Author:
Publication: Yorkshire Post
Date: June 4, 2001
Why be surprised when young Asian
thugs in Oldham throw petrol bombs at the police? The race relations industry
tells them that they are deprived, under-privileged victims of discrimination,
living in a racist society. They are told endlessly that the police are
racist. The politically-correct chief constable has condemned his own force
as institutionally racist. The local police chief had the temerity
to talk about Asian gangs, so he must be racist as well.
We are seeing the fruits of an obsession
with race which is poisoning society,playing into the hands of hooligans.
One of the most decent countries in the world is denigrated relentlessly.
But the term "Asian" is itself the
cause of mischief. There is a sizeable Hindu community in Oldham which
faces the same economic circumstances yet has never been involved in any
rioting. A Hindu who knows them well says: "Many Indians from Oldham go
as far as London to find work, returning only at weekends. They never complain
or ask the state for handouts. They try to better their lives and improve
their own living conditions."
The most patriotic Briton I know
is a Sikh businessman living in Yorkshire. After he returned from a visit
to India, he said: "It's good to be back in my own country." He tells young
Sikhs: "Stop complaining about this country and be grateful for what it
has done for you." And he is disgusted by the violence in Oldham and elsewhere.
Why should honourable people like
these be smeared by association with nasty young street criminals in Lancashire?
If the self-styled "community leaders" in Oldham Bradford or elsewhere
want to help, they can make a start by immediately condemning thuggery
instead of whining about deprivation whenever they are asked to comment.
Attacks on the police are criminal acts and must be condemned as such.