Councillors in Walsall have united against hatred after anti-Islamic graffiti was sprayed near graves at Streetly Cemetery.
Twelve members condemned the vandalism which was discovered in the early hours on March 20, the day muslims were set to celebrate Eid.
Members from the Walsall Independent Group put forward a notice of motion at a meeting on April 13 calling for CCTV at the entrance and exit at the site.
Leader of the group, Councillor Aftab Nawaz, said: “On 20 March somebody decided to jump over the gates and spray some horrid graffiti next to the graves at the cemetery.
“I‘m sure we all agree that it’s not only unacceptable but it’s detestable that someone would think of going to a graveyard to put hateful graffiti on.
“There’s a sanctity that we all accept in all graveyards. It’s a place people go to to reflect, to mourn and honour the people that have left their lives.
“For someone to have such hateful intent that they will jump over a gate in the middle of the night to paint some anti-muslim slogans is beyond detestable.
“We think CCTV at the entrances and exits of the graveyard would deter people from doing this.
“Would it stop anyone doing it again? I don’t think it will. But it will certainly put people off because they will see that there is CCTV and we may be able to catch the culprit.
“I’d like to thank council officers who responded very quickly and got the graffiti removed.
“We can’t accept people coming into our graveyard, the most sacred places we have in this borough, to write this kind of thing.”
Leader of the council, Councillor Mike Bird, said the perpetrator behind the act ‘deserves to be in a grave’.
He said: “I think I speak without any shadow of a doubt that it is totally and utterly reprehensible. The individual who did this deserves to be in one of those graves whether you like it or not.
“It’s sad to say that there are some political parties out there that are promoting racial hatred. Victimisation, discrimination and Islamophobia are not acceptable here or any court of law.
“I was grateful when I raised it and was told it had been dealt with. That’s what we are here for.”
Councillor Matt Ward, leader of the labour group added: “It’s disgusting that in today’s society that we are faced with these incidents of discrimination and hatred towards communities.
“There’s no place in our society for this kind of behaviour. Unfortunately there are those out there who seek division and whip up hatred and we should not allow those to win.”
Councillor Izzy Hussain said: “This is a deliberate act of hate on a community. It was an attack on families who visit graves for their parents, children and loved ones. Even though it was aimed at a community it has shaken every decent person in this borough.
“This kind of hate stems from manipulated statistics, out-of-context headlines and exaggerated reports that are thrown around in tabloids, on social media, and by politicians. When inflammatory language becomes normalised, acts like this become more common.”
Councillor Hajran Bashir said: “I do feel that there should be cameras but also patrols, particularly in the forthcoming elections. There’s a lot of division and hate from a particular party so there’s likely to be more incidents.”
Councillor Amandeep Garcha said: “Racism in itself is a disgusting act but to do it on a burial site is the lowest of the low. Unfortunately a few years ago in Willenhall Lawn Cemetery we had a similar issue where babies’ graves were being vandalised.
“Officers put cameras up on the entrance and it has made a difference. We’ve not seen many acts of vandalism since but what we did see was the community getting together to support each other. That’s the very best of Walsall.”
When it came to the vote all members were unanimous in their support.
Councillor Nawaz added: “It’s very heartening to hear the views across this chamber. This chamber can steep very low in politics but there are times when we can raise ourselves very high.
“We must always give that message to the new councillors that this chamber is about the unity of Walsall.”
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