1989 Dewsbury riot
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The Dewsbury riot of 1989 was a minor clash between activists of the
British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
(BNP) and local
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
n youths. The police used riot gear in controlling the events.


Background

Dewsbury is a mill town in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it attracted large numbers of immigrants from
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and the
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
area of
West India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Unio ...
. In 1982, the
Markazi mosque The Markazi Masjid ("Central Mosque"), also known as the Dewsbury Markaz or ''Dar ul Ulum'' ("House of Knowledge"), is a mosque in the Savile Town area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. With a maximum capacity of 4,000, it is one of the ...
was built in the Savile Town area to serve the town's Islamic community. The number of Muslims in Dewsbury, especially Savile Town and
Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...
, grew steadily as it gained a reputation as an Islam-friendly community in Britain.


Riot

Over a period of months in early 1989, an increasing number of white parents in the Savile Town area withdrew their children from the local school, which had become 80% Asian. In June, the BNP organised a rally to support these parents, whose behaviour was both controversial in the media and illegal under English and Welsh law. Tim Hepple, a BNP member with a history of violence, who was later revealed as an undercover agent, is said to have organised the rally. The rally, in the centre of Dewsbury, was met with a small group of counterdemonstrators from Kirklees Black Workers' Association, but later, a group of around 800 Asians gathered after rumours that the BNP were planning to burn the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
in public. Heavy-handed policing forced the group of Asians back to Savile Town, which led to fighting and the burning of the Scarborough pub in the area. Many Asian market holders in the centre of Dewsbury reported that they were abused by BNP activists since the police were diverted to Savile Town. Fifty-eight people were arrested, most of whom were Asian. Prison sentences ranged from three months to three years. Two police officers were injured.


Legacy

The segregation of schools in Dewsbury and the claims by some white parents that they had a "right" to withdraw their children from school have been studied very widely by educationalists. In 1990, there were some similar cases of white parents' withdrawing their children from schools in nearby
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, which has a much smaller Asian community; these cases are often covered by the same studies as the Dewsbury withdrawals. A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in October 2017 mentioned how Dewsbury had become a town divided by religion. Quoting figures from the 2011 Census, the report estimated Dewsbury as a whole as 44% Muslim and Savile Town in particular as 93% Muslim. There have been two further minor riots in Dewsbury: one between Kurds and Pakistanis in 2007, and one between Hungarians and Pakistanis in February 2008.


See also

*
Sectarian violence Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion ...


References

{{Riots in England Dewsbury race riots 1989 riots 2007 riots 2008 riots Dewsbury Islam in England Race riots in England