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Asian businessmen apologise for Bradford riots

Shyam Bhatia
India Abroad Correspondent in London

Leading Asian businessmen from Bradford have released a full-page newspaper advertisement apologising for the recent riots in the city and offering their 'sincere sympathies' to those affected by the violence.

The businessmen say they represent the vast majority of law-abiding Asian citizens who reject the actions of a small number of wayward young Asians.

Asian Trades Link chairman Amjad Pervez said the advertisement in a local Bradford newspaper was the first step in confronting the problems caused by the riots.

"When somebody is upset you can send flowers, but we didn't know what to do in this situation," Pervez said.

"We don't want to drive English businesses away. We want them to see that we are united in our condemnation of the violent incidents. It is utterly deplorable."

Pervez and other business leaders now plan to visit non-Asian businesses across Bradford and apologise personally.

They also intend to visit secondary schools in Bradford to gain a first-hand impression of what issues concern young Asians.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that police considered using plastic bullets at the height of the Bradford riots.

This would have been the first time that baton-round firing guns, currently used for riot control in Northern Ireland, were used on mainland Britain.

But West Yorkshire's Chief Constable Graham Moore decided not to allow officers to use them.

Yorkshire Police Authority chairman Neil Taggart welcomed the decision not to use plastic bullets.

He said Moore contacted him to say that a decision had been taken not to use baton-round firing guns, despite the heightened violence.

"Plastic bullets were available in Bradford, but the chief constable took the decision not to use them," Taggart confirmed.

"Plastic baton rounds have never been used on the mainland, no matter what rioting or disorder the police had to deal with, and I am pleased they were not deployed over the weekend.

"If you up the level of violence from the police side, possibly by using water cannon or plastic baton rounds, you run the serious risk that people on the other side will increase their level of violence."

The UK Race Riots: The complete coverage

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