Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'racism'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • GENERAL
    • WHAT'S HAPPENING?
    • GURBANI | SAKHIAN | HISTORY
    • GUPT FORUM
    • POLITICS | LIFESTYLE
  • COMMUNITY
    • CLOSED TOPICS

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Website URL


Location


Interests

  1. ‘If we did nothing we would be killed on the streets’ – Benjamin Zephaniah on fighting the far right Racist violence was never far away for the poet and author when he was growing up. And even when the thugs put on suits, the threat of the far right never disappeared. In this exclusive extract, he explains how he learned to fight back This is personal. It started when I was about eight years old. I was walking on Farm Street in Hockley, Birmingham, where my family lived. I was in my own little world, having poetic thoughts and wondering what the future held for me. Then, bang, I felt an almighty slap on the back of my head and I fell to the floor. A boy had hit me with a brick as he rode past on his bicycle. As I lay on the ground with blood pouring from the back of my head, he looked back and shouted: “Go home, you black <banned word filter activated>.” I had no idea what he was talking about. I was going home. Who was black? What was a <banned word filter activated>? At home my mother sat me down and explained to me that there were some people in this country that didn’t like people who were not white, and they wanted us to go back home. I spent the next few months wondering where my “real” home was – I thought it was in Birmingham – and what was so great about being white, and why would anyone want to hit someone because of the colour of their skin? I was growing up confused, but a couple of years later I felt the need to show my independence and spend some time away from my family, so I decided to visit my local youth club. The game of choice for young boys back then was table tennis, a game that I had played a few times and was quite good at. When I arrived at the centre I went straight to the table-tennis table and watched a few games; then I plucked up the courage and asked if I could play. I was quickly surrounded by a group of young boys and girls who started pushing me towards the door and telling me that black people should not come to this club. I was pushed and tripped to the floor a couple of times but I was relieved to see an adult arrive on the scene and come to my rescue. But he wasn’t much help. He did tell the mob to leave me alone, and then he took me into his office, where he told me that it would be best if I didn’t come back to the youth club because I would upset the atmosphere. He said they were like a family at the club, and I should find a family of my own. These are just two examples of the racism that I experienced as a very young boy. I understood very quickly that I had to grow up tough and that I had to always be on the lookout for strangers who hated me and anyone like me. For the next few years I suffered many racist attacks, but I became streetwise. I learned boxing and kung fu so I could look after myself. But there was not much I could do when I was surrounded by 20 of them, and there was not much I could do when the perpetrators were the police. The police brought another level of difficulty to my life, but that’s another story. In order to escape the unemployment, the “thug life” and the West Midlands police force, in 1979 I left Birmingham and headed to London. I found myself in Leyton, east London, which looked very much like the community I had left in Birmingham: working-class white people, who on the whole were enjoying the benefits of a multicultural community. The music of youth then was punk, reggae, ska and soul. Street and park festivals were popular, and (on the whole) the attitude of youth was that we had to stick together in order to overcome the miseries of unemployment, and music was a great way of bringing us together. But it didn’t take long for me to realise that there were two big issues that we had to deal with day after day, and night after night: the police, who had something called the “sus” law that they used to use against us, and the National Front. National Front members tended to have low-cut or shaved hair, rolled-up jeans and steel-capped boots, and they made no attempt to hide the fact that their main purpose was to rid the country of foreigners. They would roam the streets and viciously attack people who weren’t like them. They would often crash our clubs and cause destruction, or they would wait until we left the clubs, follow us for a while, and then attack. There were many times when I had to fight my way out of clubs, or fight my way home, but one of the most violent attacks I ever witnessed happened one night at Stratford. Stratford was a place that was proud of its multicultural makeup. I felt safe there, although I knew that not far away there were no-go areas for black people. Barking and Canning Town were places we were told never to visit. They were National Front strongholds and the racists there clearly marked their boundaries. Canning Town was adjacent to Stratford, where one hot, sticky night I was walking home as slowly as I could. I noticed a couple waiting for a bus who looked as if they were passionately in love. They hugged and kissed so much that I had to lower my gaze in embarrassment. After one long kiss the bus arrived and to my surprise the boy got on the bus, leaving the girl to walk home. I know it was sexist to assume that it was the boy walking the girl to the bus stop, but that was me back then; I was learning. As the girl began to walk away, skinheads (from Canning Town) began to emerge from every nearby shop doorway. They surrounded the girl, calling her a “nigger lover” and a “slag”; they kicked her to the ground and continued to kick her, until I and another passerby intervened. Intervened might be too strong a word; we distracted them just enough to allow the girl to get up and run away, but in the process we got quite a kicking ourselves. What really struck me about this incident was the viciousness of the attack. Strong young men, ranging in age from 16 to 30, kicking, punching and stamping on a girl who was no older than 18. She was white like them, but they hated her because of her love for a black man. Each one of them was filled with hatred for someone they had never met, and someone who could have been related to one of them. They hated us, and they hated anyone who didn’t hate us, and they had even more hatred for anyone who would dare to love us. As a young Rastafarian I was taught not to hate, and it wasn’t in my nature to hate – after all, we were listening to music that was all about peace and love and bringing people together. We wanted to be living examples of how people could live together, but we knew that if we did nothing we would be killed on the streets. We knew that the National Front was a Nazi front, so our slogan became “Self-defence is no offence”, and we meant it. To defend ourselves in local communities up and down the country, black and Asian groups organised self-defence groups. These were people who would spring into action, defending (when possible) anyone who was attacked. In London, we had a group called Red Action, a bunch of leftwingers who operated like an alternative police force. They would come to clubs and gatherings and make sure that the event was not invaded and that people got home safely. There were no mobile phones so they would communicate with each other using walkie-talkies, and they would react to our distress calls much quicker than Her Majesty’s police force. Then there was the legendary Sari Squad. These were women, mainly of south Asian origin, who were experts in various martial arts and ready and willing to take on any racists who would try to spoil our fun. They fought with style, and would usually burst into song after seeing off any attackers. The National Front did not hide their bigotry. They chanted racist songs, they praised fascist heroes and they did Nazi salutes; but then something strange happened. A schism appeared. They had put up candidates in elections before, but now a group within the “movement” thought that they should seek more respectability and concentrate their efforts on becoming a real political party by seeking power through the ballot box. We still had to fight them on the streets. But now some of them had begun wearing suits and appearing on television programmes. They even made party political broadcasts, which some argued was a major contributor to their downfall. They were a great example of a political party with no intellectual base at all. We knew that in order to make Britain more British they planned to get rid of immigrants, but now we also knew that to cut crime they were going to get rid of immigrants, to save the National Health Service they were going to get rid of immigrants, to bring inflation down they were going to get rid of immigrants, to get the traffic moving they were going to get rid of immigrants, and to improve the British weather they were going to get rid of immigrants. It was the only idea they had. The National Front continued to argue among themselves about how racist they should be and where they should concentrate their racism, and as they did so their membership began to wane. And so Combat 18 and the British National Party (BNP) began to grow. For a while the popular face of racism was the BNP, but then they lost their thunder, and then came the UK Independence Party (Ukip) and the English Defence League (EDL). This is not a subject I studied; I was only interested in all this because I was a writer and commentator, so there were times when I would have to confront their members on TV debates, but – I’m going to repeat myself – we still had to fight them on the streets. When the racists were busy changing their names and public personas, the majority of their victims weren’t concerned with what they were calling themselves. When they were deciding whether or not they should be wearing suits or boots, we were not considering how we should dress in response; we were still fighting for our lives on the streets. At various times we were being told by the racists that their enemies were the “Pakis”, or “Jamaican yardies”, or the “Islamic fundamentalists”, but whatever they say, whatever they call themselves, they have been attacking the same people on the streets, and we (those same people) still have to fight them on the streets. Nothing much has changed. I have drawn strength and inspiration from the many people who have stood up to the racist thugs and defended our freedom to walk the streets over the years. When the police would not take attacks on black people seriously, allowing gangs of racists to roam the streets, hunting us down, and when those same police drew inspiration from a government that accused immigrants of swamping Britain, we were left to ourselves. There are many unsung heroes who really did put their lives on the line in our struggle. Some died in action, and we must always remember them. There are no monuments to them, there is no state recognition of them, but they are true