UK Riots
In the 2020s, it is seen that various amounts of bad omens have been seen in the world, which started with the pandemic known as coronavirus. Even though the crisis of this pandemic was seemingly over as of 2024, there was still a large amount of socio-political unrest seen in various countries, which was not expected. For instance, the economic crisis has been seen in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Taliban regime is toppling the republic government of Afghanistan.
Wars like Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Palestine are going into a serious stage; recently, the protest in Bangladesh saw the fall of the ruling government. Another socio-political unrest is now seen: the UK riots that started on 30 July 2024 and is being referred to as the worst public disturbance in the country since the 2011 England riots. UK riots of 2024 have seen the worst amount of racism for the country that has been projected to the immigrants, especially the people who are from Muslim backgrounds.
Background to the riots
The incident which has fueled the growth of the UK riots is on 29th January Southport stabbing incident when a mass stabbing was done by Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old British citizen, in a dance studio in Southport, United Kingdom, which led to the death of 8 children’s.
Since this days the usage of social media has increased, it has become much easier now to spread misinformation and to convince people that this is true (This can be further summed up by the Indian and American social media where fabricated stories and pictures about political figures surfaced every day that can make any conspiracy theorist be in shame).
Quick misinformation on social media spreads like welfare regarding this case; the misinformation is seen as the person who made the attack, Axel Rudakubana is a Muslim immigrant, and he carried the attack for jihad.
This is a well-made articulated false news as the law enforcement group has identified that Rudbakubana is not off from a Muslim background, nor does he have any links to Islam through the mosque or anything. The reason was also not something related to jihad or anything that supports Islamic terrorism, as confirmed by the police, and the police primarily believed that he had attacked due to he has mental health issues.
However, the people, especially those who believe in the far right politics and are against the idea of immigration, clashed with the police of Southport on the next day, believing the misinformation, which led to serious damage to a local mosque. This incident directly created the channel of the UK riots, which later spread to other towns and cities in England and to the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, where mainly rampant Islamophobia is being seen against British Muslims.
The UK riots have been referred to as the worst prejudice being seen by the minority community people in a European nation. Earlier, these riots were against the Muslim people, but according to the local Indian people of the UK, every immigrant was getting attacked regarding their race or religion, especially the South Asian people.
The destruction of public properties
The major destruction seen in the ongoing UK riots is the various public properties. One of the public properties that has been destroyed is the multiple hotels that mainly seek shelter for asylum seekers. Many hotels which primarily belong to this category were victims of various mass looting, fire and stone pelting, which destroyed various valuable items of these hotels.
There are multiple chants which can be heard during the destruction, like “Tommy Robinson,” a popular figure in the far right politics of the UK; other racist chants were also heard, like “We want our country back” and “Go to your homeland”.
However, the asylum seekers that were in the hotel thanks to the efforts of law enforcement in the UK didn’t receive any sort of harm from the people that were part of the UK riot and were escorted safely by them. However, as per the report, seeing these incidents has taken a toll on the mental health of them. The estimated cost which has been come up on the damage to public property in the ongoing UK riots is between 200 million pounds to 500 million pounds.
The impact on the business community
The ongoing UK riots have been described as devastatingly impacting the UK business community. Trade analytics have predicted that the damage the business has faced due to the ongoing riot will take years and millions of pounds to clear up, and without the help of the government, this business can see a permanent shutdown, which can trigger a massive economic crisis in the country. Trade analysts have also predicted that small and independent businesses, if the government doesn’t help them, will have to close their business for good because they, in this process, will struggle financially for years to come.
Also, surprisingly, it is seen that the stores and shops whose owners are not of Muslim background or are immigrants were also targeted. Such a case has been seen with the retail company Lush, known for its cosmetic and beauty products, which is owned and managed by the Constantine family, who have witnessed their stores being damaged by the protestors and several items being looted. Meanwhile, neither the Constantine family nor the employees have any idea why they have been targeted in the first place, as they didn’t make any comment regarding riots.
The breach of privacy
In the ongoing UK riots, it is observed that the privacy of the locations and people was breached on a maximum scale. In this case, mainly TikTok came forward as the locations of asylum seeker hotels (which still hasn’t been targeted) and office or home addresses of immigration lawyers were made online in this platform with providing provoking captions to attack those places with also other captions like “No more immigration” and those that carry the characteristic of anti-immigration sentiment.
The posts have been shared numerous times in various far-right groups and pages. This has made the lawyers and the hotel owners extremely panicked, fearing that their office, workplace, or business place could be attacked at any time in the ongoing UK riots.
The response of the UK government
The UK government, meanwhile, has taken strict measures to mitigate the UK riots successfully. The current Prime Minister of the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, has assured the Muslim and other immigrant communities that they will be safe in the face of this ongoing major instability due to the riots in the towns and cities of the UK. As per the latest update, the UK government has already held multiple emergency meetings and established a cobra committee since the unrest started on 29th July.
