It is three days now since London witnessed the peaceful march in Tottenham, North London led by the family of Mark Duggan (29 year old), killed in a police operation – Trident, in mysterious circumstances. The Duggan family and friends marched to the local Police station for some answers as to what happened to Mark Duggan and how and why he was killed by the Police?
No one from the Police or the investigating body IPPC saw fit to respond to the family’s request for answers. The rumours of conspiracy and ‘assignation’ started to circulate on the internet and social network sites and by the evening young people of the area took upon themselves to set fire to property and create general mayhem. It is three days now and the rioting by young people has spread to other parts of London and other pockets of the country such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol.
Claudia Webbe, Chairperson of New Scotland Yard’s Operation Trident Independent Advisory Group, speaking on BBC Radio: “The reality was that starting on Saturday there was no leadership in providing information from the Mayor of London, the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. They were all on holiday.”
Today, the Parliament has been recalled for Thursday and an Interactional football England versus Holland at Wembley, has been cancelled. So the question is what will be the outcome of the British Parliament being called back early?
It is 30 years since the last time London and other parts of UK erupted and that led to a report by Lord Scarman. This time it seems different set of circumstances and the relations between the minorities and the Police are generally regarded as good. The key seems to be a culmination of savage cuts in public policy programmes and in particular provision of youth services and amenities. This is not the whole answer as there is a direct link with criminality too.
What is clear for us is that we do not want to a return to rule of the mob that overshadowed London in the 18th Century, where hundreds of Londoners were killed. What we want is a free expression of frustration felt by the youth and which provides all young people a voice to be heard and not shut out. We need to provide a stake for these disenfranchised youth to engage in a constructive dialogue with authorities and not to express their frustration by trashing their communities and businesses. They are clearly fearless and the sad cry of the rightwing politicians is to deny the disenfranchised youth to be heard and made part of the solution( and not seen as a problem).
Will the UK Parliament on Thursday be reversing the savage cuts made to the social programmes and policies that may yet go some way to invest in the future of our youth?
Copyright Semra Eren Nijhar – All rights reserved
Semra Eren-Nijhar 