In a major revelation, a UK-based media outlet Daily mail The report says that elements associated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fuel tensions in the UK and are responsible for inciting British Hindus to confront Muslim youth.
According to the report, quoting a UK security source, it said: “There is evidence that BJP-linked activists are using closed WhatsApp groups to encourage Hindu protesters to come to the streets. are doing.”
However, the source also warned that “this is just the biggest example of Indian Hindu nationalists using private social media posts to infiltrate the UK.”
“So far, it is mainly local politics – Modi and his BJP are doing what they will do in Gujarat. [Modi’s home state] to elect this or that local councillor,” said the source.
“But it has to be stopped before it spreads to attempts to influence our national politics.”
The UK-based publisher’s fresh claims are likely to trigger a diplomatic row between London and New Delhi at a time when Prime Minister Rishi Shankar – a practicing Hindu – is trying to secure a post-Brexit deal with India. .
Last summer, ethnic tensions erupted in Leicester after months of tension between Muslim settlers and new Hindu immigrants, tarnishing Britain’s image as a country of ethnically diverse people living in harmony. Damaged.
Clashes between Muslim and Hindu youths following an India-Pakistan cricket match in late August also attracted international media attention, particularly in India where they were perceived as Muslims attacking Hindus. .
Daily mail He said: “BJP activists based in India then started releasing messages and memes which were widely circulated in WhatsApp groups among Hindus in Leicester.”
After the cricket match between the two South Asian countries, several protests took place in Leicester until September 22, when Hindu youth took to the streets chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. [Victory to Lord Ram] – A BJP rally in India.
There were several reports of attacks on Muslims and their residences.
gave Daily mail Sources were quoted as saying: “The alleged intervention appears to be part of Modi’s desire to project himself as the leader of Hindus around the world.”
Following the riots, a special study was conducted regarding the role of social media in the Leicester riots.
Strategic Dialogue – a think tank – published a study showing that as soon as the clashes broke out in Leicester, the Indian media portrayed the trouble as Hindus coming under attack from Muslims, with violence escalating. The blame was placed on a “Pakistani organized group”.
Within days of the cricket match’s aftermath, pro-BJP activists and influencers targeted the clashes only at Hindus, the study reports.
A separate report by the US-based Network Contagion Research Institute also showed evidence of so-called bot farms operating out of India, retweeting messages on Lester’s malfunction on an industrial scale.
Charlotte Littlewood, an expert at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said the riots began as a result of tensions between newly arrived Hindu youth from India and the more settled Muslim community.
Littlewood added: “Although the reasons for the clashes were local, when they hit the international media, pro-BJP foreign elements began to escalate the tension for their own purposes.”
“But it has to be stopped before it tries to influence our national politics.”