Gujaratis in London anxious, fear riots will affect them

The London riots have made the Gujarati community in the Europian city anxious. There are about seven lakh Gujaratis living in and around London. They fear that the riots may spread to the areas where they concentrate.

Members of the community indicate that the riots might be the reflection of people's anger, who are frustrated over different issues. Jigna Patel, a resident of Harrow area, said: "We have a cosmopolitan population in our area. There are blacks; there are people from Somalia, Sudan; there are whites; apart from Gujaratis, other Indian communities also live in our area. Till now, our area is peaceful and nothing has happened, but people are afraid that riots may spark in our area. I am praying for peace in the city."

Hasmukh Mistry, a resident of Nottingham and secretary of Nottingham Gujarati Samaj, said: "It is quite possible that Gujaratis living in and around the riot-affected areas might have suffered due to the unrest. There are shops and businesses of Gujarati people in many of these riot-affected areas of London. I am living in the UK for the past 40 years but had not witnessed such a situation earlier."

According to London-based veteran Gujarati journalist and editor of Gujarati diaspora magazine 'Opinion', Vipool Kalyani, some factories and warehouses have been burnt.     

"It seems that frustration over possible downturn or the issue of unemployment has fueled anger in people. If there is a feeling that the government authorities are not addressing these issues, citizens cannot remain silent for long. Of course, whatever has been done on the streets of London is criminal and condemnable. But maybe the government has missed somewhere on addressing people's issues," he said.

He indicated that the conditions in London could well be described as "Nero fiddled while Rome burned".