martyrs. But I am saddened by some of the people who fought the racists that have now become part of the establishment; at best they tolerate racism by the establishment, at worst they become a part of it. Many became part of what was called “the race industry”. They were skilled in applying for grants and starting projects, or they were skilled at positioning themselves to get the “good” jobs in the booming “race industry”. This is not a criticism of them; I just want to make the point (again) that when they were doing all that, we were still fighting them on the streets. Blair Peach, Stephen Lawrence, Anthony Walker or the girl I saw being beaten in Stratford were not in meetings when they were attacked; they were not applying for grants or running for parliament when they were attacked; they were all walking the streets. I have to agree with those who claim that the political elite has neglected the white working class. There are poor white people living in ghettoes all over Britain, they live in terrible housing conditions, their traditional industries have been destroyed, their schools are being run down, and governments of all colours have been ignoring their cries for help for decades. It’s true. What is also true is that there are poor black people living in ghettoes all over Britain. They also live in terrible housing conditions, their traditional industries have been destroyed, their schools are being run down, and governments have been ignoring their cries for help since the creation of the slave trade and the building of the British empire. It is precisely for these reasons that I have always thought that these poor white people and these poor black people should unite and confront the people who oversee all of our miseries. It is classic divide and rule. The biggest fear of all of the mainstream politicians is that we all reach a point where we understand how much we have in common and, instead of turning on ourselves, we turn on them. In poetry and prose I have said that unity is strength, and that we should get to a point where we are not talking about black rights or white rights, Asian rights or rights for migrant workers; we are just talking about our rights. As long as people of colour and minority groups are seen as the other, as long as we are being blamed for all of society’s ills (including too many cars on our roads), we will keep trying to get our politicians to be honest, and we will continue to call on the white working classes to unite with us. But, if they don’t, we will still have to fight racists on the streets. This is personal. Extracted from the introduction to Angry White People: Coming face-to-face with the British far right, by Hsiao-Hung Pai, published by Zed Books on 15 March, £12.99. The author will be at Waterstones Trafalgar Square, 12 April, 7pm. To reserve a place, email trafalgarsq@waterstones.com http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/28/if-we-did-nothing-we-would-be-killed-on-the-streets-benjamin-zephaniah-on-fighting-the-far-right
  2. @Ranjeet01 @dallysingh101and anyone else who can remember this story. was this on a level of police incompetence as the Stephen Lawrence enquiry? Was it definitely whites or was it some other brown people that targeted Ricky and his friends ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ricky-Reel-Silence-Not-Option/dp/1914143574/ref=asc_df_1914143574/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606746863805&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10571136343496038818&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044970&hvtargid=pla-1729121938056&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsbirmingham/ricky-reels-mum-to-speak-of-25-year-fight-for-justice-over-death-of-her-son/ar-AA12HWlH Ricky Reel's mum to speak of 25-year fight for justice over death of her son Amneet Kaur - Friday ReactComments A mum is seeking answers to end the 25-year riddle of how her much-loved son was found dead in the River Thames. Heartbroken Sukhdev Kaur Reel said she and others needed to finally know what happened to 20-year-old Ricky. He vanished in October 1997 after a night out with friends in what his mother believed was a racist attack in Kingston-upon-Thames in south-west London. His three friends were able to regroup but Ricky never did. His body was found in the water a week later. Sukhdev has written a book, Silence is not an option, about her struggle for the truth and how she has coped with her son's unsolved death. She is touring the work and will speak at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, from 3pm to 5pm tomorrow, Saturday, October 8. She claimed police did not support her and instead made stereotypical assumptions about him due to his race and skin colour. The Met confirmed the case remained open and has previously denied Ricky's race was a factor in its investigation. In 2014, the then-chief constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, Mick Creedon, said in a report into Scotland Yard's now-disbanded undercover unit, the Special Demonstration Squad, that information on families campaigning for justice for loved ones was gathered by officers who infiltrated political groups. He said the justice campaigns had not been the targets of police infiltration. The intelligence was "hoovered up" accidentally by officers ordered to infiltrate leftist groups, which police chiefs believed were capable of violence. Sukhdev told BirminghamLive: "I wanted to have the book ready and published on Ricky’s 25th anniversary. It is his legacy and memories for his siblings and their children who unfortunately never met Ricky. "People need to know what happened to Ricky and how we were treated by the institutions who are supposed to deliver justice. Instead we were mocked because of our colour and race. In the eyes of the police there is this perception that Asian families force their children into marriages. I wanted to show the world that is not the case. We are no different and we need justice. "Justice is essential and not elective. The book details the truly shocking compound failure by the police to investigate the death, while displaying ineptitude, indifference, incompetence and downright hostility towards our family. "Basic investigations into what happened including searches were carried out by the family. It later transpired that the family and its supporters were under police surveillance at a time when resources were deemed scarce and unavailable to be used for investigation into Ricky's disappearance. The police refused then, and to this day, to be open, transparent and accountable. Asked if she believed racially-motivated crime rates had dropped 25 years on, Sukhdev said: "One only has to look at the history and our case to see institutional racism we as people of colour face in today’s society. "Some may say this happened 25 years ago. But in light of the recent events and revelations particularly about the Met, I am saddened to say that it could have happened yesterday. In my opinion I see no changes to racism we faced 25 years ago, which I feel is very much alive today as well. " A Met spokesperson said: "The investigation into the death of Ricky Reel remains open. "The Met's inquiry has been extensive - since Ricky’s disappearance and the discovery of his body in the River Thames on October 21, 1997, there have been numerous investigations and reviews. Officers have taken hundreds of statements from witnesses and people with information. "There have been many media appeals and local leaflet appeals as part of our extensive efforts to piece together the circumstances around Ricky’s death. "The inquest in 1999 into Ricky’s death returned an open verdict. In 2012, new information was reported to police by a member of the public – which led to a man being interviewed by officers however he was subsequently eliminated from the inquiry. "No arrests have been made, or charges brought in connection with Ricky’s death. "Currently, there are no active lines of inquiry into the death of Ricky and the case remains open. We would urge anyone with information about Ricky’s death to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Any new information will be assessed and followed up as appropriate."
  3. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10844579/University-nursing-lecturer-struck-mocking-Sikh-wearing-turban.html University nursing lecturer who mocked his Sikh colleague for wearing a turban by asking 'where's your hat?' is struck off Maurice Slaven has been stripped of his nursing licence for racial harassment He repeatedly mocked a Sikh colleague's faith and called his turban a 'bandage' Mr Slaven being struck off ends a 22-year career for the former RAF man By CHAY QUINN FOR MAILONLINE PUBLISHED: 09:28, 23 May 2022 | UPDATED: 10:44, 23 May 2022 View comments A nursing lecturer has been struck off after repeatedly mocking his Sikh colleague's turban. Maurice Slaven, a child nursing lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, repeatedly degraded his colleague's traditional headdress as a 'hat' and a 'bandage' and referred to Sikhs as 'you lot'. Mr Slaven has now been stripped of his nursing licence by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) - ending a 22-year career for the former RAF man. The former nurse had worked at NHS hospitals in the past and mocked the founder of the Sikh religion Guru Nanak. Cambridge-based Slaven is understood to have qualified as a children's nurse in 1997 in Edinburgh. He racially harassed 'Colleague 1', a senior nursing lecturer, at Anglia Ruskin University for over two years between October 2016 and December 2018, the NMC tribunal heard. The offensive lecturer, who has worked at NHS hospitals across the country, claimed it was 'banter between friends'. Referring to Colleague 1's turban, Slaven said 'why aren't you wearing your bandage?' and also asked 'where's your hat?', before insisting 'no, it's a hat' when his co-worker corrected him. Slaven told Colleague 1 'you seem to take all the religious holidays off, and even Christmas and that's not your holiday' and 'you lot, Sikhs, have all these religious holidays'. When discussing a charity appeal for toys for Sikh children, Slaven said: 'What Sikh Toys? Do you mean daggers, knives and swords?' He once stated: 'Me and Guru Nanak are best buddies, I know him really well and he said he'll be dressing up as Father Christmas this year.' He also once remarked 'Indians came to the UK in a banana boat'. Slaven admitted the charges but did not attend the hearing. A tribunal report said: '[The NMC] considered the misconduct to be serious because Mr Slaven was in a position of trust teaching future nursing professionals. 'He was required to be a role model for students and staff, and his behaviour towards Colleague 1 represented a significant departure from the standards expected of a nurse. 'Mr Slaven held a position of influence over future nurses. 'Colleague 1 expressed fear for 'ethnic minority students who could be unfavoured by him in terms of teaching'.' On an online profile for Slaven on the Anglia Ruskin University website, it states one of his research interests is investigating religion and death.
