Asian-origin man stabbed to death in Birmingham

LONDON, JULY 1. A man of Asian origin was fatally stabbed during a street fracas in Birmingham last night even as human rights groups led by the Amnesty International blamed British politicians for stoking racial hatred with inflammatory comments on asylum and immigration.

The unidentified victim, believed to be in his 30s, suffered a wound in the back during the clash between a group of Black and Asian men in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, police said.

The violence flared after an argument involving 12 Black and Asian men on Saturday afternoon, the Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr. Pat Wing, said today.

Politicians blamed

In a damning report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, 11 organisations, led by Liberty, a civil rights group, said ``politicians and media alike have been encouraging racist hostility in their public attitudes towards asylum-seekers''.

``Such negative presentation of asylum-seekers has not only led to direct attacks on asylum-seekers, but also an underlying greater hostility towards all those from ethnic minority communities, and heightened racial tensions,'' said the report, to be submitted to the United Nations tomorrow.

``In our view, the recent riots in Oldham and Bradford are to an extent directly linked to the above,'' it added. ``There is a marked increase in reports to our helpline of attacks when politicians make speeches on race where they blame asylum-seekers for problems,'' Mr. Jagdesh Patel of the monitoring group, which backs victims of racial attacks, said in support of the report.

Lord Tebbit, the former Tory chairman, said he did not believe the rhetoric had been excessive.

Tensions rose after some unidentified persons fire- bombed the home of an Asian family with two kids, who were asleep, in the Lancashire town of Accrington early on Saturday. Police said it was sheer luck that no one was killed. Lancashire Superintendent of Police, Mr. David Mallaby, said ``this is an appalling incident where an entire family could have been killed..''

Two Asian youths were spotted running away from the blazing car, police said. Police and community leaders have appealed for calm in the town where Muslim tombstones were reportedly vandalised a week ago.

- PTI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : 'Summit must announce freeze on n-programmes'
Next     : Indian MPs in China on a 'learning' trip