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This month\u2019s column is a tricky one.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not addressed to the so-called Bristol Patriots. It\u2019s addressed to the religious communities they have attempted to engage in bad faith in their forthcoming \u2018unity protest\u2019 in March. They\u2019re asking for Christians, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs to come together and march with them for faith and freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n I won\u2019t repeat the other messaging in their poster other than to assure you \u2013 it\u2019s Islamophobic as shit. I\u2019m writing this to the Christians, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs of Bristol: let\u2019s stand together, against the Bristol Patriots and their divisive march, and in solidarity with the Muslim community of our city. Bristol Patriots do not stand for faith and freedom. They stand for division and Islamphobia. How do I know? Well, I saw their original poster (now changed to be a march against extremism. How ironic, Bristol Patriots. Isn\u2019t the call coming from inside the house here?)<\/p>\n every single religion is about love, compassion, dignity and justice<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So, to the religious communities of Bristol: I want to write to you about freedom, unity and what solidarity can look like. I was born into a Hindu family. My grandfather, my bapuji, was a deeply religious man, who believed in the tenets of Hinduism. He believed in love, peace, harmony. He was obsessed with dharma and karma. He dedicated his life to human rights, to the betterment of man.\u00a0<\/p>\n He loved talking to people from other religions, and believed that a spiritual practice, whether or not it was the one he observed, was better than not having one at all. He was a role model for me when it came to acceptance, tolerance, and service to the community. He said to me once, and it has stayed with me, that every single religion is about love, compassion, dignity and justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is nothing compassionate, loving, dignified or judicious about this callout from the Bristol Patriots. By pitting religions against each other, all they are doing is sowing the seeds of division in our city, attempting to intimidate and vilify a community and continue their campaign of terror on Bristol\u2019s minorities.<\/p>\n Bapuji has been dead for over thirty years and he would be shocked to see people trying to turn different religions against each other. He would be shaking with fury at the way certain far-right Hindu communities have weaponised a peaceful loving religion against our Muslim brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, nieces and nephews. He would be, I imagine, anti-Modi. I\u2019ve been thinking about him recently, because I\u2019ve been reflecting on what the best response to this 7th March protest could be.<\/p>\n I say this all this because I am calling for people from major religions, and from none, in Bristol to join a counter-protest<\/a> against the far right on March 7th. I want us to turn up in our hundreds to support our Muslims friends and neighbours. There is no unity that is exclusionary and it\u2019s clear who the Bristol Patriots aim to exclude. Their attempt to launder their image is laughable, and deeply cynical.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their previous protest in January was another attempt to obfuscate what they\u2019re about. It was apparently about digital IDs and wanting Stamer out of government. The time before that, last November, was about harassing refugees in hotels, swearing at kids in windows and marching alongside Nick Tenconi, the leader of UKIP, who loves a Nazi salute<\/a>. But for a group of people obsessed with small boats and immigration, who hate refugees and whose own members have been heard to shout racist slurs at these so-called protests, I cannot imagine any of this is in good faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is nothing compassionate, loving, dignified or judicious about this callout from the Bristol Patriots<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This divisive gaslighting angers me so much. So I hope to see as many of you as possible on the 7th March, standing against Bristol Patriots and their hateful agenda. Let\u2019s come together and organise a counter-protest that celebrates all that unites us in our city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dhol players of Bristol, come and bang your drums! Sign-makers, show us your snappiest slogans. Allies, comrades, friends, neighbours, let\u2019s clump together in one big solidarity bloc. I know these protests are scary. I know that the far right likes to intimidate us and then act the victim. I know that there are better things to do on a weekend that go and drown out a small but extreme, and extremely vocal, minority. But we need to do it. That\u2019s what this city, with its progressive heart, its welcoming streets, its playful nature and its fiercely community-minded spirit is about.\u00a0<\/p>\n To our Muslim siblings, know that you are not alone. I, and so many others stand with you, in solidarity.<\/p>\n On Saturday 7 March, there will be an antifascist demonstration meeting at the Cenotaph at 10 am. <\/p>\n Independent. Investigative. Indispensable.<\/p>\n Investigative journalism strengthens democracy \u2013 it\u2019s a necessity, not a luxury.<\/p>\n The Cable is Bristol\u2019s independent, investigative newsroom. Owned and steered by more than 2,600 members<\/b>, we produce award-winning journalism that digs deep into what\u2019s happening in Bristol.<\/p>\n We are on a mission to become sustainable, and to do that we need more members. <\/b>Will you help us get there?<\/b><\/p>\n
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