Bradford Riots

[Howie]

Telling the real story behind Bradford Riots
24th April, 2006

Nearly five years after the north of England exploded in violence, Channel 4 is planning to revisit the Bradford riots with a special drama next week.

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/pictures/tv/bradford_riots1.jpg

Told from the perspective of Karim, a Manchester University politics student, the drama will explore the background to events leading up to the explosion of anger in July 2001 in the Manningham area of Bradford.

Back home on a summer vacation, Karim finds that racial tensions are brewing. After violence break out in other areas of the north the BNP prepare to target Bradford, forcing the police to cancel the popular Bradford Mela on fears that violence may ensue.

Titled Bradford Riots, it will tell the story from the perspective of a group of young Asian men whose lives, families and community have since been defined and decimated by the events of that fateful summer.

The Channel 4 drama is written and directed by Neil Biswas, who spent between 18 months and 2 years working on the project. He told AIM that his research involved getting material from solicitors representing offenders who pleaded guilty to the violence, the police and attending on-going court cases.

He also went to Bradford and met local people, religious figures such as Imams, community elders, shop-keepers and families whose kids had ended up in prison. Occasionally he visited some of the offenders in prison to talk to them.

"I was very careful to make sure I was getting material from both sides," to ensure research was not biased, he says. "I think it's a very very complex issue. I was careful and had to remain untouched by what people were saying. But it was important that I told the story from a specific Muslim family's perspective."

The idea for the project came from the production company's executive producer, who approached him to write the drama. Many of the riot scenes were filmed in Liverpool after concerns that shooting in Manchester may inflame tensions. Filming was also delayed after the July bombings last year.

The film takes individual stories and seeks to explore why the violence took place, who was to blame, and shows how many young Asian men were handed out long prison sentences despite readily handing themselves in to the police, pleading guilty and having no relevant previous convictions.

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/pictures/tv/bradford_riots.jpg

Biswas says: "The actual sequence of events and the circumstances have been forgotten over the past few years. About the provocation from the far-right and the way the police had reacted. People have forgotten very quickly what that summer was about."

He says it is a story that has never really been told properly, having been buried after the events of September 11th that year.

"The riots still cast a large shadow over what is going on now. The Pakistani community is a very vibrant, colourful community. It has its own tensions - the massive gap between the elders and young kids for example. The kids have very little going for them. The job opportunities are just not there," he adds.

What sort of reaction did he expect after finishing the film?

It was shown to members of the Bradford community last week to gauge reaction, Biswas says. They showed him a lot of gratitude after the film, coming over to shake his hands and thankful that someone had finally told their side of the story.

"I spent a lot of film debating what the film would do," he adds. "I really questioned whether it would make things worse. It is opening up wounds. I just feel the reason I decided to write it, in the end, was a fear for the kids who were put inside prison."

"I think a story should be told rather than fester in the minds of the kids."

Bradford Riots will be on 4th May, Channel 4.

Cast
---------------
Karim: Sacha Dhawan
Faisal: Ace Bhatti
Azad: Victor Banerjee
Shazia: Manjinder Virk
Aki: Syed Ahmed
Jav: Zaid Munir
Imtiaz: Bailey Dyson
Shahid: Muzz Khan
DC Grange: John Llyod Fillingham
Hasan: Kisha Sharma
Judge: Nick Sampson
Imam: Ernest Ignatius
Hanif: Adil Mohammed Javed
Kamrooz: Humayoun Al Rashid

Source: Asians in Media magazine (http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1299)

[Howie]

Big-screen glimpse of riots that tore city apart
Apr 25 2006
By Kate Mansey Daily Post Staff

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/icliverpool/apr2006/3/3/D06BDC0D-CF13-F260-8B1DFCC80736C35E.jpg

A FILM which recreated the Bradford riots on the streets of Liverpool will be screened tonight at the Royal Court Theatre.

The Bradford Riots, shot on location in Liverpool, is due to be aired on national television next week.

But members of the cast and crew will attend the special Merseyside screening, including Garston residents who worked as extras during the shooting of the film.

