Amidst the ongoing violence in Leicester in England’s East Midlands region, Islamist scholar Ali Dawah tried to mainstream the conspiracy theory that RSS workers came in droves to stoke communal tensions in the area.
In a video published on his YouTube channel on Friday (September 23), Ali caught up with Yatin Bhimani, owner of a Coach company, to seek clarification about a conspiracy theory that his co-religionist has been peddling for the past 5 days.
Yatin, who hails from India, owns a fleet of 4 buses and runs a travel agency by the name of ‘Angel Tours.’ Islamists had accused the agency of ferrying RSS workers to Muslim areas in Leicester and creating a law and order situation with the help of a Hindu temple in Ealing. Islamists had been using videos of one of the buses of the company near a Hindu temple and a photograph of a group of people holding a BJP in front of a bus of the company to claim that Bhimani is linked with Hindu groups.
Yatin Bhimani refuted all the allegations and explained the visuals saying that they hare not linked with the Leicester violence. The humble Hindu man informed Ali at the very onset that his buses have not been operating in Leicester for the past 2 months. He pointed out that the Ealing Road temple, where his bus was stationed, is being used as a pickup point by his travel agency since 2009.
Bhimani said that he has no link with the Hindu temple on Ealing Road in London, but his buses are parked near the temple to pick up and drop off passengers as it is a well-known place and there is enough place to park a bus. Morever, on 17th September the bus stopped there for a longer duration as there were some faults with the coach, and a mechanic was called to rectify the issue. The Guardian journalist Aina Khan has also confirmed the claim and posted GPS log of the bus showing that it didn’t go to Leicester on that day.
He dismissed conspiracy theories of transporting rioters and anti-social elements, both directly and indirectly. On being asked about the picture of his bus with men holding a BJP flag, Yatin said, “It was the time of Covid-19. Our industry had suffered a lot. A group of men wanted to go to Glasgow and welcome PM Modi for G-20 summit. I took them on the trip.” He informed that the photo is from last year, when a group of people had booked the bus to go to Glasgow to see PM Narendra Modi addressing the UN Climate Change Conference.
The travel agency owner also informed that people got hold of the picture from his Facebook profile, where he had written how his ‘Angel Tours’ facilitated the journey of Indians for an event attended by PM Modi. As the photo was taken from his Facebook account, the Islamists knew that the photo is old, but still used it to peddle propaganda against Hindus.
Ali Dawah shrewdly used the interview to rant about the ‘greatness’ of his Faith and how it supposedly emphasises the principle of justice. He also claimed that Muslims were provoked by Hindutva goons and how a mosque was burnt down, despite the fact that the Leicester police had debunked the fake news.
Ali used his dominating personality to make sweeping statements like the supposed involvement of PM Modi in anti-Muslim violence in India. He also tried to put words in the mouth of Yatin and forced him to condemn Modi and RSS.
“If anyone commits violence against Muslims, Christians or Hindus, then, I condemn them,” Yatin said. While the Islamist was able to convince his naive followers that he believed in inter-faith dialogue, Ali Dawah’s attempt at setting agenda in favour of Islamists did not miss the experienced eye.
The origins of the conspiracy theory
On September 18, a Twitter user named aart123 posted a 1-minute long video, alleging that a bus belonging to Angel Tours have been ferrying ‘masked Hindutva thugs’ to Leicester. It also claimed that the supposed mobilisation of Hindus was being done at the behest of a Hindu temple.
A Hindu Temple in Ealing implicated in sending mobs of masked hindutva thugs to Leicester using Angel Tours. What action will police take against these terrorists? #leicester #metpolice #Mi5 #hindutva #Prevent pic.twitter.com/71WU3TctLo
— aart123 (@aart1231) September 18, 2022
Soon after, Islamists dug out a year-old picture which showed a group of BJP supporters, standing in front of an Angel Tours’ bus’. “This is the coach in Leicester Angel Tours belonging to Ealing Temple London and the group openly supports BJP,” wrote one Ash.
This is the coach in Leicester Angel Tours belonging to Ealing Temple London and the group openly support BJP. pic.twitter.com/NZfl7a8NeQ
— Ash (@ashg_74) September 18, 2022
The left-wing propaganda news outlet, The Wire, further amplified the disinformation with the aid of a Uk-based author named Amrit Wilson.
Quoting Wilson, The Wire journalist Sumedha Pal tweeted, “Coach Loads of RSS supporters went to Leicester to provoke conflict which can then be used in India to further Islamophobia & strengthening the narrative of Hindu victimisation.”
#Leicester “Coach Loads of RSS supporters went to Leicester to provoke conflict which can then be used in India to further Islamophobia & strengthening the narrative of Hindu victimisation.”UK based author & journo @AmritWilson speaks to @thewire_in
— Sumedhapal (@Sumedhapal4) September 21, 2022
Vid-https://t.co/BiZMNxf03j pic.twitter.com/D0F3S3MmxU
Aide of Ali Dawah incites Muslims to attack Hindus
Earlier on September 19, Islamist scholar, Mohammed Hijab, was seen mocking Hinduism and inciting Muslims to attack the adherents of the Dharmic faith. Hijab is an aide and long-term associate of Ali Dawah.
“When I was on social media, I saw these people (Hindus) getting brave. How come today it is like pin drop silence?” the British Egyptian scholar was heard as saying in a viral video. He claimed that no Hindus were in sight after realising that Muslim mobs were coming at them in hordes.
“Cause they (Hindus) fear us when they are near us”, responded an Islamist from the crowd. Pumped by the support of the like-minded people in the crowd, Hijab said, “Deep down, they know we got the truth. If you want respect, then, learn to respect.”
“If they (Hindus) believe in reincarnation, what a humiliation of them to be reincarnated into some pathetic, weak, cowardly people like that,” the Islamist went on an anti-Hindu tirade.
“Hindutva (Hindus), you are trying to act like gangsters…Don’t ever come out like that again (referring to the protests by Hindus in Leicester). Do you understand? Are they going to come out again?” he continued his threats.
Amidst the war cry of Allah hu Akbar, Mohammed Hijab cautioned that he and his supporters would be there if Hindus dared to protest against the violence, committed by his co-religionists.
