*Warning: discriminatory language ahead*
Love Music Hate Racism have shared a statement after the former Zutons guitarist Boyan Chowdhury suffered a racist attack in Liverpool.
On Sunday (March 22), Chowdhury posted on Instagram to reveal that he had sustained a significant blow to his head by a “gang of lads” on Saturday afternoon in the Wavertree area of the city, which split his head open “down to the skull”.
Chowdhury wrote: “I was racially attacked by a gang of lads yesterday afternoon. Got called a PAKI, SAND NIGGER and DIRTY ARAB. Then one of [them] ran at me from the side with a two foot long piece of wood. If I hadn’t of turned around I believe I would’ve been struck on the back of the head and dead right now.”
“He got me across the front and as you can see split my head open down to the skull. They had ran back to his friends house to get the piece of wood to attack me. This city is fucking shit. Full of dirty horrible racist rats. And it’s just getting worse by the day,” Chowdhury added.
The post was accompanied by graphic images of the injury to his forehead.
Love Music Hate Racism posted a message of solidarity with Chowdhury tonight (March 23), writing: “Love Music Hate Racism stands with musician Boyan of The Zutons and against the vile racists who attacked and assaulted him.”
“This gross act of far-right racist violence is a reminder of how important it is for us all to make clear that there are more of us than them,” they added.
“We call on everyone to march through London as part of the Together Alliance demonstration this Saturday. Love The Zutons, Hate Racism. No Reform,” the message concluded.
Merseyside Police said Chowdhury had been “racially abused” after an “altercation” with a gang of men near Fieldway. Officers have appealed for further information about the attack, which they described as “hate related”.
Chowdhury was the original lead guitarist for The Zutons, playing with them from their formation in 2001 up until the moment he left the band amicably in 2007 due to “musical differences”.
He went on to form the band The Gravity Trap, and also played with The Venus Fury, before rejoining The Zutons in 2018 for their reunion tours. He left again in 2022 and did not play on their 2024 album ‘The Big Decider’.
The demonstration mentioned by Love Music Hate Racism is taking place on Saturday (March 28), organised by the alliance Together Against The Far Right. It aims to stand up for unity and build public awareness about the growing threat of the far right in the UK.
Fontaines D.C., Paloma Faith, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Brian Eno, Kneecap, The Charlatans, Clean Bandit, Charlotte Church, Beverley Knight, Joy Crookes, Frank Turner, AURORA, Toddla T, Napalm Death and Cornershop were among the artists who signed up to the alliance when the march was announced in December.
The demonstration is in part a response to the emergence of far-right protests over the last year. In September, the Metropolitan police estimated that between 110,000 and 150,000 people attended the so-called “unite the kingdom” rally in central London, where Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk were among the speakers. An estimated 5000 anti-fascist counter-protesters faced the far-right activist-led rally that day.