  4. Nicky Crane: The secret double life of a gay neo-Nazi He was the British extreme right's most feared streetfighter. But almost right up to his death 20 years ago, Nicky Crane led a precarious dual existence - until it fell dramatically apart. The skinhead gang marched in military formation down the High Street clutching iron bars, knives, staves, pickaxe handles and clubs. There were at least 100 of them. They had spent two days planning their attack. The date was 28 March 1980. Soon they reached their target - a queue of mostly black filmgoers outside the Odeon cinema in Woolwich, south-east London. Then the skinheads charged. Most of them belonged to an extreme far-right group called the British Movement (BM). This particular "unit" had already acquired a reputation for brutal racist violence thanks to its charismatic young local organiser. Many victims had learned to fear the sight of his 6ft 2in frame, which was adorned with Nazi tattoos. His name was Nicky Crane. But as he led the ambush, Crane was concealing a secret from his enemies and his fascist comrades alike. Crane knew he was gay, but hadn't acted on it. Not yet. Twelve years later, the same Nicky Crane sat in his Soho bedsit. His room looked out across London's gay village - the bars and nightclubs where he worked as a doorman, where he drank and danced. Crane flicked through a scrapbook filled with photos and news clippings from his far-right past. For years he had managed to keep the two worlds entirely separate. But now he wasn't going to pretend any more. A boy stands in front of a poster featuring Nicky Crane Nicola Vincenzo Crane was born on 21 May 1958 in a semi-detached house on a leafy street in Bexley, south-east London. One of 10 siblings, he grew up in nearby Crayford, Kent. As his name suggests, he had an unlikely background for a British nationalist and Aryan warrior. He was of Italian heritage through his mother Dorothy, whose maiden name was D'Ambrosio. His father worked as a structural draughtsman. But from an early age Crane found a surrogate family in the south-east London skinhead scene. Its members had developed a reputation for violence, starting fights and disrupting gigs by bands such as Sham 69 and Bad Manners. In the late 1970s, gangs like Crane's were widely feared. "When you've come from a tough background, when you get that identity, it's a powerful thing to have," says Gavin Watson, a former skinhead who later got to know Crane. The south-east London skins also had close connections to the far right. Whereas the original skinheads in the late 1960s had borrowed the fashion of Caribbean immigrants and shared their love of ska and reggae music, a highly visible minority of skins during the movement's revival in the late 1970s were attaching themselves to groups like the resurgent National Front (NF). In particular the openly neo-Nazi BM, under the leadership of Michael McLaughlin, was actively targeting young, disaffected working-class men from football terraces as well as the punk and skinhead scenes for recruitment. Crane was an enthusiastic convert to the ideology of National Socialism. "Adolf Hitler was my God," he said in a 1992 television interview. "He was sort of like my Fuhrer, my leader. And everything I done was, like, for Adolf Hitler." Within six months of joining the BM, Crane had been made the Kent organiser, responsible for signing up new members and organising attacks on political opponents and minority groups. He was also inducted into the Leader Guard, which served both as McLaughlin's personal corps of bodyguards and as the party's top fighters. Members wore black uniforms adorned with neo-Nazi symbols and were drilled at paramilitary-style armed training weekends in the countryside. They were also required to have a Leader Guard tattoo. Each featured the letters L and G on either side of a Celtic cross, the British Movement's answer to the swastika. Crane dutifully had his inked on to his flesh alongside various racist slogans. By now working as a binman and living in Plumstead, Crane quickly acquired a reputation, even among the ranks of the far right, for exceptionally brutal violence. A young Crane shows off his tattoos with another skinhead In May 1978, following a BM meeting, he took part in an assault on a black family at a bus stop in Bishopsgate, east London, using broken bottles and shouting racist slogans. An Old Bailey judge described Crane as "worse than an animal". The following year he led a mob of 200 skinheads in an attack on Asians in nearby Brick Lane. Crane later told a newspaper how "we rampaged down the Lane turning over stalls, kicking and punching Pakistanis". The Woolwich Odeon attack of 1980 was described by a prosecutor at the Old Bailey as a "serious, organised and premeditated riot". After their intended victims fled inside, the skinheads drilled by Crane began smashing the cinema's doors and windows, the court was told. A Pakistani man was knocked unconscious in the melee and the windows of a nearby pub were shattered with a pickaxe handle. In 1981 Crane was jailed for his part in an ambush on black youths at Woolwich Arsenal station. As the judge handed down a four-year sentence, an acolyte standing alongside Crane stiffened his arm into a Nazi salute and shouted "sieg heil" from the dock. Crane's three jail terms failed to temper his violence. During one stretch, he launched an attack on several prison officers with a metal tray. A six-month sentence following a fracas on a London Tube train was served entirely at the top-security Isle of Wight prison - a sign of just how dangerous he was regarded by the authorities. All this may have horrified most people, but it made Crane a hugely respected and admired figure across the far right. He was neither an orator nor a conversationalist. His vocabulary was sparse at best. But he managed to exude a powerful charisma. "I knew him, I liked him. He was friendly," says Joseph Pearce, who was leader of the Young National Front during the early 1980s before turning his back on extremist politics. "He was not the most articulate of people. It would be yes or no. It was difficult to have anything but the most superficial conversation with him." In the aftermath of a violent march through racially mixed Lewisham in 1977, much of the UK's extreme right had concluded the path to power lay in controlling the streets and destabilising the multicultural society rather than through the ballot box. The NF's march through Lewisham in 1977 was a watershed moment for the far right At the same time, groups like the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) and, later, Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) were becoming more and more confrontational. "The opposition were very, very combative," Pearce says. "Their strategy was to smash the nationalist movement. It was a necessity to have a street presence that had muscle. Someone like Nicky Crane was a powerful physical but also symbolic presence." This was a description with which even Crane's enemies concurred. "By appearance and reputation he was the epitome of right-wing idealism - fascist icon and poster boy," writes Sean Birchall in his book Beating The Fascists, a history of AFA. Unbeknown to his comrades, however, a very different side to Nicky Crane was emerging. It was a Thursday night at Heaven, a gay nightclub below London's Charing Cross station. Underneath the venue's arched roof stood a young man, up from Brighton for the evening. A garrulous character, he was universally known by his full title of John G Byrne. Since 1969, when he discovered reggae music as a 13-year-old, Byrne had been a skinhead. As he looked across the dancefloor, he caught sight of a man he'd never seen before. The stranger was tall, shaven-headed and tattooed. Byrne introduced himself. It was Nicky Crane, fresh out of prison. "He stood out quite a lot," says Byrne. "A lot of people used to be quite keen on him because he was a very butch-looking geezer." Years later, Crane said he hadn't had sex with a man until after he turned 26 in 1984. But now he was becoming a regular at places like Heaven. "I just used to chat to him," Byrne adds. "Nicky was quite a friendly person. He was quite quiet, really. He was the opposite of what he looked like." He appears to have thrown himself enthusiastically into the gay scene around this time. His imposing frame meant he easily found work as a doorman at gay venues through a security firm. But if the neo-Nazi world would have abhorred his sexuality, the vast majority of London's gay scene would have been equally horrified to learn that he was a neo-Nazi. Among the leadership of the largely liberal-left gay rights movement that was growing in London during the 1980s, fascist symbolism was an obvious and outrageous taboo - a reminder of the persecution that lesbians and gay men had suffered. According to feminist scholar Sheila Jeffreys' book The Lesbian Heresy, a commotion unfolded in 1984 when a group of gay skinheads turned up at a gay bar in London's King's Cross and began sieg heiling. She also records that a well-known far-right youth organiser was thrown out of the same pub after taking off his jacket to reveal swastika tattoos. A huge row erupted the following year at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre in King's Cross when a gay skinhead night was held at the venue. It's not clear whether Crane was present at any of these incidents. But it appears that, at least initially, he was able to deflect questions about his politics by presenting himself on the gay scene as a skinhead first and foremost. His friend Byrne, who describes himself as "sort of more a Labour person", had no time for the far-right element that had infiltrated the skinhead movement. But Byrne was convinced at the time that Crane "wasn't really a Nazi. It was all show". The softly spoken Nicky he knew was too nice to be an extremist, Byrne believed. This wasn't as fanciful as it might sound. By the mid-1980s, a gay skinhead scene was beginning to flourish in London, says Murray Healy, author of Gay Skins: Class, Masculinity and Queer Appropriation. Gay men had many different reasons for adopting the look, he says. Some had been skinheads before they came out. Others found that, in an era when all gay men were widely assumed to be camp and effeminate, "you were less likely to get picked on if you looked like a queer-basher". There were also "fetish skins", attracted to the "hyper-masculinity" of the subculture. Against this backdrop, even the swastikas and racist slogans inked on Crane's body could be explained away, at least initially. During the 1980s, says Healy, "gay Nazis were assumed to be left-wing even if they had Nazi tattoos". "People refused to read these tattoos politically. People thought it was part of the authenticity ritual. People thought he was just playing a part." And indeed it wasn't just gay skins who flirted with the iconography of fascism. While "redskins" and "Sharps" - an acronym for Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice - confronted those with links to the far right, many heterosexual skinheads who were apolitical also adopted fascist garb, says Byrne. "A lot of skinheads that weren't right-wing used to wear Skrewdriver T-shirts," Byrne adds. "It was about the fashion of being a skinhead." But Crane wasn't just playing with the imagery of Nazism. He was living it. His decision to start frequenting venues such as Heaven wasn't the only thing that had changed since before his sentence. During the years 1981 to 1984, which he mostly spent