Hello It’s now been a week since the murderous attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, which has seen a series of violent riots spread across the country. Widespread unrest has followed the killing of three young girls last Monday, with 147 arrests made since Saturday alone. Yesterday missiles were thrown as police came under attack from a gang of demonstrators when a protest turned ugly in Bolton town centre.
Opposing groups goaded each other - separated by police outside Bolton town hall. And on Saturday afternoon fights broke out, a supermarket had to be closed and public transport was brought to a standstill amid a stand-off between far-right and anti-racist groups in Manchester city centre . But for many of Greater Manchester’s Muslim leaders the Islamphobia and the violence has come as no surprise.
Protesters in Manchester city centre (Image: Manchester Evening News) "This is nothing to do with the Southport stabbing, it's to do with years and years of racist and Islamophobic rhetoric from the media and from politicians,” Jawad Amin, a community engagement officer at the Cheadle Masjid, told Ramazani Mwamba . “What's shocking is the way it's happened. It's happened on the back of a false rumour that a Muslim was involved in the stabbing.
In the past, when something bad happened you would say 'please Allah, let it not be Muslim'. “Now we've got to the stage where, even if it isn't a Muslim, Muslims are still attacked. The deep undertones are r.