Kishwar Desai | Anti-migrant rage after kid stabbings; play sparks fainting fits among UK men
It has been an extremely sad week in the country — following the cruel stabbing of young children at a dance class in Southport. This act led to the death of three young girls — while other children and two adults who were also present were critically injured.
All were wounded and traumatised by British-born 17-year old Axel Radukubana who wielded the knife. The children who died were between the ages of nine and six — and were at a community centre where dance and yoga classes were often conducted. On this brutal day, it was meant to be a special Taylor Swift inspired dance class.
While one hears of random gun-related murders in the US often targeting school children — it is still comparatively rare in the UK. But there has been a rise in knife crime, which has been referred to often, in recent years, with concern.
The outpouring of grief was spontaneous — and many went to Southport to express their sorrow and solidarity with the families of the victims and survivors, including the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
However, the situation soon turned violent when the rumour mill, instigated by social media posts began claiming that the murderer was a Muslim youth — which turned out to be incorrect. In fact, he is of Rwandan origin but was born in Cardiff after his parents (who are Christians) fled from Rwanda. They now live just a few miles away from Southport. But instead of waiting for the police to reveal his name, far right goons, led by the English Defence League (EDL), began stoning a mosque in Southport — and soon the violence, unabated, has spread to other parts of the country.
This weekend has seen many confrontations between EDL, their supporters and the police as well as a continuous barrage of assaults at targets associated with immigrants. Now the far right has shifted their attack from Muslims to anti-immigration. The police has been struggling to keep the situation under control as many other areas such as London, Bristol, Brighton and Liverpool have also become flashpoints.
The good news (if there can be any in depressing moments like this) is that the EDL and other right wing protesters have been confronted by gatherings of those who believe in inclusivity and multi-culture. While this has been an encouraging development — the confrontations taking place between the protesters and the counter-protesters will certainly lead to more problems.
The police again has stepped in —- and arrests have been made.
In the midst of all this, the victims who deserve our sympathy have been overshadowed. Axel Radukubana’s name was revealed early by the presiding judge as he felt that there were far too many rumours on social media adding to the present turmoil.
Indeed, if there has been another culprit in this sorry saga — it has been those irresponsible people who have been forwarding unverified messages. No doubt some action will also be planned against those social media providers who have allowed this kind of rampant fake news to spread.
Meanwhile “fakery” can be put to good use as well. For instance the recent revelation that a cat had been impersonating as an academic! Larry the cat was given the (fake) persona of Larry Richardson, a respected academic, who had published many papers, by two intrepid scholars — when they realised that Google Scholar was being misused by fraudsters, to promote other academics by publishing bogus papers. The two, Reese Richardson and Nick Wise, decided to explore and expose the lacuna in the system by creating a fake identity around his grandmother’s cat. So the cat as “Larry Richardson” was also cited by other academics, apart from publishing his own papers.
One has to be really careful about everything on the Internet, it seems!
And meanwhile — the weather is superb — with the sun shining almost every day. It is bringing some relief at this sad time — with hordes of tourists descending on London undeterred. And we know that summer has truly arrived when necklines plunge and hemlines rise — and everyone is on a bicycle going somewhere.
And for those who don’t want to go anywhere there is always art and performances to be enjoyed. Theatre shows are running houseful — one which has become a little controversial is based on Nobel Prize winning Annie Ernaux's novel about her life. Some have found the play so “raw” that men have fainted during a scene when an abortion is carried out. Depicting Annie’s life through the decades, each section is handled by a different actress. This format is not new (as I remember acting in a similar play on Sylvia Plath and writing one similarly formatted on the life Ismat Chughtai) but definitely — as the material is powerful enough to knock men out — women are loving it !