The Channel Four film, starring Sacha Dhawan, Ace Bhatti, Victor Banerjee and Manjinder Virk, is a fictional account of real events that happened during the race riots of July 7, 2001.

It tells the story of the night of fighting in Bradford and highlights the lives of individuals involved in the violence.

The project, which brought £500,000 of inward investment into Merseyside during the three weeks of filming, was shot in Water Lane, Garston, Aigburth's Sefton Park and the Port of Liverpool building.

Old Hall Street and Water Street in Liverpool city centre were also chosen by television producers as the backdrop to march scenes where 200 extras acted out the violence that flared after racial tension grew between the National Front and BNP and Bradford's Pakistani community.

Northwest Vision helped support the producers and cast while they were filming and coordinated the dangerous stunt and riot scenes.

Lynn Saunders, Liverpool film office manager, said: "This was a sensitive project but by working with partner organisations and the local community we were able to ensure that filming went smoothly.

"The production team used local crew and facilities wherever possible.

"Liverpool has an ambition to be the most film friendly city in the country and we do all we can to make the production process as easy as possible."

"The fact that Liverpool gained £500,000 in terms of local spend from the filming just shows the value of three weeks' shooting."

The film tells the individual stories of young Asian men involved in the riots and the background to why it happened.

A spokesman for Channel Four said: "The script is based on a year of intense first-hand research within Bradford's Pakistani community.

"The author, Neil Biswas, looks at this Muslim community from the inside to see how it lived and breathed before mass violence blew up its streets,and explores the painful aftermath left in its wake.

"Bradford Riots seeks to explore why this violence happened, who was to blame and how the sentencing of a generation of young Asian men took place even though the majority handed themselves in to the police, pleaded guilty and had no previous convictions."

The drama will be broadcast on Channel Four on May 4 at 9pm.

kate.mansey@liverpool.com

Source: icLiverpool (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16989293%26method=full%26siteid=50061% 26headline=big%2dscreen%2dglimpse%2dof%2driots%2dt hat%2dtore%2dcity%2dapart-name_page.html)

[Kev]

Great that they used Garston as a location.

[Howie]

Wednesday, 26th April 2006

I predict a riot...
Ian Wylie

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ContentResources/476.$plit/C_17_Articles_211583_BodyWeb_Detail_0_Image.jpg
RACIAL TENSION:
Bradford Riots

A CONTROVERSIAL TV drama starring a young Manchester actor was halted after the attacks on London commuters last summer. Channel 4 delayed filming of Bradford Riots because of fears over inflaming racial tensions in the wake of the July 7 bombings in the capital, which killed 52 people.

It was originally due to start on the outskirts of Manchester last July, but work was postponed following concerns raised by local councils.

Executive producer Mark Bentley switched production to Liverpool and filming finally began in November. "We were very nervous about filming too soon after the July 2005 bombings and we never thought it would be a good idea to film it in Bradford," he explained. "But a lot of the places we went to outside that area were very nervous about filming rioting Asian youths so soon after the July bombings."

The feature length drama is screened next week, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the 2001 riots - which also falls on July 7. The Manningham area of Bradford experienced what has been described as the worst rioting in mainland Britain for 20 years. It erupted after weeks of tension, involving the activities and threats of the National Front and the BNP.

It tells the story from the perspective of a group of young Asian men, whose lives, families and community have been decimated by the events. The scripts are based on a year of first-hand research within Bradford's Pakistani community.

Sacha Dhawan, 21, plays Karim, an intelligent, sensitive British Muslim caught up in events. A fictional character, he is a politics student at the University of Manchester. Former Grease Monkeys and Coronation Street actor Ace Bhatti plays his activist brother, Faisal.

"I'm from Manchester, rather than Yorkshire," says Sacha, "and from a Hindu background, rather than a Muslim one. But having said that, that doesn't make experiences so different, and I've got a lot of Muslim friends. As soon as I got the role, it was clear this wouldn't just be a matter of learning lines and having a little chat about the part.

Karim

"I was cast a couple of months early fo find out who Karim was - not just his background, but his identity. So as soon as I got the role, the following Saturday I was straight into Bradford. Initially I just wanted to find out where everything was, where the riot happened and so on. And then I went back again and again, on my own, going to play pool and chatting to people.

