Ali not his real name , was a year-old Bradford College student at the time. He had wandered into town with friends. They had heard mounting rumours of a National Front march through Bradford, planned in defiance of a government ban. Trouble had broken out previously, in Oldham and Burnley, when far-right extremists targeted towns in the depressed industrial north with a high percentage of Asian residents.
In Bradford city centre, anger mounted as word spread that police had allowed National Front sympathisers to gather in a pub. As they emerged from the building, the right-wing shouted abuse at Asian youths, viciously attacking one.
Disorder was to follow. Hundreds of young men descended on the city, angry at the events of the day. Tensions escalated as protesters were pushed up White Abbey Road by police and violence between the two sides spiralled out of control. I went straight to the front, then the next thing, I was there throwing stones at police. Almost 1, officers were eventually brought in to tackle the riots, with some injured.
Brian Booth was one. The young PC had been with West Yorkshire Police for just a month when he found himself on the front line, fearing for his life. It was rolling towards our front line at such a speed that I thought: 'By the time that hits us, it'll explode'. Mr Booth, now chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, witnessed officers falling to the left and right of him, some severely injured.
He was left with severe burns on his legs from where his protective pads had rubbed off the skin. He still suffers from the effects of torn ligaments. I had massive whiplash injuries at the end," he says. Some people were locked up for their part in the violence. More are thought to have joined in. Ali, who was given a four-and-a-half year sentence for his role, believes young members of a struggling Asian community, dealing with poverty and a loss of jobs from deindustrialisation, felt further denigrated by the provocation of the far-right.
He remembers a desire to protect his city from the threat of the National Front. You could see when they were throwing things, their anger and frustrations. Disillusioned by his family's experience of racism, Ali shunned the acquiescent attitude of his parents, who had come from Pakistan so his father could work in the textile industry. I understood racism more and I could challenge it, but maybe the elders at the time didn't.
Far from relieving tensions, the sentences given to those involved meant a community that already felt under attack saw it as a racist approach to justice. Families of those jailed - many for up to five years - felt they were treated harshly in comparison to white men sentenced over other public disorders. But, nine years later, the men's experiences proved instrumental in preventing a repeat of the riots when the English Defence League staged a protest in Bradford in Ms Pearce, who co-authored a book on the riots while at the University of Bradford's Department of Peace Studies, said the community and police had learned lessons from Officers realised they had been heavy-handed and began to rebuild connections with the community.
Twenty years later, opinion is divided on whether enough has been done to change Bradford. In the immediate aftermath of the riots, reports by Lord Ouseley and Ted Cantle painted a picture of a fractured city with mistrust between different communities. But Bradford Labour councillor Mohammed Amran believes integration has "massively improved" and the city is one to be proud of. There were defined Asian and white areas and you didn't mingle because of the fear of how you'd be treated," he says.
Once a critic of the police, Mr Amran says Asian communities in had little confidence in officers and "felt on their own" but now they worked together. He describes a city where "Asians, blacks and whites" play in the same parks, "people speak to each other" and "white people drink tea in cafes on Oak Lane" - something which once would have been unthinkable.
But Zahida Khan, who campaigned over the sentences handed out after her brother was jailed for rioting, believes the city still bears the scars. Have we developed economically? Have we attracted new business here? We have councillors and MPs but are they really in touch with us? Youth worker Sharat Hussain was in the thick of the unrest in trying to calm angry rioters. He says Bradford has grown into a thriving multi-cultural city but he fears the effects of under-investment in youth services.
There is no justification for this - they are setting back Bradford 10 years. Many questions will have to be asked afterwards - how have the police allowed a peaceful demonstration to disintegrate into to this? One policeman was dragged away unconscious by colleagues. Earlier, I watched as a white man was set upon by a gang and stabbed in the back in Thornton Road. As he toppled his torn T-shirt exposed a gaping wound; the knife had gouged a huge hole in his back.
Even as he lay on the ground, the mob still managed to dish out more kicks before mounted police chased them away. The meeting drew more than people, mainly young Asian men.
In a nearby pub, National Front supporters, wearing their trademark bomber jackets and sunglasses, had gathered, a fact brought to the attention of the protesters by the arrival outside of three police vans. Somewhere in or near the pub a group of NF supporters began shouting racial abuse.
The response of the Asian youths was instant and violent. A fight began and within seconds had spilled into the surrounding streets. As scores of Asian youths poured out of Centenary Square and up the narrow and steep road to the pub, the police were powerless to stop them. Bottles and stones began to fly and then equally quickly the young Asians ran back down the road, a line of riot police hot on their heels. Officers had mounted the huge security operation after reports that NF members had congregrated in the pub as a prelude to their own demonstration.
Last week, the group was banned by Home Secretary David Blunkett from staging a march originally planned for tomorrow. It also emerged last night that much of the trouble was orchestrated by people who travelled to Bradford from across Britain.
Describing how a group of white men had began hurling the insults at a group of Asian men, Tahir Hussein, 28, said: 'The whole thing kicked off with some white lads calling us Pakis.
There's lots of youths running around the streets and the police seem to have lost control. At one stage a pregnant woman was led away by police after getting caught up in the violence. Mother-of-two Linda Cunliffe, who was out shopping, said: 'It all happened very quickly. The situation seemed calm one minute and there was no sign of any National Front people but suddenly the Asian youths began running and stones started being thrown. At least one police officer was reported injured in the violence which lasted about an hour.
Police vowed to maintain a strong presence on the streets last night and repeated warnings for troublemakers to stay away. Chief Superintendent Phil Read said: 'I would urge troublemakers and those intent on causing disorder to stay away. They're not welcome either by the police, the council or the local community. He rejected allegations that police had dealt with the disorder in a heavy-handed manner and appealed to the people of Bradford to clear the streets. At a press conference, he said: 'Over the last four hours there have been sporadic but continuing outbreaks of disorder and violence involving predominantly young men.
0コメント