incarcerated, his fame had grown far beyond the narrow confines of the far right. In 1981, the journalist Garry Bushell helped put together a compilation album of tracks by bands from the burgeoning Oi! scene. Oi!, a cheerfully crude sub-genre of punk, was popular with skinheads. Its politics were fairly broad - while there were right-wingers within its ranks, some of its most prominent acts, including the Angelic Upstarts, were avowed socialists. Others, such as the 4-Skins, condemned political extremism of all kinds. That was to count for little after Bushell, desperate for a cover image after a photoshoot fell through, seized on a Christmas card which he says he believed showed a scene from the film The Wanderers. In fact, it was a picture of Crane. It was only when the image was blown up to 12in cover size, Bushell says, that he noticed Crane's Nazi tattoos. Faced with the choice of airbrushing out his markings or pulling the release, the writer chose the former option. "It was a monumentally, cataclysmically stupid decision," he says. The title of the compilation was Strength Thru Oi! - which Bushell says was intended as a pun on Strength Through Joy, the title of a recent EP by punk act The Skids, but which in turn was borrowed from a Nazi slogan. The Daily Mail seized upon the title and the connection with Crane, condemning the "highly controversial" record as "evil". According to Bushell, who had only recently left the Socialist Workers Party and still regarded himself at the time as a left-winger, the story was a "tissue of lies". But as a result of the coverage, the hitherto obscure Oi! scene became associated by many with the far right - to the chagrin of acts featured on the album, such as the socialist poet Gary Johnson. Crane's musical background had hitherto extended to starting fights at ska and punk gigs, plus a short-lived stint singing in a punk band called The Afflicted. The notoriety, however, transformed him into a skinhead icon. The Strength Thru Oi! cover image - featuring a topless, muscle-bound Crane snarling and raising his boot - was widely reproduced in the wake of the row. T-shirts featuring the image were sold at The Last Resort, a clothes shop favoured by skinheads in London's Whitechapel. They were a huge hit. Although the album was withdrawn from sale, reproductions of its cover adorned thousands of bedroom walls. "He was literally a poster boy," says Watson, who at the time was a teenage skin in Buckinghamshire. "Even a 15-year-old was like, 'That's what a skinhead should look like.' "He just fell into our living rooms. These little kids in High Wycombe - we didn't know anything about the Nazi stuff." The neo-Nazis were beaten back by a group of striking Yorkshire miners, invited to steward the event by Livingstone as a solidarity gesture, and members of the militant far-left group Red Action. Crane was not cowed, however, and after regrouping his forces, he charged a second stage at the other end of the park where the Hank Wangford Band were playing. This time, however, the anti-fascists were better prepared. Militants grabbed empty cider bottles to use as improvised weapons. As the anti-fascists fought back, Crane broke away from the main battle. "He was busy attacking the rest of the crowd, on his own, stripped to the waist," says Gary. As Crane tried to make it over a barrier on to the stage, he was knocked over by a Red Action member. He escaped the furious crowd by using a female left-wing activist as a human shield, according to witnesses. As the violence subsided, anti-fascists confronted another skinhead in the crowd. His Harrington jacket was unzipped to reveal a slogan on his T-shirt. It read "Nicky Crane", in tribute to the young man's hero. Given the carnage Crane had just instigated, the left-wingers had little sympathy for his admirer. The skinhead was set upon and beaten. Crane was never prosecuted for his part in the riot. In the febrile atmosphere of the mid-1980s, however, violence was everywhere. As clashes between police and striking miners becoming increasingly bitter, football hooligans across the country were fighting it out with unprecedented ferocity. The formation of AFA in 1985 resulted in increasingly bloody stand-offs between anti-fascists and the far right. Several years later, Crane told the Sun newspaper about an attack on a Jewish Remembrance Day ceremony for which he also appears to have escaped arrest. "We hurled insults at them and started punching and kicking as they went by," he admitted to the paper in 1992. On another occasion, Crane and his gang spotted a left-wing activist on a Tube train. "Me and a few mates beat him really badly," he said. "Even though he wasn't moving we all kept jumping on his head. "I think he survived. It must have been a miracle." After the BM collapsed in 1983, Crane had become something of a free agent. He was a visible presence on demonstrations held by other far-right groups. These included the NF - now split into two warring factions - and the British National Party, formed in 1982 by John Tyndall, which had begun to attract a significant football hooligan following. Among the rank and file of each group, Crane remained a hero. "You could very easily drop him into the Weimar Republic in 1923 and, some language difficulties apart, he'd fit right in," says Gary. His closest affiliation, however, was with the neo-Nazi rock band Skrewdriver. Originally the group had been apolitical. In 1982, however, singer Ian Stuart Donaldson came out as a supporter of the National Front. With song titles like Europe Awake and Flying the Flag, the group gained a huge following among far-right skinheads. Opposition from anti-fascists meant gigs had to be forcefully stewarded. Donaldson appointed Crane as Skrewdriver's head of security, and he became a trusted lieutenant. Reportedly, Crane wrote the lyrics for a Skrewdriver track called Justice and provided the cover art for the albums Hail The New Dawn and After The Fire. Archive footage of their concerts shows Donaldson barking neo-Nazi lyrics as he loomed above Crane who stood, arms folded, at the front of the stage. The T-shirt on his chest said "Skrewdriver security" in Gothic script. Crane wasn't playing an instrument, but it was as though he was part of the performance. His status as a neo-Nazi icon had never been more secure. But for the first time, the twin strands of his double life were about to intersect. The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight was, despite its political leanings, required reading for activists on the extreme right. Each month the publication would run gossip about the neo-Nazi scene, and fascists would furtively buy it to see whether they had earned a mention. In April 1985 it ran a feature on Crane. It mentioned the GLC concert, the south London attacks and the jail sentences he had served. The magazine revealed it had received a Christmas card from him during his time on the Isle of Wight in which he proclaimed his continued allegiance to "the British Movement tradition" - that is, violence. The Searchlight report ended its description of Crane with the line: "On Thursday nights he can be found at the Heaven disco in Charing Cross." Even a neo-Nazi audience might have been aware that Heaven was at this point London's premier gay club. Nicky Crane had been outed. And homosexuality was anathema to neo-Nazis. But the response of Crane's comrades to the revelation was to ignore it. A number of factors allowed Crane to brush off the report, Pearce says. Firstly, homosexuality was indelibly associated with effeminacy by the far right, and Crane was the very opposite of effeminate. Secondly, no-one wanted to be seen to believe Searchlight above the word of a committed soldier for the Aryan cause. Thirdly, on the most basic level, everyone was afraid of being beaten up by Crane if they challenged him. "I remember it was just sort of furtive whispering," adds Pearce. "I'm not aware that anyone confronted Nicky. People were happy for things to remain under the carpet." Sightings at gay clubs were dismissed by Crane. Donaldson claimed Crane told him that he was obliged to take jobs at places like Heaven because the security firm he was employed by sent him there. "I accepted him at face value, as he was a nationalist," Donaldson told a fanzine years later. For his part, Heaven's then-owner, Jeremy Norman, says he does not recall Crane working on the door: "I would imagine that the door staff would have been supplied by a security contractor and that he would have been their employee but it is all a long time ago." Rumours circulated that a prominent football hooligan and far-right activist had hurled a homophobic slur at Crane, who in response had inflicted a severe beating which the victim was lucky to survive. Word of this spread among the skinhead fraternity, too. "My mate had a shop in Soho," recalls Watson. "People would come in to say, 'Have you heard Nicky's gay?' He would say, he works around the corner, why don't you go and ask him? Of course they never did." Just as some in the gay community refused to believe that a gay man could be a neo-Nazi, others on the extreme right were unable to acknowledge that a neo-Nazi could be a gay man. In 1987 Crane and Donaldson set up a group called Blood & Honour. It was a cross between a White Power music club and a political party. It staged concerts for Skrewdriver and other neo-Nazi bands with names like No Remorse and Brutal Attack. T-shirts, flags and records were sold by mail order through its magazine. The operation had an annual turnover of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Donaldson was its head, Crane his right-hand man and head of security. Around the same time, the latter's organisational skills were being put to use elsewhere. Searchlight reported in October 1987 that "Crane, the right's finest example of a clinical psychopath, is also engaged in building a 'gay skins' movement, which meets on Friday nights" at a pub in east London. Crane's sexuality might by now have been obvious to any interested onlooker, but the neo-Nazi scene remained in denial. While his right-wing colleagues studiously ignored the report, AFA took an interest. Its activists put the pub under surveillance. The anti-fascists didn't care about Crane's sexuality, but were concerned that the gatherings might have a political objective. "Here were gay skinheads wearing Nazi regalia," says Gary. "We could never get to the bottom of it - whether it was purely a sexual fetish." The gay community had, by this stage, begun to take notice of Crane, too. He was confronted by anti-fascists attending a Pride rally in Kennington, south London, in 1986. The campaigner Peter Tatchell recalls a row erupting after it emerged Crane had been allowed to steward a gay rights march. The organisers had not been aware who Crane was or what his political affiliations were. But now they were, and Crane must have realised he would no longer be welcome in much of gay London. The gay skinhead night may simply have been an attempt to carve out a space for himself where he would not be challenged either for his sexuality or his politics. While his status in the far right was secure, he was being pushed to the fringes of the gay community. The double life he had been maintaining was beginning to erode. The Bloody Sunday commemoration rally was held every January to mark the deaths of 14 unarmed protesters at the hands of the Parachute Regiment in Derry in 1972. For years the rally had been a target for the far right, whose sympathies in the Northern