"And then I went down with the actors who played my friends, because I wanted to create amazing relationships with my fellow actors. Karim's friends are the most important things to him, and I wanted these actors to be my best friends. And by the end of the shoot, they were. That meant that, in those scenes, there were real emotions coming out.

"This isn't a historical depiction of exactly what happened. It's Karim's story, from his eyes. I don't want to start telling people who was responsible for what. It's up to the viewers to make those decisions for themselves."

Local

Sacha has been acting from a young age and trained at the Laine-Johnson Theatre School. "I started when I was 12, going to local dramatic clubs - my tap teacher recommended me to a children's agency in Manchester, and that's how it started. I was very lucky.

"When you're young, and you're away from school, with a tutor on set, you get quite excited about it. And then when you hit 18, you have to decide whether you're going to take this seriously as a career. So I stopped working for a bit to take stock of what I wanted to achieve.

"I decided to go for it. So I got a London agent, who got me a general meeting at The National Theatre, which was amazing. They were casting for Alan Bennett's The History Boys, and two meetings later I got a phone call saying, `You'd better pack your bags, cos you're moving to London'.

"It was a fantastic opportunity. I had no idea what doors it would open and what it would lead to. I got work on the back of the play. We also did the play, the radio play, the feature film, and now we're getting ready to do the international tour for eight months."

Bradford Riots is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday, May 4.

Source: Manchester Online (http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/entertainment/filmandtv/tv/s/211/211583_i_predict_a_riot.html)

[Howie]

THE RIOTERS WITH A NEW STARRING ROLE

Should we feel sorry for the jailed Bradford rioters? Yes, according to a controversial new film drama. Andrew Robinson, who covered the July 2001 riots, saw a preview of the film.

