Bradford riots symbol of a larger malaise

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JULY 10. With minor clashes continuing to mar the fragile peace in Bradford, there were divergent views on what led to the riots in this city inhabited predominantly by Pakistanis.

While the Government was inclined to treat it largely as a law and order problem, a report commissioned by the local council blamed it on years of racial segregation which, it said, had fuelled divisions along communal lines.

The report by a former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Lord (Herman) Ouseley, leaked to the media two days before its official release, described Bradford as the ``ultimate challenge in race relations in Britain'' and highlighted the near-total breakdown of communication between different communities in the region.

Though written before the outbreak of violence last weekend, it echoed the concerns of the more sober community leaders who have consistently maintained that prejudices arising out of a ghetto mentality were behind mutual intolerance.

Lord Ouseley's findings, based on extensive interviews with a cross-section of local communities, were in contrast with the official emphasis on law and order as the police spent yet another night battling with stone-pelting youths, this time mostly white.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, called the rioting an act of ``thuggery'' with protesters ``destroying their own community'', presumed to be a reference to the extensive destruction of property by violent Pakistani youths in the first flush of rioting on Saturday.

``There may initially have been an element of provocation from the far-Right at some point during Saturday. But first evidence suggests that this is simple thuggery and local people bent on having a go at police and, in the process, of doing that destroying their own community'', his official spokesman was quoted as saying.

Commentators underlined Downing Street's perception which they thought was ``at odds'' with the Ouseley report's focus on the underlying social causes of tension.

They said while Saturday's eruption did indeed seem like ``thuggery'' it could not be dismissed entirely as an isolated incident and there was need to address the issues raised by the Ouseley inquiry.

The breakdown of family discipline among ethnic groups was said to be a factor behind the growing aggression in Asian youth.

``It seems to be fraying at the edges and be already gone among these young people'', said Mr. Marsha Singh, the Labour MP from Bradford West as even as he agreed that what happened on Saturday was ``senseless criminality''.

A Muslim parent, echoing the Ouseley report, said the policy of educational segregation which meant separate schools for white and non-white children had done incalculable damage.

``I tried to send my child to an integrated school but was turned down'', Mr. Mohammed Afzal told BBC's Newsnight. Children brought up in a segregated climate inevitably grew up knowing nothing about others and developed an insular mentality.

Mr. Sajawal Hussain, a local councillor, said the efforts started after the riots in 1995 to promote integration had not been pursued, resulting in a dangerous communication gap.

The Ouseley report, which prominently featured in the media today, voiced concern that communal relations in Bradford were ``deteriorating'' amid signs that communities were ``fragmenting along racial, cultural and faith lines''. ``Segregation in school is one indicator of this trend. Rather than seeing the emergence of a confident, multicultural district where people are respectful, people's attitudes appear to be hardening and intolerance is growing'', it said.

The report spoke of ``fear'' among the local people of talking ``honestly'' about their problems. Misinformation or simply lack of information bred cynicism and prejudice.

In a sharp indictment of local leadership it says: ``So-called community leaders are self-styled, in cahoots with the establishment, and maintain the status quo of control and segregation through fear, ignorance and threats.''

Meanwhile, a number of youths from both sides have been arrested and the police are out in full strength to prevent further trouble.

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