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01 Feb 2012 By Juan Cole The racist and fascist EDL want to march in
Leicester this Saturday, 4th February, to spread their
racist poison. To counter their unwanted presence and to stop them
intimidating the local communities the antiracists
will also take to the streets on the same day. This is the second time in less than two years that
the EDL thugs want to stir up racism and divisions
among the city's diverse community. Last time when
they showed up in October 2010, they caused much
violence and disruption. Despite the Stephen Lawrence verdict and the racist
murder of Anuj Bidve in Manchester on Boxing day, once
again they want to parade through the streets of
Leicester. But Leicester has a proud history of
challenging prejudice and promoting equality and
people of the city have worked and campaigned together
for many years to build a successful, multicultural
city where different communities live peacefully
side-by-side. That's why when the EDL showed up the last time the
people of Leicester gathered in their thousands to
show to the EDL that they are not wanted. Now again
black, white and Asian people are set to show their
unity against the EDL again at a ‘Love Leicester, Hate
Racism‘ demonstration. The demonstration is being organised by Unite
Against Fascism (UAF) who have urged for a wider
support. Thus the ‘Sikhs Against the EDL' would be
supporting this demonstration. The ‘Sikhs Against the EDL' group was formed last
year in response to some mis-guided Sikh youth
supporting the EDL. They used to carry Sikh flag on
the EDL marches and use Sikh insignia and emblems in
their vile propaganda. However, most of those Sikh youth have now left the
EDL, largely due to the campaign lead by the ‘Sikhs
Against the EDL' but also after the EDL decided to
make an alliance with British Freedom Party (BFP), a
breakaway group from the BNP but with equally openly
fascist policies. Balwinder Singh Rana, spokesperson for the ‘Sikhs
Against the EDL' said, "We had always warned that the
EDL are no different from the BNP. They are targeting
the Muslims today but would turn against all of us
tomorrow. I am glad that those Sikh youth who used to
support them have learned the error of their ways, but
our job is not done yet. We must support the people of
Leicester to stand up to these racists & fascists so
that they would think twice before they decide to turn
up somewhere else". |