By John Kipling and Paul Hubert THE PLANNED march by the Nazi BNP through the heart of the Asian community in Halifax was thwarted by the mobilisation of more than 500 anti-fascists on 15 August.
Despite a big police presence, the 80 BNPers had to be content with a brief harangue from fascist leader John Tyndall in an outlying park. Three anti-fascists were arrested when a breakaway from the main demo went looking for fascists in the town centre.
The Nazis were trying to capitalise on isolated attacks on white people in the area, which had been sensationalised in the local evening paper.
A big effort to build the antifascist demonstration was made by the SWP/ANL who br Aight people from around th on. A contingent also Trom Anti-fascist Action, as well as Socialist Outlook supporters from both sides of the Pennines.
However the composition of the demonstration, and events on it, highlighted problems in the composition and orientation of the anti-fascist movement.
Organised labour movement support outside the far left was limited, although banners from Bradford, Leeds and Kirklees NALGO - and one MSF banner - were brought. A substantial majority of the march came from outside Halifax, although 70 members of the Asian community attended.
The final rally was marred by a disturbing incident. Yasmin 12 Sept, 1992 No. 27 Alem, an Asian woman member of the SWP, raised from the platform the absence of any significant number of Asian women on the march, when there was a significant number of Asian men.
She went on to raise the question of the oppression of, and violence against, women in Asian Muslim households. This led to abuse from Asian men in the crowd, culminating in the disconnection the microphone and her being physically assaulted when she came down from the platform.
SWP leader Rahul Patel took the microphone and defused the situation by leading the crowd in chanting anti-Nazi slogans. But neither he nor other SWP members were prepared to defend his right to speak; instead of being offered an opportunity to complete her contribution she was upbraided for being 'divisive.
A few days before the demonstration a young Asian woman in Halifax had been murdered; it seems likely she was murdered because she had a husband in Pakistan (who she met once and a boyfriend in Bradford.
Such questions have a powerful daily reality; it is impossible for anti-racists to put them aside in the name of the need for 'unity.
This relates to the question of continuing anti-racist activity on the ground - or the lack of it.
The lack of a permanent framework for anti-racist campaigning has led some Asian youth to think that the best form of attack is random physical violence against racists.