The rioting in Bradford hit the headlines with the news reporting that police officers had battled against 1,000 youths of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin.

The Dawn, in its Sunday edition, had a colour photograph of a fist-fight between white and Asian youths.

By Tuesday, reports said calm had been restored, but questions remained and the newspapers tried to analyse the reasons behind the violence.

An editorial in the Frontier Post said a mixture of racism, poverty and social attitudes was behind the simmering anger found among Asian youth.

It said Pakistani families who migrated to the UK in the 1950s had contributed in no small measure to the country's rejuvenation and it said the second generation was perhaps feeling it was time to repay the racial hatred their families might have had to endure all those years.

The Frontier Post said while violence cannot be condoned, the government cannot be absolved of its responsibility in turning a blind eye to those stoking the fire of racism.

The News, in an editorial entitled Mayhem in Bradford, said the immediate cause of the violence was provocation by the National Front, which it labelled a marginal racist political party.

It said the party exploited the less prosperous conditions in areas where the Asian community lives, but it adds that ethnic and racial faultlines have taken root in the UK.

It said Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities remain a culturally distinct entity and there has been little investigation into the underlying causes of tension.

The Nation said a large number of Asians being arrested gave the impression that the Asian community is hitting back.

It said the new generation were less docile and more confident of their status in British society and along with other papers it calls for the government to act to stop the racism.