Backlash of fanatics March in England
Backlash over fanatics' march: As 250,000 protest, PM condemns hate preacher's plan for parade in town that honours war dead
By Ian Drury
Alan Johnson will support any request to ban a provocative march by Islamic extremists through Wootton Bassett, the town renowned for honouring Britain's war dead.
The Home Secretary reacted yesterday to mounting public anger at hate preacher Anjem Choudary's plan to stage the stunt.
Gordon Brown had earlier declared that he was 'completely disgusted' at the 'abhorrent' protest proposed by the firebrand cleric.
Protest preacher: Anjem Choudary of Islam4UK outside the Palaces of Westminster in central London today
Protest preacher: Anjem Choudary of Islam4UK outside the Palaces of Westminster in central London today
Choudary provoked outrage at the weekend by announcing that 500 hard-line members of the radical group Islam4UK would parade through the Wiltshire market town with empty coffins to symbolise the Muslims 'mercilessly murdered' in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 42-year-old cleric is head of the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun and has hailed the 9/11 terrorists as 'martyrs'.
His plans for the march have prompted more than 250,000 signatures on a Facebook petition demanding it be banned. The huge scale of the internet campaign - even though a date for the protest has not yet been announced - forced the Government to move to quell public anger.
Amid fears that the protest would descend into violence, Mr Johnson said he would have no hesitation in backing any request by Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council to ban it.
'The idea that anyone would stage this kind of demonstration in Wootton Bassett fills me with revulsion,' said the Home Secretary.
'I find it particularly offensive that the town which has acted in such a moving and dignified way in paying tribute to our troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country should be targeted in this manner.
'Those behind this stunt seek only to incite hatred and discord.'
The people of Wootton Bassett have lined the streets more than 100 times to pay their respects when the bodies of servicemen and women are driven through the town after being repatriated to nearby RAF Lyneham.
Yesterday a clearly angry Mr Brown said he was horrified that Choudary was shamefully attempting to hijack the market town for political purposes.
'I am personally appalled by the prospect of a march in Wootton Bassett,' he said. 'Any attempt to use this location to cause further distress and suffering to those who have lost loved ones would be abhorrent and offensive.'
David Cameron said such a march would be unacceptable. I think this group are just saying that because they want to get some cheap publicity. Their views are completely reprehensible to the overwhelming majority of not just the British public, but British Muslims as well.
'Anjem Choudary needs to be looked at seriously in terms of the legality of what he's saying because he strays, I think, extremely close to the line of encouraging hatred, extremism and violence.'
Enlarge Wootton Bassett pettion.jpg
The Facebook petition which has been signed by almost 250,000 people
Lucy Aldridge, whose rifleman son William, 18, was killed in a Taliban ambush last year, said: 'My son lost his life and had respect paid to him through Wootton Bassett and I applaud the kind people of that town.
'Anjem Choudary is a well-known extremist and his aim is to simply incite civil unrest and violence. I'm sure there are grounds for the police to investigate whether he has committed an offence.
'If it goes ahead there is no way it will be peaceful.'
General Sir Patrick Cordingley, commander of the Desert Rats in the 1991 Gulf War, said: 'It is bitterly disappointing that this wonderful response to our servicemen's sacrifice in Afghanistan is hijacked for clearly political purposes.
'I hope that it will be ignored as it should be. This proposition will serve to incense the British public.'
Refusing to call off the march, Choudary said: 'The objective of this procession is not against the people of Wootton Bassett. It is about making a political statement.'
In remarks designed to cause maximum offence, he compared fallen British heroes to Nazi stormtroopers and the terrorists who carried out September 11 and July attacks on the U.S. and London.
Wootton Bassett
Dignified: Wootton Bassett has a tradition of parading the coffins of local soldiers who died in combat
Launching into a bizarre explanation of why he opposed crowds honouring fallen British soldiers, he said: 'The same could be said about the Germans fighting for Nazism in the Second World War. Those involved in 7/7 and 9/11 considered themselves to be soldiers.
'How would the British people feel if there was a parade for those who carried out 9/11 or 7/7?'
Choudary posted an open letter on the internet addressed to the families of British troops killed by the Taliban, urging them to become Muslims 'to save yourselves from the hellfire'.
The preacher told the parents that their children had died in vain.
The Wiltshire Islamic Cultural Centre said: 'We unreservedly condemn this march and call on the organisers to not go ahead with it in the interests of public safety and the Muslims they claim to represent as well as to respect the rights of the people of Wootton Bassett and Wiltshire.
'We will hold Anjum Choudary and al-Muhajiroun responsible for any backlash against any Muslim in Wiltshire or elsewhere as a result of their proposed irresponsible and irrational actions and any insecurity brought upon the majority peaceful Muslim population.'
Enlarge One woman.
Neither Wiltshire Council nor Wiltshire Police has yet received an application from Islam4UK to stage a march.
They could ban the march using the Public Order Act 1986, once a formal request has been submitted.
The Mayor of Wootton Bassett, Steven Bucknell, said he had received concerned emails from all over the world about the protest march.