Ireland conflict mostly lay with the loyalists. So when Nicky Crane was spotted within the vicinity of the march in Kilburn, a traditionally Irish enclave of north-west London, in January 1990, it was assumed he had trouble in mind. Crane was confronted by anti-fascist activists who were stewarding the event and, after a brief exchange of blows, he managed to get away. But when he was spotted in a black cab heading back into the area, marchers took it as read that he was about to spearhead an ambush on the march. After the taxi became stuck in traffic at the top of Kilburn High Road it was quickly surrounded. Crane was pulled from the vehicle and found himself on the receiving end of the kind of violence he had long inflicted on others. After putting up fierce resistance, he was beaten unconscious. Three anti-fascists were jailed for a total of 11 years for their part in the incident. Unusually for a political street fighter who deplored the system, Crane testified at their trial. It was a hint that Crane was preparing to cut his ties with the extreme right. "I don't think he'd have done it in his fascist days, put it that way," says Gary. "You didn't go to the police. Hard men don't do that, they sort it out among themselves." It was not the first indication that Crane was losing his enthusiasm for the Nazi cause. In May 1989 he had fled when anti-fascists turned up to a meeting point in London's Hyde Park for a Blood & Honour gig. After the Bloody Sunday march, there is no record of Crane taking part in any further political activity. He had begun drifting away from the extreme right. Friends say he had begun spending an increasing amount of time in Thailand, where his past was not known and he could, for the first time since Strength Thru Oi! was released, be anonymous. Back in London, he appeared in a series of skinhead-themed amateur gay porn videos. The films did not achieve wide circulation but, to star in them in the first place, he must have been indifferent to whether or not he was exposed. Eventually he made a decision. It was time to end the double life once and for all. The Channel 4 programme was called Out. It featured a series of documentaries about lesbian and gay life in the UK. The episode broadcast on 27 July 1992 was about the gay skinhead subculture. Its star attraction was Nicky Crane. First the programme showed recorded interviews with an unwitting Donaldson, who sounded baffled that such a thing as gay skinheads existed, and NF leader Patrick Harrington. And then the camera cut to Crane, in camouflage gear and Dr Martens boots, in his Soho bedsit. Crane was becoming all too aware of the contradiction of being a gay neo-Nazi. "A lot of people that I did used to hang around with, they did sort of like hate us," he said in 1992 - "us" meaning gay men. "They'd go out queer-bashing. It's something I never did myself. And I'd never let it happen in front of me, either." He had, however, chosen fascism long before he had embraced his sexuality, and much of his social life and prestige was bound up with his status as a prominent neo-Nazi activist. To maintain his cover, Crane would often appear in public with a skinhead girl on his arm. "He often had a so-called girlfriend but they were never around for long," says Pearce. "Nicky had no chemistry with girls." Certainly, after coming out, Crane always described himself as gay rather than bisexual. Nonetheless, his relationships with women, coupled with rumours that he had fathered a son, allayed any initial suspicions his comrades might have had. So too did his propensity for racist violence. On Sunday 10 June 1984, Greater London Council leader Ken Livingstone held a free open-air concert to protest against unemployment and government spending cuts. Thousands of Londoners turned out to watch acts like The Smiths and Billy Bragg. Most would have been attracted principally by the music and the summer weather. To Nicky Crane, however, anyone attending a left-wing-hosted event like this was a legitimate target. As The Redskins, a socialist skinhead band, played, Crane led an attack on the crowd. Around 100 fascists began setting about the audience closest to the main stage. "They were organised, they were used to violence, the audience wasn't," says Gary, an anti-fascist activist who was present that day and asked to be identified only by his first name. The neo-Nazis were beaten back by a group of striking Yorkshire miners, invited to steward the event by Livingstone as a solidarity gesture, and members of the militant far-left group Red Action. Crane was not cowed, however, and after regrouping his forces, he charged a second stage at the other end of the park where the Hank Wangford Band were playing. This time, however, the anti-fascists were better prepared. Militants grabbed empty cider bottles to use as improvised weapons. As the anti-fascists fought back, Crane broke away from the main battle. "He was busy attacking the rest of the crowd, on his own, stripped to the waist," says Gary. As Crane tried to make it over a barrier on to the stage, he was knocked over by a Red Action member. He escaped the furious crowd by using a female left-wing activist as a human shield, according to witnesses. As the violence subsided, anti-fascists confronted another skinhead in the crowd. His Harrington jacket was unzipped to reveal a slogan on his T-shirt. It read "Nicky Crane", in tribute to the young man's hero. Given the carnage Crane had just instigated, the left-wingers had little sympathy for his admirer. The skinhead was set upon and beaten. Crane was never prosecuted for his part in the riot. In the febrile atmosphere of the mid-1980s, however, violence was everywhere. As clashes between police and striking miners becoming increasingly bitter, football hooligans across the country were fighting it out with unprecedented ferocity. The formation of AFA in 1985 resulted in increasingly bloody stand-offs between anti-fascists and the far right. Several years later, Crane told the Sun newspaper about an attack on a Jewish Remembrance Day ceremony for which he also appears to have escaped arrest. "We hurled insults at them and started punching and kicking as they went by," he admitted to the paper in 1992. On another occasion, Crane and his gang spotted a left-wing activist on a Tube train. "Me and a few mates beat him really badly," he said. "Even though he wasn't moving we all kept jumping on his head. "I think he survived. It must have been a miracle." After the BM collapsed in 1983, Crane had become something of a free agent. He was a visible presence on demonstrations held by other far-right groups. These included the NF - now split into two warring factions - and the British National Party, formed in 1982 by John Tyndall, which had begun to attract a significant football hooligan following. Among the rank and file of each group, Crane remained a hero. "You could very easily drop him into the Weimar Republic in 1923 and, some language difficulties apart, he'd fit right in," says Gary. His closest affiliation, however, was with the neo-Nazi rock band Skrewdriver. Originally the group had been apolitical. In 1982, however, singer Ian Stuart Donaldson came out as a supporter of the National Front. With song titles like Europe Awake and Flying the Flag, the group gained a huge following among far-right skinheads. Opposition from anti-fascists meant gigs had to be forcefully stewarded. Donaldson appointed Crane as Skrewdriver's head of security, and he became a trusted lieutenant. Reportedly, Crane wrote the lyrics for a Skrewdriver track called Justice and provided the cover art for the albums Hail The New Dawn and After The Fire. Archive footage of their concerts shows Donaldson barking neo-Nazi lyrics as he loomed above Crane who stood, arms folded, at the front of the stage. The T-shirt on his chest said "Skrewdriver security" in Gothic script. Crane wasn't playing an instrument, but it was as though he was part of the performance. His status as a neo-Nazi icon had never been more secure. But for the first time, the twin strands of his double life were about to intersect. The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight was, despite its political leanings, required reading for activists on the extreme right. Each month the publication would run gossip about the neo-Nazi scene, and fascists would furtively buy it to see whether they had earned a mention. In April 1985 it ran a feature on Crane. It mentioned the GLC concert, the south London attacks and the jail sentences he had served. The magazine revealed it had received a Christmas card from him during his time on the Isle of Wight in which he proclaimed his continued allegiance to "the British Movement tradition" - that is, violence. The Searchlight report ended its description of Crane with the line: "On Thursday nights he can be found at the Heaven disco in Charing Cross." Even a neo-Nazi audience might have been aware that Heaven was at this point London's premier gay club. Nicky Crane had been outed. And homosexuality was anathema to neo-Nazis. But the response of Crane's comrades to the revelation was to ignore it. A number of factors allowed Crane to brush off the report, Pearce says. Firstly, homosexuality was indelibly associated with effeminacy by the far right, and Crane was the very opposite of effeminate. Secondly, no-one wanted to be seen to believe Searchlight above the word of a committed soldier for the Aryan cause. Thirdly, on the most basic level, everyone was afraid of being beaten up by Crane if they challenged him. "I remember it was just sort of furtive whispering," adds Pearce. "I'm not aware that anyone confronted Nicky. People were happy for things to remain under the carpet." Sightings at gay clubs were dismissed by Crane. Donaldson claimed Crane told him that he was obliged to take jobs at places like Heaven because the security firm he was employed by sent him there. "I accepted him at face value, as he was a nationalist," Donaldson told a fanzine years later. For his part, Heaven's then-owner, Jeremy Norman, says he does not recall Crane working on the door: "I would imagine that the door staff would have been supplied by a security contractor and that he would have been their employee but it is all a long time ago." Rumours circulated that a prominent football hooligan and far-right activist had hurled a homophobic slur at Crane, who in response had inflicted a severe beating which the victim was lucky to survive. Word of this spread among the skinhead fraternity, too. "My mate had a shop in Soho," recalls Watson. "People would come in to say, 'Have you heard Nicky's gay?' He would say, he works around the corner, why don't you go and ask him? Of course they never did." Just as some in the gay community refused to believe that a gay man could be a neo-Nazi, others on the extreme right were unable to acknowledge that a neo-Nazi could be a gay man. In 1987 Crane and Donaldson set up a group called Blood & Honour. It was a cross between a White Power music club and a political party. It staged concerts for Skrewdriver and other neo-Nazi bands with names like No Remorse and Brutal Attack. T-shirts, flags and records were sold by mail order through its magazine. The operation had an annual turnover of hundreds of thousands of pounds. IMAGE SOURCE,REX FEATURES Donaldson was its head, Crane his right-hand man and head of security. Around the same time, the latter's organisational skills were being put to use elsewhere. Searchlight reported in October 1987 that "Crane, the right's finest example