Krupesh Hirani tabled a motion on Hinduphobia at the London Assembly this week, when it was passed unanimously to highlight the need for the Metropolitan Police to work closely with the country’s Hindu community to fight against a rise in such crimes.
The British Hindu Labour Assembly Member (AM) pointed out that Hinduphobia is far too common, but it is not properly recorded. He stressed that the problem of anti-Hindu hate crime cannot be tackled unless it is properly recognised.
Hirani said: “Hinduphobia has absolutely no place in London and beyond. Sadly there has been a worrying rise in hate crimes faced by our community has over the past year.
“Given that Hindus are the second most-likely group to face religiously motivated hate crime, but that this isn’t seen in police data, shows that the police must, first, record this better and, secondly, respond to it better.
“I am pleased that the London Assembly supports holding the Metropolitan Police to account so that they build the confidence held in them by our community.”
The full text of Hirani’s motion, which comes in the backdrop of Diwali next weekend, reads: “This Assembly wishes a Happy Diwali to all Londoners that celebrate.
This Assembly notes that recent statistics from the Home Office show that in 2022/2023 there were 291 hate crimes, accounting for 3 per cent of recorded by the police in England and Wales, against Hindus. This is an increase on the previous year which saw 161 recorded hate crimes. These figures also show that the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police by month have increased since 2015. This Assembly notes that there are no public statistics on the number of religiously motivated hate crime by religion on the Metropolitan Police Service Crime Dashboard
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“This Assembly further notes that despite having the second lowest figure of recorded hate crimes, in 2022, Hindus formed the second most likely religion to have been victims of religiously motivated hate crime according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This suggests that Hindu hate crime is not being effectively recorded by police services.
“This Assembly welcomes the Mayor’s leadership in celebrating London’s diverse communities and enjoyed seeing Londoners celebrating the festival of lights with Diwali on Trafalgar Square.
This Assembly calls for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to work with local Hindu communities to encourage confidence in reporting Hindu hate crime. The Assembly further calls for the MPS to include the break down of hate crime by religion on the Crime Dashboard.”