THE FOUNDER of a Bradford organisation which aims to break barriers and tackle prejudice says people must avoid playing the "blame game" amid Bradford’s battle with coronavirus.

Sofia Mahmood, founder and director of Empowering Minds, says it is "unfair and unfounded" to "single out" any one community and say that they are responsible for Bradford having one of the UK's highest rates of infection.

Sofia adds that unity is key to preventing a local lockdown, while "double standards" must be avoided.

"We're all fighting this virus, so this can't be a blame game - we can't blame one community", Sofia says.

"There's a rhetoric that certain groups are at fault, and people feed off that. At first, everyone blamed the Chinese community, and now it seems to be the Muslims.

"People from every community have broken rules - look at pictures from pubs and bars, where is the social distancing? It's not just one community - we must work together on this."

Further COVID-19 restrictions were placed on Bradford, as well as other northern cities and towns, the night before Eid.

Sofia says that the timing of this decision has lead to people associating the rising rates of infection solely with the Muslim community, while some have even accused Muslims and people from black, Asian and minority ethnic ('BAME') backgrounds of breaking Government guidelines more than other groups.

Conservative MP Craig Whittaker recently claimed the "vast majority" of those breaching rules were from 'BAME' and Muslim backgrounds - Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West, said she was "appalled" by the comments, saying Whittaker was "scapegoating".

Sofia, who is British-Pakistani, argues that "harmful narratives" are being spread, leading to "unfounded speculation".

"It has to be emphasised that the measures are to protect us - but blaming one community will get us nowhere", she says.

Sofia also argues that the media has a "massive role" to play during this time of "high tension" - saying that it cannot "just look at this from one angle" and ignore the good work which is also being done.

"I've seen how the mosques have handled this - they have followed all guidelines. There are amazing people in every community working endlessly to fight this virus", she says.

Through its Empowering Mothers Against Radicalisation programme, Empowering Minds brings women from across the Bradford district together to discuss the misconceptions they may have of each other's communities - addressing topics such as extremism and racism.

They also discuss how to spot the signs of radicalisation and grooming - whether it is by a religious extremist group, a far-right group, or by any other group - and encourage "difficult conversations" to take place, to try and improve community relations.