of a clinical psychopath, is also engaged in building a 'gay skins' movement, which meets on Friday nights" at a pub in east London. Crane's sexuality might by now have been obvious to any interested onlooker, but the neo-Nazi scene remained in denial. While his right-wing colleagues studiously ignored the report, AFA took an interest. Its activists put the pub under surveillance. The anti-fascists didn't care about Crane's sexuality, but were concerned that the gatherings might have a political objective. "Here were gay skinheads wearing Nazi regalia," says Gary. "We could never get to the bottom of it - whether it was purely a sexual fetish." The gay community had, by this stage, begun to take notice of Crane, too. He was confronted by anti-fascists attending a Pride rally in Kennington, south London, in 1986. The campaigner Peter Tatchell recalls a row erupting after it emerged Crane had been allowed to steward a gay rights march. The organisers had not been aware who Crane was or what his political affiliations were. But now they were, and Crane must have realised he would no longer be welcome in much of gay London. The gay skinhead night may simply have been an attempt to carve out a space for himself where he would not be challenged either for his sexuality or his politics. While his status in the far right was secure, he was being pushed to the fringes of the gay community. The double life he had been maintaining was beginning to erode. The Bloody Sunday commemoration rally was held every January to mark the deaths of 14 unarmed protesters at the hands of the Parachute Regiment in Derry in 1972. For years the rally had been a target for the far right, whose sympathies in the Northern Ireland conflict mostly lay with the loyalists. So when Nicky Crane was spotted within the vicinity of the march in Kilburn, a traditionally Irish enclave of north-west London, in January 1990, it was assumed he had trouble in mind. Crane was confronted by anti-fascist activists who were stewarding the event and, after a brief exchange of blows, he managed to get away. But when he was spotted in a black cab heading back into the area, marchers took it as read that he was about to spearhead an ambush on the march. After the taxi became stuck in traffic at the top of Kilburn High Road it was quickly surrounded. Crane was pulled from the vehicle and found himself on the receiving end of the kind of violence he had long inflicted on others. After putting up fierce resistance, he was beaten unconscious. Three anti-fascists were jailed for a total of 11 years for their part in the incident. Unusually for a political street fighter who deplored the system, Crane testified at their trial. It was a hint that Crane was preparing to cut his ties with the extreme right. "I don't think he'd have done it in his fascist days, put it that way," says Gary. "You didn't go to the police. Hard men don't do that, they sort it out among themselves." It was not the first indication that Crane was losing his enthusiasm for the Nazi cause. In May 1989 he had fled when anti-fascists turned up to a meeting point in London's Hyde Park for a Blood & Honour gig. After the Bloody Sunday march, there is no record of Crane taking part in any further political activity. He had begun drifting away from the extreme right. Friends say he had begun spending an increasing amount of time in Thailand, where his past was not known and he could, for the first time since Strength Thru Oi! was released, be anonymous. Back in London, he appeared in a series of skinhead-themed amateur gay porn videos. The films did not achieve wide circulation but, to star in them in the first place, he must have been indifferent to whether or not he was exposed. Eventually he made a decision. It was time to end the double life once and for all. The Channel 4 programme was called Out. It featured a series of documentaries about lesbian and gay life in the UK. The episode broadcast on 27 July 1992 was about the gay skinhead subculture. Its star attraction was Nicky Crane. First the programme showed recorded interviews with an unwitting Donaldson, who sounded baffled that such a thing as gay skinheads existed, and NF leader Patrick Harrington. And then the camera cut to Crane, in camouflage gear and Dr Martens boots, in his Soho bedsit. Media caption, Nicky Crane interviewed in the 1990s for a Channel 4 documentary He told the interviewer how he'd known he was gay back in his early BM days. He described how his worship of Hitler had given way to unease about the far right's homophobia. He had started to feel like a hypocrite because the Nazi movement was so anti-gay, he said. "So I just, like, couldn't stay in it." Crane said he was "ashamed" of his political past and insisted he had changed. "The views I've got now is, I believe in individualism and I don't care if anyone's black, Jewish or anything," he added. "I either like or dislike a person as an individual, not what their colour is or anything." The revelation attracted considerable press attention. The Sun ran a story with the headline "NAZI NICK IS A PANZI". Below it described the "Weird secret he kept from gay-bashers". Crane reiterated that he had abandoned Nazi ideology. "It is all in the past," he told the paper. "I've made a dramatic change in my life." The reaction from his erstwhile comrades was one of horror and fury. Donaldson issued a blood-curdling death threat on stage at a Skrewdriver gig. "He's dug his own grave as far as I'm concerned," Donaldson told the Last Chance fanzine. "I was fooled the same as everybody else. Perhaps more than everybody else. I felt I was betrayed by him and I want nothing to do with him whatsoever." But according to Pearce - who by this stage had made his own break with the NF - it was Crane's disavowal of National Socialism, rather than the admission of his sexuality, that proved particularly painful for Donaldson. "I think that Ian would have been very shocked," says Pearce. "He was deeply hurt. But it had more to do with the fact that he switched sides politically. "Nicky didn't just come out as a homosexual, he became militantly opposed to what he previously believed in." British Nazism had lost its street-fighting poster boy. For the first time in his adult life, however, Crane was able to be himself. Watson recalls catching a glimpse of Crane - by then working as a bicycle courier - shortly after he came out. "I saw him riding around Soho in Day-Glo Lycra shorts," remembers Watson. "I thought, good for you." On 8 December 1993, Byrne took the train to London. He had arranged to meet his friend Nicky Crane at Berwick Street market, just a few yards from his Rupert Street bedsit. Byrne was looking forward to having "a good old chat" about skinheads they both knew. But Crane didn't turn up. When Byrne got home, he found out why. Crane had died the day before. He was 35. The cause of death was given on his death certificate as bronchopneumonia, a fatal inflammation of the air passages to the lungs. He was a victim of the disease that had killed so many other young gay men of his generation. "He didn't tell me about his problems with Aids," says Byrne. "He didn't talk much about it really. I thought it was a shame." Word had got around that Crane was ill, however. Gary recalls his shock at seeing his one-time foe looking deeply emaciated, waiting on a platform at Baker Street Tube station. Crane's stature was such, however, that even at this point fellow passengers were careful to keep their distance. Those who suffered as a result of his rampages may have breathed a sigh of relief that he was no longer able to terrorise them. But his death marked more than just the end of Nicky Crane. It also coincided with the passing of an era in which the extreme right hoped to win power by controlling the street with boots and fists. In 1993, Crane was dead, Donaldson died in a car crash and the British National Party (BNP) won its first council seat in Millwall, east London. The various factions of the NF had by now all but withered. The following year, BNP strategist Tony Lecomber announced there would be "no more meetings, marches, punch-ups" - instead, the intention now was to win seats in town halls. The party would try to rebrand itself as respectable and peaceful - a strategy continued, with varying success, under the leadership of Nick Griffin. Streetfighters like Nicky Crane were supposedly consigned to the past. The broader skinhead movement was changing, too. Watson, like many other former skins, had by the time of Crane's death, abandoned boots and braces for the rave scene. His skinhead days already felt like a different age. "The skinhead stuff was washed away by rave and it's, 'Oh yes, Nicky's out of the closet,'" Watson says. "It's the story of that side of skinheads, isn't it?" By contrast, the presence of skinheads in gay clubs and bars was no longer controversial. Shorn of its political associations, the look was by now, if anything, more popular in London's Old Compton Street or Manchester's Canal Street than on football terraces or far-right rallies. Two decades after Crane's death, says Healy, the skinhead is "recognised as a gay man unambiguously in London and Manchester". He adds: "If the Village People reformed today there would be a skinhead in the group." He may be an extreme case, but Crane reflects an era in which people's expectations of what a gay man looked and behaved like began to shift. "Everybody always knew gay people, but they just didn't know it," says Max Schaefer, whose 2010 novel Children of the Sun features a character fascinated by Crane. "The neo-Nazis were no different from everyone else." It's unlikely Crane reflected on his place at this intersection between all these late 20th Century subcultures. He was a man of action, not ideology - a doer who left the thinking to others, and this may be what led a confused, angry young man to fascism in the first place. As he lingered in St Mary's hospital in Paddington, west London, waiting to die, a young man named Craig was at his side. Craig was "one of Nicky's boyfriends", says Byrne. According to Crane's death certificate, Craig was with him at the end. Picture research by Susannah Stevens https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25142557