"CERTAIN elements in the community are going to be really p***** off... but this is a story that should be told."
In a candid assessment of his work, writer/director Neil Biswas has admitted that a lot of people won't like what they see because the "hero" of the story, Karim, is a rioter who is portrayed sympathetically in a "one-sided" story.
Biswas believes Asian youths were provoked into the violence by far-Right activists, that police tactics on the day didn't help and the justice system was unfairly harsh in sentencing the rioters.
The story is bound to raise hackles among Bradfordians who saw their city ripped apart twice in six years and who, in pre-riot 2001, were enjoying relative peace and stability and the beginnings of inner-city regeneration all wrecked in a night of madness.
Adding to the controversy is the decision to broadcast the drama on the day of the local elections and at a time of increasing prominence for the British National Party in cities with long-standing racial tensions, such as Bradford.
That decision, by Channel 4, has angered mainstream politicians.
Bradford Council leader, Tory councillor Margaret Eaton condemned Channel 4 for putting the drama out on the day of the local elections.
"Showing something so sensitive on the day of the local elections is provocative. It's provocative to a lot of people and is best not commented upon."
The drama shot in Liverpool for reasons of sensitivity focuses on a Bradford Pakistani family and how two brothers become embroiled in the riot, virtually by accident. It's a story line that's based on what happened to some naive young men, but not everyone who was there could claim to be badly done to.
On the day of the riot, the character Karim, a Manchester University politics student, is working on his thesis in the local library when he gets a call from his mate Jav to say a big anti-Nazi demo is taking place in Bradford's Centenary Square.
When they arrive, Karim and Jav agree that it is likely to result in trouble and decide to walk away. But then they pass a brawl outside a pub where a group of National Front supporters are beating up one of their friends.
Karim and his friends believe the police are protecting the National Front and become incensed when riot police begin pushing Asian demonstrators out of the city, towards Manningham, where other angry young men join them. Karim, angered by NF thugs and the police response, throws stones at police lines and his drug dealing friend Aki hurls a petrol bomb.
Back at home, Karim's father see the TV footage of the riot and persuades his other son, Faisal, who runs a textile shop, to go and find Karim. He too is caught up in the violence and lashes out at police after he is clubbed over the head by a mounted policeman.
Karim hands himself over to police after his mugshot is published in the local newspaper. He and his dad expect leniency, although his mate Aki predicts the state will throw the book at them: "You are just another Muslim thug to f*** up their white world."
Five months later, Karim is handed a five-year jail term after he pleads guilty to riot, a rarely used charge reserved for only very serious disorder. The thrust of the film is that the hefty jail terms handed to the Bradford rioters were unjust because many of them had never been in trouble before, they handed themselves in and, in many cases, had "only" thrown a few stones at the police lines.
There is only a passing mention of the looting and burning of a BMW garage and the arson attack on the Manningham Labour Club, which came close to killing the occupants.
And the full scale and brutality of the rioters is only hinted at during the film's mocked-up confrontation. Stones and petrol bombs are filmed being thrown but there are no burning cars pushed at police lines, no slate missiles, fireworks or knife attacks.
Little is said about how it affected the injured officers and severely damaged efforts to regenerate areas like Manningham.
Instead, the story concentrates on how the riot destroyed the lives of well-to-do Pakistani families and university students who foolishly and naively decided to vent their anger on the police.
A handful of those 190-odd rioters were indeed in higher education. But many others were criminals, drifters or addicted to drink or drugs and many more escaped justice.
Yorkshire Post cuttings reveal that an "academically bright" 26-year-old Asian man from Bradford got four years and nine months in jail for throwing six missiles at police.
Another, aged 19, had to give up his pharmacy degree when he got four-and-a-half years for riot. At least four of those sentenced were in higher education and it is these people's stories that caught the eye of Biswas. A fifth rioter with a degree in social work got four years.
The writer/director says the drama is one-sided and that he was only concerned to tell one small aspect of what happened.
He says the injustice of the sentences had driven him to tell the story, and his first port of call had been the offices of Imran Khan, the lawyer who was handling the appeals of some of the convicted rioters. Later, Biswas spent a year in Bradford, trying to discover what happened. In total he spoke to "15 or 16" rioters and their families and their stories created the "composite" character of Karim.
He admits his work may reopen old wounds.
"I wondered about the effect on the families and on Bradford. I think Bradford is a really complex place, full of opinions. Certain elements in the community are going to be really p***** off that's part of what it is.
"This is a story that's never been told and should be told. It has been forgotten by the mainstream media."
Bradford, he says, is "one of the most segregated places he has ever been to" and the riot had caused the white community to look differently at the Asian community "quite justifiably so", he says.
In one scene, two white women shun Faisal's wife in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. And Karim experiences overt racism once inside jail when his cellmate calls him a "Muslim terrorist" and makes a joke about pork chops.
Such hard-hitting material will be controversial, Biswas accepts.
"My definite worry is whether it is opening wounds as well as asking questions but it's important that we face up to the fact that Bradford is a very multi-cultural place."
The producer of the drama, Nick Brown, says exhaustive efforts were made to ensure the story was accurate and truthful but it could upset the police.
He said: "The story is incredibly even-handed. You get a sense of what it was like to be a policeman. We did speak to police who had retired. What we don't say is that Karim hasn't done anything it's clear he did. What is shocking is the severity of the sentencing as compared to other riots in Toxteth, Northern Ireland, etc."
The film closes with the statement that more than 190 people were jailed for a total of 500 years for their part in the Bradford disorder. It adds: "These were the harshest sentences since the Second World War."
That may be true but there are many in Bradford who felt it was no more than they deserved.
andrew.robinson@ypn.co.uk
Bradford Riots is on Channel 4 at 9pm on May 4.

"My definite worry is whether it is opening wounds as well as asking questions but it's important that we face up to the fact that Bradford is a very multi-cultural place."

