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1 Jan - 14 Jan 2014 Issue 312
in this issue
FORTNIGHTLY
sports
entertainment
motoring
fashion
Misbah
happy with
Pakistan’s
‘special
wins’
Deepika
Padukone
tops the
performers
list
India
meets
Morocco
Page 32
Page 24
Page 18
Mazda3 makes car
of the year 2014 shortlist
Page 29
Hate attacks on
Muslims rise
T
he number of crimes against
Muslims in England and
Wales has risen over the past
year.
New figures suggest there has been
an increase in attacks following the
murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in
Woolwich last May.
In that month alone, 104 anti-Muslim incidents were recorded.
In London there have been 500 offences this year compared to 336 in
2012. In Greater Manchester the number of incidents has doubled from 75
last year to 130 this year.
But for some regions, such as Norfolk, Bedfordshire and North Wales,
the figure has fallen.
In other areas, the number of crimes
recorded was in the low single figures.
The Press Association sent Freedom
of Information requests to every police
force in England and Wales.
However, some police forces do not
record whether or not an incident is
motivated by religion making the figures incomplete and therefore hard to
analyse.
For example, a Northumbria Police
spokesman told the Press Association that “Information is not held specifically for anti-Muslim hate crimes,”
adding: “We do not have a recording
system which allows for the recording
of specific religions.”
South Yorkshire Police said its crime
management system “does not facilitate the recording of anti-Muslim hate
crime separately to other forms of religious hate crimes”.
The system “solely relies on what
information is entered by the inputter recording the crime”, a spokesman
said.
Around half of the police forces contacted were unable to supply details.
In response to the figures, Labour’s
shadow Home Office minister Helen
Jones said: “No one should fear violence, crime or hostility because of
their race, religion or sexuality.
“Across the country people are united in their condemnation of those who
pursue hatred and division. Extremists
of all kinds will still try to divide us.
“Those who pursue extremism and
hatred need to learn that when they
seek to divide they unite - when they
try to further their aims through violence they don’t succeed.
“The police, working with local communities, need to do everything possible to catch those responsible for hate
crime.”
Christmas celebrations in Pakistan
Pakistani Christians attend a Christmas Day mass at a Cathedral
Church in Lahore and at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Karachi on December 25, 2013.
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