The government has also increased the capacity of prisons to ensure that they successfully cope with the large number of arrests which will made during riots. There was also a sufficient number of police who have been put on the streets by the UK government during this process. Also, tight security has been provided to immigration lawyers and hotels that shelter asylum seekers. In this process, a new charge was also incorporated by the UK government, which is to charge any person who uses various threatening words or racial slurs on different social media outlets in the ongoing UK riots.
Number of victims and people who were arrested
As of the latest report on the ongoing UK riots, the UK government has made 420+ arrests, including the people who were posting various provoking posts and comments to encourage people to do mass looting or vandalism or attacking immigrants. The causalities who have been injured or died in riots also, as per the latest update, is more than 500, which includes the protestors, common people, immigrants (Mostly Muslim) and law enforcement people.
Elon Musk is accused
Meanwhile, a controversial yet popular public figure name came up in this riot, which was unexpected. Elon Musk, the head of Tesla and the owner of the social media networking site X ( Earlier, whose name was Twitter), has been slammed by the UK government as they directly made him accountable for instating the riots that are being seen in the UK now.
Civil war is inevitable
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2024On Sunday, the chef of Tesla posted a tweet that said civil war is inevitable in response to the UK riots. The spokesperson of the Prime Minister of the UK has responded to this tweet of Musk as something which can’t be justified. He was also slammed by various government figures in the UK for this post in the context of UK riots. The tech minister of the UK, Peter Kyle, regarding this comment of Musk on X, has stated that Musk nowadays maintains diplomatic relationships with other countries like a politician rather than doing normal business dealings.
The response of Muslim people
To counter the threats of the racist groups on the ongoing UK riots, more than 100 British Muslims took to the streets in a march in Birmingham on the 5th of August 2024, where the far-right protestors were planning to organise a march. However, the march became violent as some of the Muslim background youths attacked several vehicles and a pub, which is the Clumsy Swan, located in the centre of Birmingham. However, these actions were quickly apologised by the Local Muslim community of this city, where they posted a video with the pub staff.
Various heads of mosques in the UK, like Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham and The Muslim Council of Britain, have told the Muslim people not to engage in any violence, take the law up to their hands and let the police do their work to lower the consequences of the UK riots. Meanwhile, they also ensured the strengthening of security measures in the mosques of the UK.
Countries who issued travel alerts to the UK.
Since the UK is now no longer running into a typical landscape due to the UK riots destabilising everything from transport to law and order, it is seen that various countries in this context have issued travel alerts for their citizens in this country. Australia is the first country in this process to come up with a response; they, in this context, have advised their citizens to avoid those places where there is a chance of riots and disruptions.
Advisory for Indian Citizens visiting the UK.@VDoraiswami @sujitjoyghosh @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/i2iwQ7E3Og
— India in the UK (@HCI_London) August 6, 2024India, meanwhile, has advised visitors from their country to stay vigilant and expert due caution while travelling in the UK. Apart from this, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, and UAE have also advised their citizens to stay alert and ensure they don’t end up in places where riots are ongoing.
FAQ
Which incident started the UK riots?
The incident which has fueled the growth of the UK riots is on 29th January Southport stabbing incident when a mass stabbing was done by Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old British citizen, in a dance studio in Southport, United Kingdom, which led to the death of 8 children’s.
Is Axel Rudakubana a Muslim?
This is a well-made articulated false news as the law enforcement group has identified that Rudbakubana is not off from a Muslim background, nor does he have any links to Islam through the mosque or anything.
Why did Axel Rudakubana did Southport stabbing?
The police primarily believed that he had attacked due to he has mental health issues.
How much damage did the public properties suffer due to the UK riots?
The estimated cost which has been come up on the damage to public property in the ongoing UK riots is between 200 million pounds to 500 million pounds.
What is the impact on the business of the UK due to the 2024 riots?
Trade analytics have predicted that the damage the business has faced due to the ongoing UK riots will take years and millions of pounds to clear up, and without the help of the government, this business can see a permanent shutdown, which can trigger a massive economic crisis in the country.
How did the UK government respond to the UK riots?
The UK government, meanwhile, has taken strict measures to mitigate the UK riots successfully; the government has already held multiple emergency meetings and established a Cobra committee since the unrest started on 29th July.
How many people were victims of the UK riots?
The causalities who have been injured or died in UK riots also, as per the latest update, is more than 500, which includes the protestors, common people, immigrants (Mostly Muslim) and law enforcement people.
What did Elon Musk say about the UK riots?
On Sunday, the chef of Tesla posted a tweet that said civil war is inevitable in response to the UK riots.
What is the response of the Muslim people in the UK riots?
Various heads of mosques in the UK, like Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham and the Muslim Council of Britain, have told the Muslim people not to engage in any violence, take the law up to their hands and let the police do their work to lower the consequences of the UK riots. Meanwhile, they also ensured the strengthening of security measures in the mosques of the UK.
Which countries have issued travel alerts to the UK?
Australia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, and UAE, as per the latest update, have issued travel alerts in this country due to the ongoing UK riot .