A £27m DAY OF DISORDER

THE riots on July 7, 2001 caused up to £27m damage and left the reputation of Bradford in tatters.
It was the worst bout of rioting on mainland Britain for 20 years and the knock-on effects on the city were severe. Bradford University had problems attracting students, takeaway owners complained that takings were down, the police had to contend with the massive policing bill and had to cope with caring for the 164 officers who were hurt.
Bradfordians on trips abroad were embarrassed to tell strangers where they hailed from. Some businesses threatened to move away from the city and a handful did.
Reports released shortly after the disorder painted a picture of a city divided on racial and religious grounds and warned of the dangers of future riots. In September 2001, two reports portrayed a deeply divided society in which religious hatred, a violent street culture among young Muslim men and an unwillingness to integrate were adding to the strife. The authors warned that relations could worsen, along with poverty and alienation.
They also claimed Asian community leaders have failed to do much about a rise in violent street gangs, violence against women and growing criminality. It warned that the white community feared being "swamped" by an alien culture, a belief which itself was proving a barrier to good relations.
The repercussions of the 2001 riots were continuing to be felt months and years later. Hundreds of young Asian men, as well as some white men and women, went through the courts system, many of them charged with riot. One petrol bomber was given a sentence of eight and a half years. Only last year, four years after the disorder, did the last case go before Bradford Crown Court.
A year after the riots West Yorkshire Police had developed a mobile "peace-keeping" arm with a new array of equipment to deal with future rioters.
The toughening up of West Yorkshire Police's approach to disorder was outlined by the then Chief Constable Graham Moore, who said his force had invested in more equipment and specially-trained officers to keep public order.
The number of officers in Operations Support, whose role is tackling disorder at short notice, more than doubled to over 100 officers. The force also bought more armoured Land-Rovers. During the Bradford riots their Transit-style vans appeared vulnerable when they came under attack from missiles.
The last five years have seen fevered activity in the corridors of power, not least in Bradford, where the main focus has been the buzzwords "community cohesion".
Those two words are at the front of politicians' minds in whatever policy they look at. Numerous reports have followed from various quangos and committees but the segregation, alienation and deprivation remains.

Sunshine, Skirmishes And Chaos

THE day started hot and sunny as crowds of anti-Nazi demonstrators, black, Asian and white, young and old, gathered in Centenary Square on the day the National Front had threatened to defy a Government ban on marching.
All seemed calm until whispers and mobile phone calls went through the crowd that National Front supporters were taunting and attacking people outside a city centre pub.
A section of crowd burst through police lines and the skirmishes began. Young white men were punched and stabbed, riot police were drafted in and the crowds were pushed by police towards Manningham.
During the chaos that ensued, pubs and garages were looted and burned. Bottles, bricks, lumps of wood and slate were hurled at police lines.
One rioter used a golf club to ping golf balls at the police lines. Another launched fireworks at officers. One man had an ultra-bright light which he used to dazzle the police helicopter pilot. Hundreds of extra officers had to be drafted in from across the North to cope with the sheer numbers of the rioting mob.
At its height, nearly 1,000 police were on the streets.
The most serious incidents included the destruction of a BMW showroom on Oak Lane, causing millions of pounds of damage and destroying several prestige cars. Some were driven away into the night by looters.
As darkness fell, more people swelled the mob and more serious incidents unfolded. Arsonists set fire to the Manningham Ward Labour Club with many of the drinkers trapped inside. This could easily have resulted in the deaths of several people, had it not been for the bravery of fire crews and the police who protected them.
The following day the streets were littered with debris and burnt-out cars. It was a miracle that no-one had been killed.

27 April 2006

Source: YORKSHIRE POST Today (http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=105&ArticleID=1467506)

[gillian]

The Bradford riots preceded the Burnley riots. Any T.V. network reliving the riots can only do more damage.
For the past 2 weekends here in Burnley there has been both Asians and whites torching cars, gang attacks etc., all within the district where the riots happened.

[Howie]

I just been reading a news story from BurnleyToday here (http://www.burnleytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=12&ArticleID=1469071).

Tensions in both Bradford and Burnley appear to be increasing as local elections approach and BNP campaigning inflames sensitivities. I too am wondering whether this is the right time for Channel 4 to screen this film. :noid:

[Paul D]

Tensions in both Bradford and Burnley appear to be increasing as local elections approach and BNP campaigning inflames sensitivities. I too am wondering whether this is the right time for Channel 4 to screen this film. :noid:

I'll watch it all the same, that's if they don't decide to pull it of course.

