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Racist March In Bradford Banned

British Home Secretary David Blunkett has agreed to ban the racist National Front (NF) from marching through the streets of a city where 80,000 residents are of British Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Indian origin.

Blunkett's decision to ban the march in Bradford this coming week end followed a request from the city council which said it was seeking to maintain public order.

Although there are fears remain that NF supporters will ignore the ban, West Yorkshire Police say they will not tolerate anyone inciting racial hatred and re-assured the local population that contingency measures were in place to deal with any disorder.

On Tuesday night (yesterday) the leaders of all political parties on Bradford Council issued a joint statement describing race relations as a top priority and adding that "challenges by outside groups against this priority will not be tolerated".

The statement continued, "We hope this (ban) serves as a message to any group attempting to cause disorder across the district: you are not welcome here and never will be."

The ban, which was applied for on the advice of the police, extends to all marches in Bradford over the next three months. Similar bans have been imposed in the Lancashire local authorities of Hyndburn, Blackburn and Darwen and Pendle.

The chief constables of West Yorkshire and Lancashire Police are understood to be strongly backing the bans.

A Home Office spokesman told Rediff "We can confirm that the Home Secretary has given his consent to a number of local authority orders to prohibit maches and trespassory assemblies.

"The banning orders are intended to prevent serious public disorder and disruption to the life of local authorities.They are not intended to prevent free speech but to prevent public disorder."

A West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the force had made representations to Bradford council "because we do not want to see incidents of violence and disorder that have been seen in other towns repeated in Bradford.

"Our policing arrangements for the weekend will enable us to respond to any potential problems but we cannot disclose our operational plans. We can reassure people in Bradford that we have contingencies in place but we ask people to show restraint and remain calm."

The National Front was unavailable for comment.

At a meeting of community leaders and Bradford police on Tuesday some local community leaders had expressed their fears that officers might not be able to keep the peace.

Bary Malik, of the Bradford Police Minority Ethnic Liaison Committee, appealed to "hotheads" not to over-react to any NF presence. He said he was worried that there would not be enough police to maintain law and order, but added, "We were assured today by police they will have more than enough officers."

He praised arrangements for the city's recent Mela festival, which had been peaceful because of the large numbers of police on patrol.

The chief executive of a local Asian radio station, Usha Parmar, said the meeting with police had allayed some of her fears. "Police gave me the impression they know what they are doing and will be able to handle the situation. If they (the NF) turn up and break the law they will be dealt with."

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