A new report has blamed Hindutva-inspired extremism, police bias, and political complacency for fueling the 2022 Leicester riots, warning that failure to act could deepen divisions in one of Britain’s most diverse cities.
The joint study by the United Kingdom Indian Muslim Council (UKIMC) and the Community Policy Forum draws on interviews with nearly 500 members of Leicester’s Muslim community. It concludes that Hindu nationalist ideologies — imported and amplified online — fractured inter-community relations and sparked violence that left Muslim residents traumatised and fearful.
The report, published on August 06, states that participants painted a “troubling picture of perceived police bias and complicity, as well as a range of practical barriers to reporting, which has exacerbated community distrust of the authorities during the intense period prior to, during, and since the riots”.
Key findings include evidence of anti-Muslim propaganda linked to Hindutva networks, widespread perceptions of police inaction, and the active role of disinformation and Hindutva-aligned influencers in inciting unrest. The report also criticises political and media narratives that it says distorted events and ignored Muslim voices.
“The 2022 Leicester violence proves how Hindu supremacist ideology, rooted in Hindutva, has found dangerous expression in the UK — threatening the fabric of our diverse communities,” a UKIMC spokesperson said.
The authors call for scrapping the government’s PREVENT strategy, legally defining Islamophobia, prioritising Hindutva and far-right extremism in counterterrorism policy, and investing in community infrastructure, mental health services, and independent media regulation.
Community Policy Forum warned that the Leicester unrest was “a warning” and said that both domestic and transnational ideologies built on hatred are “taking root in the UK, exploiting political complacency and institutional blind spots.”
The report urges the government to confront “all forms of hate equally” to restore safety, dignity, and trust among minority communities.
