While there is no justification for looting, many argued that the government must take the blame for those riots because of its secular immorality, discriminatory policies and increased students’ fees, because young adults are left on dole queues with no prospect of a descent job and a future, and due to corrupt politicians and thieving bankers.
Tariq Jahan, father of Haroon Jahan, one of three men killed,
addressed a peace rally in Birmingham on 14th August 2011
The Police killing of black man Mark Duggan
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) admitted that it may have misled people in alleging that alleged black gangster Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father-of-four, was killed in self-defence in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, on 8th August 2011, by Scotland Yard elite unit SO19 which also killed Jean-Charles de Menezes at a Stockwell Station tube in 2007, after Mark Duggan allegedly shot at Police.
In truth, Mark never shot at anyone and did not even have a gun in his hand. Police originally said he was resisting arrest but, in reality he was in a taxi which was surrounded and Mark Duggan shot dead. But the Police, after alleging that a gun was found in Mark’s sock, later alleged that a gun was found « on the scene », which could mean anything, perhaps even planted there as the alleged Mark’s bullet which hit the Officer’s radio, thus allegedly saving his life, turned out to be police issue. The Police also blocked Ferry Lane on both sides for over 48 hours, prevented people going to their homes and prevented people from leaving the supermarket near to the shooting. The taxi driver’s version has not yet been heard.
Killing sparked riots
The Black communities in Tottenham and elsewhere have always felt that they have been discriminated against by Police, and this callous and what appears to be a pre-meditated killing sparked riots in Tottenham and nearby. Black adults and youths attacked Police and business alike and set buildings alight. Those riots soon inflamed many other areas in London and in other cities in England, such as in Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol. The Police stood back and did next to nothing for 3 days and nights to stop them. They have been blamed for the killings in Croydon, Ealing, and Birmingham where three youths who were protecting property and businesses in their area in the absence of Police action were hit on the pavement by a car which drove off. As the situation was out of hand, the British PM David Cameron cut short his holiday and promised to increase police presence from 6,000 to 16,000 officers overnight (where were they before?), and authorised the use of water canon and plastic bullets. But the riots have, by then, died down. He also authorised the setting-up of kangaroo Magistrate Courts overnight to judge and pass quick sentences on mainly the young unemployed rioters. Even a child of 11 was charged.
While, Joshua Donald, one suspected murderer of the Birmingham three was arrested and charged, addressing a peace rally in Birmingham on 14th August 2011, Tariq Jahan, the father of one of the victims, appealed for calm and said : « We Muslims believe the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell are shut this month [Ramadan]. That gives me the strength to believe that the boys did not die in vain – they died for this community. I hope that this community will remember them. » [The Independent, 15th August 2011].
Young whites have « now become black »
Although the riots were triggered by the Police killing of Mark Duggan, the rioters were not only Blacks as they were joined by White gangs too. Historian David Starkey said on the BBC2 Newsnight programme on 13th August 2011 that Enoch Powell’s anti-immigration « Rivers of blood » speech in Birmingham on 20th April 1968 in which he said : « Like the Roman, I seem to see ‘the River Tiber foaming with much blood’ », turned out to be correct. He also said : « A substantial section of the chavs have become black. The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion. Black and white, boy and girl operate in this language together. This language which is wholly false, which is a Jamaican patois, that’s been intruded in England and this is why so many of us have this sense of literally a foreign country ». (Daily Mail, 14 August 2011).
« Moral collapse »
While this is no justification for looting, many argued that the government must take the blame for those riots because of its secular immorality, discriminatory policies and increased students’ fees, because young adults are left on dole queues with no prospect of a descent job and a future, and due to corrupt politicians and thieving bankers.
The British PM David Cameron said the riots were due to a « moral collapse » and to « Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline ». [Independent 15th August 2011]. But this sort of secular immorality is being fostered throughout Europe and imposed by force on non-European countries.
On the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband, while agreeing that individual responsibility has its role to play, argued that « the looters have not been the only ones to demonstrate greed and selfishness ». He went on to say that :
« The bankers who took millions while destroying people's savings: greedy, selfish, immoral. »
« The MPs who fiddled their expenses: greedy, selfish, immoral. »
« The people who hacked phones to get stories and make money for themselves: greedy, selfish and immoral. Let's talk about what this does to our culture ».
Ed Milliband blames Bankers and MPs who failed to set a better example to society and demanded a full-scale inquiry into the riots, and accused the government for being « scared » for looking at the real reasons behind such social breakdown.
Conclusion
The fact that moral values have degraded due to secularism in Europe, some more extreme that others, like in France, are in no doubt. People are instilled with selfish libertarian individuality, sexual depravity with no respect for their teachers, parents and elders as the media and banks are controlled by equally selfish capitalists and their crimes go largely unpunished. The rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The laws are laws passed by politicians financed by capitalists and powerful lobbies. People are up to their necks in debt which they are passing on to their younger future generations with no job prospects. The Police have been gifted with special powers to shoot on sight and arrange explanations later, to arbitrarily arrest people because of the colour of their skin and their religious beliefs. The country is justifying murderous wars abroad, destroying lives and property and inculcating the people with a culture of violence. The kangaroo courts set up to judge and sentence rioters during the night are reminiscent of military and fascist courts to suppress the people in breach of their human rights.
M Rafic Soormally
London
15 August 2011
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