"Barricade the streets, so they can't march!" "Those who should march should be deported!" Just some of the backlash the proposal has had. I'm sorry, I thought we lived in a democracy. Admittedly, they could have picked a better spot, but when you think about it, there's logic in their decision.
Their march is against the British military actions in Afghanistan, and their aim is to honour the Muslim casualties, and since Bassett is renowned for it's respect of repatriations of British dead, it's a relevant place.
But it would seem that many people are against it, to absurd degrees. Yes, I understand that it can't be nice to have the other side of the war march through 'the Highway of Heroes', but they're affected by the war as much as we are.
Having said that, they protesters need to be careful about what they say on the march (should it go ahead). It's been pointed out that some of the language used can be inflammatory, and if they should resort to such behaviour, their message, which I think is valid, will just simply be lost in howls of outrage. So whilst they can point out that for every dead British soldier there are 50 dead Afghans, they can't refer to the soldiers as 'baby-killers'.
My view? Personally, I think it should go ahead. I don't fully approve of the venue, but then that's life. Sometimes, there are things that we may not like. There's also the issue of Freedom of Speech. If we (by that I mean white Christians) have the right to express our views, then the Muslim community should have the same right.
If the march doesn't go ahead, I will be most disappointed that the right of Freedom of Speech has seemingly been ignored.
If the march doesn't go ahead, I will be most disappointed that the right of Freedom of Speech has seemingly been ignored.