[Howie]

Likewise, and I'm sure Kev will be watching - trying to spot the scenes filmed in Garston. :rolleyes:

[Kev]

Likewise, and I'm sure Kev will be watching - trying to spot the scenes filmed in Garston. :rolleyes:

I may do.

[Howie]

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/m2/may2005/6/0/00033633-5D88-1277-9E6580C328EC0000.jpg

4 May 2006
BRADFORD RIOTS
C4, 9PM
By Jane Simon
A LOT of research went into recreating the riots that rocked the Manningham area of Bradford in July 2001. And due to the support the BNP still has in the area, the part of Bradford is played by the Garston area of Liverpool.

The story of the effect one night had on the community is told primarily through one fictional family - Karim (Sacha Dhawan) a promising student and his law-abiding brother Faisal (Ace Bhatti, who's also in New Street Law on BBC1).

It's a shame the events that sparked the night of pitched battles against the police aren't explained a bit better. The National Front put in a brief, violent appearance - but perhaps to those caught up in the events, it actually was this confusing and chaotic.

Source: Mirror.co.uk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/tvandfilm/todaystv/tm_objectid=17029400&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=drama-bradford-riots-c4--9pm--name_page.html)

[Howie]

Anybody watch it?

[Kev]

Howie, don't tell me off but I missed it - sorry :neutral: Was it good?

[Howie]

Ah, distracted by miss st helens were we? :rolleyes: I thought it was an excellent drama which highlighted the unprecedented severity of the sentences that were handed out to those involved in the riot, (and Garston made for a good Bradford). :thumbsup:

[Kev]

Ah, distracted by miss st helens were we? :rolleyes: I thought it was an excellent drama which highlighted the unprecedented severity of the sentences that were handed out to those involved in the riot, (and Garston made for a good Bradford). :thumbsup:

Me? Distracted? Noooo

[Howie]

Council 'aggravated Burnley riots'
May 31 2006

The Burnley race riots were aggravated by council spending decisions and poor civic leadership, according to a new report.

The report, entitled Burnley - The Real Story, cites segregated schooling, unemployment and poor civic pride amongst the underlying causes of division in the Lancashire town. Housing problems and poor health were other contributing factors, according to the study by the Burnley Action Partnership.

Three English towns and cities were hit by race riots in 2001, with trouble taking place in Burnley and Oldham in Greater Manchester and Bradford in Yorkshire. In Burnley, more than 200 people, some wielding baseball bats, were involved in the disturbances, in which gangs of white and Asian youths clashed as riot police battled to keep them apart.

Police officers were threatened with weapons and pelted with missiles, car windows were smashed and buildings fire-bombed during three days of trouble. Taxi drivers were attacked, and pubs and shops set on fire, as racial tension soared. Cost of the disorder in the Lancashire town, which took place between June 23 and 25, 2001, has been estimated at more than £1 million.

The report, which is being launched at a conference at Burnley Football Club, claims area-focused spending on regeneration in the 1990s had an "unintended side effect" and was partly to blame for the race riots.

The report says the spending caused problems by "drawing investment and activity away from a neighbouring area, or displacing a problem such as anti-social behaviour across a ward boundary."

The study claims this "contributed to social fragmentation by increasing neighbourhood rivalries. In Burnley this fragmentation took ugly forms. Racists latched onto and encouraged the resentment."

Mike Waite, co-author of the report and Burnley Borough Council's Head of Community Engagement, said: "The investment in housing, schools, policing and health is just starting to show results. However, the real success in Burnley has been how people and organisations have, often painfully, confronted the most difficult and challenging aspects of their culture, attitudes and prejudices."

Mr Waite said inter-faith initiatives set up in the wake of the riots, such as Building Bridges in Burnley and Breaking Barriers, had encouraged thousands of residents to take part in discussions, exchange visits and cultural activities.

The Burnley Community Festival, held since 2002, also brings people from different neighbourhoods together each summer. But despite the improvements, the report reveals the percentage of black and minority ethnic residents in the borough is just 8.2% - 7,400 in a population of more than 88,000.

Source: icLiverpool (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0300nationalnews/tm_objectid=17155064&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=council--aggravated-burnley-riots--name_page.html)