Despite their announcement, made little more than a week previously, it would appear that EDL will not now be staging their planned protest, allegedly against 'Islamic extremistm', in Bolton on 6th March.In their recently revised statement (their initial statement demonstrated a very poor command of the English language by its author, contained numerous spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and has now been removed from their website no doubt out of embarrassment by the more literate members of the leadership) they state their reason for doing so as being the fact that "a Hindu religious festival is scheduled for the same day, at the same time and in the same location as their planned demonstration.
Their statement further goes on: "We have received information that far-left groups were planning to attack Hindus whilst dressed in EDL clothing, which may be purchased freely from our internet shop. This cowardly attack, had it taken place, was to be blamed on our organisation with the intent of discrediting our stated aim of peacefully protesting against radical Islam.
"Due to the respect we have for the peace loving Hindu community, we deemed it only right and proper that we cancel our own plans to ensure their safety. We hope that the action we have taken will be taken as further proof that we stand only against Muslim extremists. No other decent, honest, peaceful person or group has anything to fear from the EDL."The good people of Bolton, who have shown us solid support, should be reassured that we will arrange another demonstration in due course. No street, town or city is off-limits to the English Defence League in our own land. We shall never surrender a single, solitary inch of our country to extremists. We shall defend our freedoms, our values and our culture against all who would destroy them."
Needless to say the EDLers from Daubhill (an area of Bolton with a large Muslim community), who one of them said would be 'on the rampage' on the 6th March in Bolton, on the EDL's own facebook page for the event, are not likely to be very happy to know that the 'values or culture ' the EDL referred to in its initial statement calling off the event, and said they shall 'never ever' surrender (but which as now been replaced with they shall never surrender to extremists a 'solitary inch of our country to' and to which a further sentenced has been added concerning defending our freedoms, values and our culture) embraces that of the 'peace loving Hindu community'! This since most of them wouldn't likely know the difference between a Muslim and a Hindu even if their life depended on it, and who ultimately are mostly racists in general and against all foreigners and not just Muslims!
Hence the EDL leadership's dilemma in Bolton - the potential debacle of loads of their own guys indiscriminately beating up Hindus and others non-Muslim minorities in the town hall square - something which would be clearly recorded on video, since Victoria Square likely has more cctv cameras per square yard than most places in Britain, not least as a result of previous NF and fascist marches there in the past, a scenario which would be a PR catastrophe for the EDL. Hence also arising from this fact, their slander of the UAF in their initial statement, the words 'UAF' are replaced with 'far-left groups' in the revised statement (if it was not so obviously laughable a charge!) preparing to attack the Hindu Festival dressed up as EDLers had the EDL march taken place.
If they actually had anyone with any brains on the ground in Bolton (they claim to have several thousand supporters in Bolton as opposed to the zero locals in the UAF), and done their homework, then they would have sussed out what was going on in the town hall square before they planned their protest, also concerning all those cctv cameras. They would have also known the Hindu Forum were planning to cancel their event if the EDL protest was to be allowed to go ahead anyway, so even if people from the UAF or 'far-left groups' had been planning to do as they say, which of course is an outrageous accusation, might likely have found none of them there to attack anyway.
This failure of intelligence is surely doubly embarrassing for the EDL's leaders should it become widely known amongst their rank and file, since had the EDL stuck to their guns, and the march not been banned by the police, the 'peace loving Hindus' they say they called their demo off in respect for, wouldn't have been there for their own thugs to attack either, a fact which effectively means they called off their protest needlessly and prematurely, if at the much lesser PR damage of the proposed Hindu festival being cancelled by its own organisers, a decision which could have been more easily countered.
Further if the EDL's 'spin' concerning the cancellation of the Bolton protest, which we should all see as a big tactical retreat by them, having been done without their protest having been banned by the Council or the police, had any truth in it, all anyone needs to do in the future to stop the EDL protesting anywhere is to ask their nearest Hindu community to organise a religious festival in the same place and however many thugs the EDL might be able to muster are going to be asked to stand down. It is difficult to imagine this is either the truth of the matter or is an idea that is going to go down well at all with the EDL's generally racist and football hooligan type rank and file foot-soldiers. As a consequence must lead to both demoralisation and internal conflicts as a result, also to likely reduced mobilisations at other such proposed events by these elements, who at some stage are going to start to work out that they are nothing but pawns in a bigger game played by people they don't know or ever elected and who don't seem to have the stomach for fighting themselves, against not only ALL immigrants and minorities, but Muslims either, if any Hindus are around. In short is going to really 'do their heads in'.
Mark Krantz of the SWP conjectures that the BNP's suit and tie brigade leaders are the ones calling the shots here not only out of fear of Bolton becoming a potential PR disaster too close to the forthcoming elections (which it would have been had they come anyway given the growing cross-community, trades union backed campaign beginning to build up against the EDL's protest locally which would have been greatly strengthened by a national UAF mobilisation) but as part of a strategic retreat by the EDL in the run up to the elections generally for the very same PR and electorally orientated reason. However, if that were so, one has to ask why they are still planning to protest in Dudley on the 4th April, and why the word on the street in Daubhill today, is they want to re-schedule their visit to Bolton to May Bank Holiday Monday (3rd May), ie. in the same week as most likely the local elections and General elections will be taking place?
Whatever date they decide on, should they decide to re-schedule their protest in Bolton, we need to be in the town hall square to give them the mother of all unfriendly receptions to our town.
Their current retreat fortunately provides those of us locally with greater room to manoeuvre and to organise, which we should utilise to the full. Our first action should be a big united celebration in Victoria Square of Bolton's rich and diverse cultural heritage on the 6th March as if the EDL were still coming, and as a dress rehearsal for any future visit by the EDL to our town which will show them our determination to stand up to the intimidation and threats of violence by their overtly racist hooligan supporters. We also need to go on the offensive against the EDL locally, especially in Daubhill and in other working class areas of Bolton were they are active, to counter their Islamaphobic propaganda and activities and to weed out and publicly expose their local racist and fascist leaders and organisers.
See you in Bolton on the 6th March.
Stephen Hall - South Lancs Respect Party organiser