  5. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/racist-bullies-who-called-scots-24178650 Racist bullies who called Scots Sikh salesman 'Arab shoe bomber' kept jobs and one got promotion Kieran Sidhu was forced to quit his job due to extreme depression and anxiety while one colleague behind the torment was promoted. By Tim Stewart 10:42, 25 MAY 2021 UPDATED11:39, 25 MAY 2021 NEWS Enter your postcode for local news and info e will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Your information will be used in accordance with ourPrivacy Notice. Racist bullies who tormented a Scottish Sikh salesman so badly he is unlikely ever to work again kept their jobs - and one of them has even been promoted. John Cleary, 51, Stuart Smith, 45, and Glynn Smith, 41, were found by a tribunal to have subjected 36-year-old colleague Kieran Sidhu to a sustained campaign of vile racist abuse. Perth-born Mr Sidhu endured being branded an “Arab shoe bomber”, the “only ethnic on the team” and a “temperamental Syrian immigrant” who was “f***ing for ISIS”. It emerged during the tribunal that the sales team would sing to the tune of football chant Que Sera Sera: "Sidhu, Sidhu, he works at O2. Sidhu, Sidhu, he’s an Arab too and he’s got a bomb in his shoe." Stuart Smith (Image: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED) They falsely accused account manager Mr Sidhu of being gay and repeatedly taped McDonald’s adverts and a spoof ‘gigolo’ business card to his computer screen, saying that was what he would be doing after getting fired. The panel at Southampton employment tribunal ruled that the trio racially harassed Mr Sidhu, who is now seeking a record payout of £6.6 million from tech firm Exertis. After the judgment, Exertis said that it took "appropriate disciplinary action". But it has now emerged that two of the culprits remain at the firm and one was even promoted – despite HR advice that there were grounds to sack all three. The panel noted that HR manager Sue Stratton concluded that there were “grounds for disciplinary action with the probability of dismissal to be taken against John Cleary, Stuart Smith and Glynn Smith”. However, Stuart Smith’s LinkedIn profile shows he is still at the firm and was promoted to the position of Amazon and Online Accounts Director in 2020 – three years after Mr Sidhu quit in May 2017. Stuart Smith has been at Exertis for over 21 years, while Senior Amazon Account Manager Mr Cleary is now approaching his 24th year of service. Calls were being put through to both men this week at their Basingstoke office. Glynn Smith (Image: Tim Stewart News Limited) READ MORE Three airlifted to hospital and man arrested after A82 horror crash Glynn Smith is believed to have left the firm of his own accord to start up a property firm in March 2018. Exertis declined repeated requests this week to explain why any of the trio had remained at the firm. It continued to insist it took “appropriate disciplinary action” after a “thorough internal investigation” when Mr Sidhu quit his job suffering from extreme depression and anxiety. Mr Sidhu, who is of Scottish and Indian descent and joined the firm in 2012, won his claims of race discrimination, racial harassment and constructive dismissal against Exertis. In a scathing judgment, the tribunal found enquiries made by Exertis to be “inadequate” and "deficient" and outlined “flaws” in its internal probe. It noted that the “discriminators were permitted to collude and close ranks”. And it ruled: “We consider that the investigation was deficient in that it limited the people who were asked about allegations, largely, to those against whom allegations were made. In respect of some of the allegations, such as the song about Mr Sidhu being a shoe bomber and the statement “f*** your mum”, if, as the claimant says, those statements and songs had been made audibly and more than once, it is entirely possible that other people, such as those in the sales administration team, would have heard them.” The tribunal found that Mr Cleary would deep-throat peeled bananas, saying: 'Kieran, you know what time it is. You know you want some, talk dirty to me b****' and 'You must be so hard right now. That's why you won't stand up'. He sent a team email, suggesting that Mr Sidhu have sex with him in a car park after their work Christmas dinner. He also claimed Mr Sidhu was using gay dating app Grindr and tried to force him to wear lingerie on the sales floor. When Mr Sidhu refused, Glynn Smith asked him what was wrong, saying: "To be fair John couldn’t pimp you out for much, maybe if you lose some weight and fly you back to Syria." Glynn Smith referred to Mr Sidhu as “f***ing for ISIS” and circulated a photo of a bikini-clad woman, said to be "Kieran's replacement". He looked up Mr Sidhu's house on Google Maps and declared he lived in a "s*** area that looks like a terrorist war zone”, adding: “What's that place called, Aleppo?" He branded Mr Sidhu's car the “s******* on the team”, typed its registration into webuyanycar.com and told him they were only offering £100. When another colleague asked Mr Sidhu how it felt to be the “only ethnic on the team”, Glynn Smith said: "You will be the last ethnic if you are anything to go by." Stuart Smith would ask Mr Sidhu questions daily like 'Did you get much sausage last night?', 'How big is your sausage?' and 'Do you have sausages in Syria?' He emailed the team saying: '"Siduko - six sausages a day does NOT keep the doctor away." And he sent a picture of a Vaseline tub and two fingers, to which Glynn Smith said in front of the team: "Kieran is definitely going to get f***** the most." The tribunal rejected Stuart Smith's claim that the picture was a reference to "someone's head getting stuck in railings". Mr Sidhu’s manager Matthew Rumsey showed “little interest” in his complaints of bullying and cared more about sales targets, the tribunal found. Instead of helping Mr Sidhu, the tribunal found Mr Rumsey took clients off him and tried to force him out of the company “because he did not fit in with the team". Mr Rumsey left Exertis shortly after Mr Sidhu's departure. After assessing Mr Sidhu, psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Ornstein concluded he has a “very low chance of recovery” and is “unlikely to be able to work again” after suffering lasting psychological damage. 138216278096 In a statement, Exertis, which is owned by Dublin-based firm DCC plc, said Mr Sidhu's experience was a “unique case across a business of more than 1,800 employees". It added: “On this occasion it was clear that certain behaviours within a part of our business fell short of the standards we expect.”
  6. iam not proud to admit this but i feel like i am strongly biased against muslims and hindus. I always am suspicious of them and generally when they are suffering i am indifferent to it. the reason is tht i have had bad experiences in my life with these 2 communities and i know not all are bad but i still have suspiciousn and find myself discriminating against them
  7. Muslim family in Canada killed in 'premeditated' truck attack Published https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57390398 7 hours ago Share tionLondon, Ontario police: "We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith" Four members of a Muslim family were killed in a "premeditated" vehicle attack on Sunday, Canadian police say. The attack took place in the city of London, Ontario province. A boy aged nine, the family's only survivor, is in hospital with serious injuries. A 20-year-old Canadian man has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The attack was the worst against Canadian Muslims since six people were killed in a Quebec City mosque in 2017. "It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim," Det Supt Paul Waight told a news conference on Monday. Police are weighing possible terrorism charges, he said, adding that it is believed to be a hate crime. Who are the victims? Two women - aged 74 and 44 - a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl were all killed. They have not been named, in accordance with the wishes of the family. A nine-year-old boy was in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, said police. Police named the alleged attacker as Nathanial Veltman, 20, of London, Ontario. He was arrested without incident at a shopping centre about 6km (4.8 miles) from the crime scene. It is not yet known if the suspect has ties to any hate groups, said Det Supt Waight. IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS image captionA makeshift memorial for the victims was set up at the scene of the attack IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS image captionMany local residents were in shock after the attack "There is no known previous connection between the suspect and the victims," Det Supt Waight said, adding that the suspect was wearing a vest that appeared to be "like body armour". Police said Mr Veltman had no previous convictions. Officials added that there was good weather and high visibility conditions when the black truck was seen mounting the kerb on Hyde Park Road at around 20:40 local time on Sunday. One witness told CTV News she had to shield her young daughter's eyes from the bodies. Another witness told CTV the scene was "just chaos". "There were people everywhere and running," said Paige Martin. "Citizens were trying to direct the emergency vehicles where to go. There was a lot of pointing and screaming and arm waving." A 2016 census found that London - a city about 200km (125 miles) south-west of Toronto - is growing increasingly diverse. One in five people was born outside of Canada, with Arabs being the area's largest minority group, and South Asians coming in a close second. 'Unspeakable hatred' Ontario Premier Doug Ford was among those who paid tribute to the victims, tweeting: "Hate and Islamophobia have NO place in Ontario." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he was "horrified" by the news. "To the loved ones of those who were terrorised by yesterday's act of hatred, we are here for you," he wrote. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter "This was an act of mass murder, perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners, and rooted in unspeakable hatred," said London Mayor Ed Holder. In a statement, Mayor Holder said he was speaking "on behalf of all Londoners when I say our hearts are broken". "We grieve for the family, three generations of whom are now deceased." The mayor's statement added that he had ordered flags outside London City Hall to be lowered for three days of mourning. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a statement that the attacker should face terrorism charges. "A man allegedly got in his car, saw a Muslim family walking down the street, and made the decision that they do not deserve to live," said the organisation's CEO Mustafa Farooq. "He did not know them. This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil, and should be treated as such," his statement continued. IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS image captionPolice believe the victims were targeted because of their faith Nawaz Tahir, a London lawyer and representative of the Muslim community, said during the police news conference: "These were innocent human beings who were killed simply because they were Muslim." "We will stand strong against Islamophobia. We will stand strong against terror with faith, with love, and a quest for justice," he continued. "Hate will never overshadow the light of love." It is not the first time members of the Muslim community in Canada have come under attack. In January 2017, a Canadian man fatally shot six worshippers at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre, and seriously injured five others. The perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison. Canada's deadliest vehicle-ramming attack happened in 2018, when a self-described "incel" (involuntary celibate) ploughed his van into a group of pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people. Related Topics