He said: 'I won't comment on whether this march is a good thing or a bad thing but I will say it is entirely inappropriate for any march, protest or demonstration which refers to Afghanistan or Iraq to come through Wootton Bassett.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240318/100-000-people-Facebook-...
why those extermists reside in uk ? and how come the government cant deal with them
olive i am trying to make you understand that what this man is doing is simply his own way of protesting against what is described in the entire islamic world as a great tradegy,the wars and i believe no muslim,whether arab or non-arab would like to see their fellow muslim brothers and sisters annihilated by the occupying armies,Mr Choudary's protest would somewhat,catch the attention of the british government and the officials would decide against continuing the illegal war in afghanistan and bring the soldiers home.
That's my point Brit. It's a shame he's involved and is turning it into a circus and the wrong message. If he wasn't, and this was simply a protest against the wars, it would be quite a poignant one.
Anjem Choudary is just after press coverage. He admitted that yesterday in an interview. The Right wing press is making a big deal and giving him the publicity he craves.
The easiest option is to let the march go ahead and ignore it totally.
blow up....
This so-called muslim is no more a muslim than I am! This prick wants nothing more than to start a civil war, claim that there are a million muslim brits who want to have their own country, and segregate the UK. It's all politics. They don't shy away from saying that their march will continue to the white house and make it Allah House! They said it themselves, no disguising the fact that these guys care only about spreading their sick version of Islam around the world. They should all be deported to some island to kill each other off!
Siiigghhh...sometimes one can be at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Worst of all, with the wrong society.
I found quiet heart broken that the Brits have banned totally the right to own guns, other wise the Islamic extremist will be pushing daisies a long time ago.
Mintus I'm talking about the over all "idea" of the protest which is to carry empty coffins symbolizing the innocents who've died in Afghan & Iraq as a means of protesting the war as a whole. This is what I agree with and think is a good idea. Choudry has just put a horrible spin on it and I agree he should be deported and banned forever from the UK.
This is meant to inflame relations between Muslims and non muslims in the UK. If you cant see why that is bad then your blind.
Some of you guys are even being drawn into this tripe that the Mail is trying to incite.It is people like Mr Choudry who polute the image of Islam round the world and If I can see it then why cant you?
No mater what you think 99.999999% of British and American people would not dishonor the Afgan/Iraqi wardead like this and I find it utterly disgusting to take such an action. This guy should be removed from the UK and banned forever the vile little man.
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I do understand that....What are you trying to make me understand?
You have to understand,that neither afghans,iraqis nor any other Muslim nation has ever invaded or occupied Britain as far as history can recall.
Hence why they should be honoured Mr. M.
Yes,but it is ALWAYS the civilians who are suffering the most,in the afghan or the iraq wars,if you can compare the few hundred or even the few thousand soldiers who died there to the staggering number of civilians,including women and young children,it would run into the hundreds of thousands killed violently.
I think the impact will be greater in Wotton Basset. To say that they shouldn't hold it there implies that the innocents killed aren't as important as the soldiers killed.
It's about respecting the dead BRITISH soldiers in BRITAIN...if this proven Islamic fundamentalist organization's true aim is indeed to highlight the deaths of innocent civilians,are there not enough places in Britain APART from Wotton Basset to hold it? let them go march around Picadilly Circus or something...
Yes, HE personally is dishonouring the war dead in Britain, and vicariously I think his thoughts and actions dishonour every Muslim living or dead in the world. HOWEVER, I do like the idea of marching to honour all the innocents that have died. Like I said, kick Chaudary to the curb and hold this protest respectfully.
Olive, in my opinion, i think what Mr Chaudary is doing is wrong in the eyes of the government and the people of Great Britain,as they felt he is dishonouring the deceased Servicemen and women in the afghanistan and iraq wars,but on the other hand,what Mr Chaudary is also trying to prove is that these foreign armies who came from overseas to invade,occupy,loot and annihilate the hapless innocent civilans is a great tradegy,and instead the civilians who are violently killed for no fault of theirs should be remembered first and foremost.
Why not hold it in Wotton Basset? If Wotton Basset is known for honouring war dead then where better to honour all the innocents that have died in these conflicts?
Since this march is being held in Britain,the least these guys can do,simply out of respect for the British troops that have lost their lives completely needlessly may i add,fighting a war that isn't even theirs to start with,is to hold it in a different location...holding it @ Wootton Bassett is IMHO making a mockery of the brave soldiers who needlesly lost their lives,but then again,only in "politically correct" Britain can this happen,in any other country this Anjem fella would either be cooling his heels behind bars indefinitely or be deported without trial...i've said on numerous occassions & i say again,this "PC" nonsense is going to bite Britain in the a%&,in fact,it already is,slowly but surely...
Ok, I'll post my thoughts here cause I didn't want to add to an already long post.
Firstly, I'm hoping people won't be overly distracted by this obviously anti-Islam slanted story. This stories so biased it makes Fox news look impartial. :P
Secondly, while I don't particularly like Choudry and I think HIS reasons for staging the protest are frankly disgusting I do actually like what they intend to do and I think it's an excellent statement to make to the Brits that there soliders aren't the only ones dying, that many innocent people are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq and Britain should not be involved.
So frankly I'm torn. I'd say the group should toss Choudry out and say that they are staging this to honour all the innocents who've died in these stupid conflicts.
What say you?
The Daily Mail - i wouldn't line a cat litter tray with that.