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Burnley deputy mayor's son, 20 others arrested

Shyam Bhatia
India Abroad Correspondent in London

Trouble flared for the third night running in the Lancastrian town of Burnley where the deputy mayor's son was among 21 whites and Asians arrested on Monday night.

Tension remains high in Burnley where police have maintained a strong presence on the streets.

On Monday night there were minor outbreaks of violence, but no repeat of the weekend race riots.

The deputy mayor's son, Shahid Malik, who works for the government's race relations watchdog, the Commission for Racial Equality, needed hospital treatment after he was caught up in street skirmishes with police.

A spokeswoman for the Lancashire police said officers had gone to speak to groups of young Asian men to ask them to disperse. But when they approached one of the groups they were attacked with stones and other missiles.

Malik, who was taken to the local hospital, told reporters he suffered concussions and received five stitches below his left eye after he was injured by a police riot shield.

His father, Rafique Malik, described his son as "not aggressive", adding that he was attacked by up to four police officers as he tried to defend himself.

Meanwhile, community leaders in Burnley have agreed to set up a task force to address the problems in their riot-hit town.

Representatives of the Burnley Borough Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Police were also present at the meeting in the town hall.

A joint statement said the task force would examine not just the events of the past 72 hours, but also the underlying causes of the troubles.

Moulana Ahmed Sidat, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said, "The leaders will get together and try to calm the situation down. The Lancashire Council of Mosques will try its best to stop this situation, which has no place on our streets."

The bishop of Blackburn, the Right Reverend Alan Chesters, said church and community leaders needed to come together to avoid further conflicts.

He said, "I was very saddened to learn of these events in Burnley. I hope that leaders in the community can come together to find out what is the actual cause of the problem and that the church and its leaders can play their part and seek to bring an end to the present violence.

"I hope they can work for better community relations in that area."

Burnley's troubles were sparked by an attack on an off-duty Asian taxi driver in the early hours of Saturday. Since then gangs have been roaming the streets as riot police have tried to maintain order.

There were claims that the police were slow to respond to the original incident. Tensions rose further as the Duke of York pub was petrol-bombed and burnt out by a group of Asian youths on Sunday.

Landlady Marie Coulson said she was turning her back on the area after watching her business and home go up in flames. As with members of the Asian community, Coulson said she was angry with the police for what she saw as a lack of action.

EARLIER REPORTS:
British home secretary to probe links between recent racial clashes
Burnley witnesses racial clashes
Police see politics in Oldham riots
Racist party wins the 'war' in Oldham

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