun Shaffaq Mohammed said: “The key message is that you need to put your trust in the police and have trust in the police.
“They’re the only ones that can help and protect communities. We’ve got to learn what we did right in 2011 when other cities were burning.”
He said there needs to be a “hard message” for young people that protesting can quickly descend into anti-social behaviour.
He urged: “Put your trust in the police and let the police deal with it. Nobody should be wearing face coverings.
“If they are wearing face coverings, especially in groups, I expect you to tackle them quickly and let them know.” He said the police should tackle anyone causing trouble “without fear or favour”.
Green councillor Maleiki Haybe disagreed, saying young boys fear for their sisters, the most visible Muslims, who are being attacked in the street.
Terrorism
He said far-right actions are domestic terrorism.
“What Shaffaq is saying is blaming these young guys. People feel they are not being protected by their community leaders. If they feel insecure with these community leaders, they will not feel secure,” he added.
Yemeni community leader Abdul Shaif said: “I think our young people in the black community have behaved impeccably. I don’t take no nonsense about that.
“I think they also see that the police have done a good job, put themselves in harm’s way. The planning has been absolutely awful – where are MI5?
“How come people are spreading racist hate and beating people in the street without you knowing? People could have been killed in that hotel and burned alive.”
Prevention
Maulana Shoaib Desai of Masjid Umar mosque said that prevention is better than cure and lots of work has taken place to counter Muslim terrorism and extremism: “What’s happening today is terrorism also. What sort of prevention measures are being taken?”
Imam and police chaplain Qari Ismail stressed: “We must not be backed off or scared by the EDL.
"There are reports of Scunthorpe town centre now being closed down completely because of rumours – that means the EDL have successfully done their job.”
He added: “The youth will definitely go, even if you tell them not to go. We need to tell them to be peaceful.
“It’s everybody’s democratic right to protest and we need to bring other communities with us. This must be ended and we must not let other communities to divide us.”
He saluted police bravery but said people also have a right to criticise the police.
Ex-councillor Mohammed Maroof said Sunday was “completely a failure of policing”.
He added: “Colleagues from Sheffield and Rotherham Stand Up to Racism will be going on the protests tomorrow.
“It is a real test for you tomorrow to win confidence with the community back.”