A BRADFORD figure has argued that there are still lessons to be learned after the anniversary of a genocide where over 8,000 people were killed.

Dr Javed Bashir said that genocides do not happen overnight, but instead arise from long periods of fear and division, as July 11 commemorates 27 years since the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The massacre, which was targeted against Muslims, took place during the Bosnian War and was orchestrated by the now convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

Dr Bashir argued that rising hate crime in the UK is evidence that work still needs to be done to ensure that everyone has the right to freely practice their religion.

“Twenty-seven years on, what have we learned from Srebrenica? Not enough, and no one is taking the responsibility to prevent it from happening again,” he said.

“Fifty years after the world said ‘never again’, following the horrors of the Holocaust, this genocide took place on European soil.

“Thousands of men and boys were systematically murdered and buried in mass graves.

“The Muslim victims were killed because of their identity. This was the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.”

Dr Bashir added that he is “worried” after hate crime figures suggested that British Muslims were bearing the brunt of abuse.

“A recent reported by two British Muslim organisations – Muslim Engagement and Development and Muslim Census – found that, according to Home Office data, 45 per cent of all religious hate crime offences in the UK between March 2020 and March 2021 were targeted against Muslims,” he said.

“This is a figure which has been largely consistent in recent years, and much greater than for any other religious community.

“About 42 per cent of surveyed mosques or Islamic bodies in the UK have come under attack in the last three years.

“Everyone has a right to practice their religion, without the fear of abuse.”

Dr Bashir added that it is important that schools teach about previous genocides, to help promote tolerance.

“Srebrenica must be a defining element of European history, taught to all young people,” he said. 

“Genocides do not happen overnight. Hatred, suspicion and fear – of a particular race, religion or sexual orientation – are early indicators.”

“If we genuinely want to end these acts, we must look at the structural roots of racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and homophobia.

“We all have a responsibility. The most important lesson from Srebrenica is for responsible leaders to prevent such horrors, they must act immediately.”