By IRNA,
London : Police chiefs are calling on Home Secretary, Theresa May to ban the latest anti-Muslim march by the far right English Defence League (EDL) that is due to take place in Bradford, northern England, later this month.
West Yorkshire chief constable Sir Norman Bettison said police would be backing a campaign to ban the march on August 28 because of the “understandable concerns of the community” in the city, which has the second highest ethnic-minority population in the UK.
“Having carefully considered the issues arising from any planned or unplanned march by protesters in Bradford, I have decided to apply to Bradford council for an order prohibiting the holding of a public procession on that day,” Beresford said.
The police decision was described as a victory for “people power” after more than 10,000 people in Bradford signed a petition, while community, religious and anti-racist groups also joined local politicians in calling for the march to be banned.
Over the past year, the EDL with other extremist groups has held a series protest marches around Britain in towns and cities with high Muslim populations that have erupted in violence and clashes with counter-demonstrations, often organised by Unite Against Fascism, as well as with the police, but none have previously been banned.
Nick Lowles from Hope not Hate, which organised the anti-EDL campaign along with Bradford council, said the ban would stop the EDL marching through predominantly Asian areas of the city, even though it would not prevent a static demonstration being held.
“While the EDL threat hasn’t completely gone away our campaign has contributed to the racists being kept away from Muslim communities in Bradford,” said Lowles.
His comments were echoed by Paul Meszaros, who co-ordinates the Bradford Together initiative, saying: “It is nice that the people of Bradford have been listened to.”
“It is a victory for the campaign that saw thousands of Bradfordians come together and say clearly that we do not want these people coming to cause divisions and violence,” Meszaros said.
According to the Guardian newspaper Wednesday, a spokesman for the EDL said that although it may have to “modify its plans slightly” if the ban is approved by the home secretary, its demonstration would “most definitely still go ahead”.
One of the worst race riots in recent times erupted in Bradford in 2001, stoked by a confrontation between the right-wing National Front and the Anti-Nazi League that led 200 jail sentences totalling 604 years being handed down mostly against the Muslim victims.
In March, MPs, including former ministers, joined trade unions and numerous organisations in condemning one of the largest and provocative anti-Muslim protests staged by the EDL in Bolton, north-west England.