Following my near crush yesterday I was later confronted with scenes of utter chaos on the streets of East London. During my walk home I was shocked to discover that society had broken down and people had reverted to base savagery and craziness. I later found out that this was Eid ul-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
The long straight route from Aldgate East, through Whitechapel and into Stepney was strewn with the debris of celebration. Gangs of teenagers were shouting at each other, gigantic limousines were cruising past with kids screaming and hanging out of the windows and everyone was dressed to the nines in their best suits and saris. It was like a Muslim Royal Jubilee.
Throughout the evening the celebrations continued, with fireworks and noisy merry making. Around 22.30 the tone of the shouting youths took on a more sinister aspect, one that suggested the intake of alcohol and the threat of violence.
Looking out of my living room window I saw around sixty young lads charging down the road in blind panic, spilling out onto the busy road and narrowly missing speeding vehicles. They were closely followed by a handful of boys brandishing baseball bats and shouting obscenities. The police arrived quickly and proceeded to intimidate some children.
Religion, booze and baseball bats, Easter is never like that.
2 Comments
It is round here!
That’s cos you live in the village of the damned.