  8. For fudhus who think racism is just some distant thing that occurs elsewhere. And I bet if any of us blokes here broke some random blokes leg in front of their kids, we'd get more than the two odd years this c**t did. He'll probably get out early and be working on a building site as a foreman in no time too. This is the type of c**t that is out there hidden by the majority society. Met police officer is sacked after being jailed for breaking black father's leg in front of his sons as they visited their mother's grave in 'clear case of racial profiling' PC Charlie Harrison attacked Carl Abrahams near a cemetery in east London He used his foot to strike the victim's leg which caused a fracture to his knee Harrison was jailed last month for more than two years after a five-day trial Good looking master race white boy........ A Met Police officer who was jailed for breaking a black father's leg in front of his sons as they visited their mother's grave has also now been sacked by the force. PC Charlie Harrison 'racially profiled' Carl Abrahams, 47, as he made his way home from a cemetery in east London on December 31, 2018, a court was previously told. The 39-year-old officer was patrolling in an unmarked police car in Forest Gate, with two other officers as part of the Violent Crime Task Force. In front of Harrison's car was another unmarked car containing three officers which did not stop. The unmarked cars had been briefed that morning to look for a number of black men who were wanted for violent crimes. Mr Abrahams, in his 40s, and an independent witness both said Harrison pulled up and approached his victim alone without identifying himself. The family walked past the officer who was blocking their path, and without saying a word, Harrison kicked at Mr Abraham's knee, knocking him to the ground and fracturing his upper shin. The other officers jumped out of their cars and threatened to arrest a bystander who confronted the officers. When interviewed Harrison first claimed he was looking for 'drugs and guns'. During his trial the officer changed his story and said the family 'noticed' his car which was 'suspicious'. But he eventually conceded that he had no grounds to carry out a stop and search, as none of the family group had acted suspiciously. Harrison denied but was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm at Southwark Crown Court after a trial in March. He was later jailed for two years and three months. Harrison has now been dismissed without notice from the Met Police for breaching standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct and use of force following a misconduct hearing. Commander Paul Betts said: 'This is a very serious matter with PC Harrison jailed following his conviction for GBH. 'A misconduct hearing has now been held and PC Harrison's actions found to have fallen well below the standard we expect of our police officers. 'This type of behaviour has no place in our police service and it is right PC Harrison has now been dismissed without notice. He will also be placed on the College of Policing's barred list.' Sentencing Harrison Judge Gregory Perrins had said Harrison had failed to apologise or accept that his use of force was unjustified in any way during the trial. He said: 'You stopped your police car in the road, got out of the driver's seat and quickly approached them before your fellow officers had left the car. 'Your explanation as to why you felt that this was necessary has changed. 'When you were interviewed by the police you said that you were a proactive police officer and that you felt it appropriate to approach Mr Abrahams and his sons because "you don't find drugs and weapons by remaining in your police car". 'When giving evidence you suggested, for the first time, that you saw them notice your unmarked police car which you thought was suspicious. 'Nevertheless, you had to concede that you had no grounds to arrest either Mr Abrahams or his sons, nor did you have any grounds to carry out a stop and search. 'They had done absolutely nothing wrong nor had they behaved in any way that could be deemed suspicious. 'They were simply a family returning from a cemetery where they had gone to visit the grave of their partner and mother.' The father suffered a fracture at the top of his shin bone and blood in the knee joint and spent New Year's Eve in hospital, before having to then use crutches for three months. Mr Abrahams no longer plays sport and his sons are still fearful of the police, the court was told. The judge added: 'Having heard the evidence at trial, I strongly suspect that the reason that you stopped Mr Abrahams and his sons was because they were black. 'Had Mr Abrahams and his sons been white I suspect that you would simply drove on by, this was in my judgement a clear case of racial profiling. 'You approached Mr Abrahams and his sons, blocking their path, and indicated that you wanted to speak to them. 'It was Mr Abrahams' evidence that he was unaware that you were a police officer. 'With no further comment and within what can only have been a few seconds you kicked Mr Abrahams' leg, deliberately knocking him to the ground. 'Mr Howard, the passer by, immediately confronted you and asked why you had assaulted Mr Abrahams. 'He was told either by you or one of your colleagues that he should move along and that if he didn't he would be arrested. 'He, too, had done nothing wrong and yet was threatened with arrest simply because he had witnessed a serious assault. 'Mr Abrahams was in obvious pain. Although it was suggested at trial that his sons were aggressive and confrontational in the aftermath of the incident, the video footage shows the exact opposite. 'They were clearly shocked, frightened and deeply concerned for their father. 'It was your case at trial that Mr Abrahams was aggressive and that you quickly formed the view that he was going to assault you. 'You therefore used an approved "leg sweep" manoeuvre to take him to the ground where he could be restrained. 'In mitigation it is suggested that I should sentence you on the basis that this was a case of excessive self-defence. I reject that suggestion. 'Having heard the evidence at trial I see no basis upon which you could genuinely have thought it necessary to defend yourself from a man walking down the street with his two sons with his hands in his pockets. 'This was a deliberate assault... Mr Abraham's two children were present. 'They had to watch their father being kicked to the ground without justification by a police officer. 'Mr Abrahams' victim impact statement makes it plain that this has had a profound impact upon both of them.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9595503/Met-police-officer-sacked-jailed-breaking-black-fathers-leg-sons.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed_desktop_news
  9. I watched this movie years ago, its set in the UK in 1983 and is about the skinheads and racists. It had some really horrible shocking scenes! Theres one scene where whites go into a shop owned by a Punjabi man, Sandhu. Its quite shocking stuff, iv had older Asians tell me about stuff like this and how racist whites were back in the days. WARNING lots of swearing and some nudity in the video
  10. Here is the hate filled bigotry from a mullah in pakistan. Hope this is an eye opener for those praising Pakistan. These bigots are free to make big speeches to crowds in Pakistan. Shame on them!! https://youtu.be/7dWlanixDWs
  11. I say we should burn the england flag and spit on it !!!! https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-hate-crime-probe-sikh-19343067
  12. It's been all over the TV and news this month. South Asians are the biggest minority group in the UK but we get no such month. We generally just keep our heads down and get on with things. Look at the contributions we make to this country, especially Sikhs and Hindus. We are disproportionately represented in Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, IT, corner shops. Professions that actually benefit society on a day to day basis, not just music and sports. Why do they always go on about having a black James Bond? Why never an Indian one? We never go begging for quotas or complain that we are under represented in certain fields. Look at Lewis Hamilton complaining about the lack of black people involved in the Engineering aspect of Formula 1. What he fails to realise is that not many black people are interested in such a field to begin with, he just feels entitled that there should be black engineers in Formula One for some reason. I wonder what goreh really think about things like this in the UK? Do black people help their cause by creating protests and riots or do people think twice about hiring them because they are prone to playing the race card? Does playing the race card help? Should we be doing such things? I think we get just as much racism as black people if not more.
  13. Guest

    Help with a trouble maker

    Dear members of Sikh Sangat, My name is Abdul Stanikzai I have immense respect for Sikhs and I have had the pleasure to know many and work with them through charitable organisations throughout Afghanistan may I first send my condolences to the martyrs of the Kabul Gurdwara attack we are blighted by this vicious terrorism for many decades. I have recently come across a Sikh gentle by the name of Rajinder Singh Tattal who often goes to Speakers Corner Hyde Park recently his youtube channel called: Raj Speakers Corner has posted a very hateful video in which he attacks Afghans because he had an argument with an Afghan individual online he then proceeds to insult an entire nation and people please check this link: https://streamable.com/3lwyy5 He is stirring up allot of ethnic tensions amongst Sikhs online and Muslims and has been for a few years but now it seems he wishes to antagonise Muslims and Afghans so we attack Sikhs online its created allot of issues as rival channels are now posting Anti Sikh material in retaliation because of Rajinders provocative videos. He has since deleted the video last night but I was sent a recording of it I do hope if anyone knows Rajinder personally they maybe able to tell him to tone down his rhetoric a bit. Thank you for reading this and allowing me to post this.
  14. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/darren-sammy-furious-kalu-racist-word-ipl-srh-6446203/
  15. Guest

    Bill 21 Quebec

    WaheguruJiKaKhalsaWaheguruJiKiFateh! Quebec's Sikhs need your help! Bill 21 bans all public sector employees like teachers, police, and lawyers from wearing any religious symbols. This means that Sikhs can not work while wearing their Dastar, Kara, or Kirpan. This law cannot be struck down by a judge for its violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms due to the Quebec provincial government's use of the notwithstanding clause. The Federal government is capable of repealing the law (disallowment) but they will only do so if the public forces them to. Disallowment can also only happen within 1 year of the bill's passing. Time is running out. Every Sikh in Canada needs to contact their Member of Parliament through email and phone to say that this law violates human rights and needs to be repealed. Bill 21 Awareness Resources In this link, multiple documents to spread awareness are attached. The word document for the small flyers can be printed black and white, double sided, and cut into four. You can add in your MP's information before printing, or just print it as is if your area has multiple MPs. Everything helps. Please hand them out at your local Gurdwara and other public places. To find your MP and their contact information, use this link: Find your MP Make sure to use your postal code for the search. If you use your city name you might end up with the wrong MP. The poster is attached as word, pdf, and jpg. It should be put up in all local Gurdwaras and other public places. Share the jpg and have it displayed on any TV screens. The announcement document can be changed to Punjabi font and given to people to make announcements at Gurdwaras. Announcements need to be made multiple times everyday. Anyone is welcome to modify anything if it needs improvement. Please sign the WSO petition: WSO Quebec Petition The response of Canadian Sikhs has been disappointing and weak. It is as if we don't care that the Sikhs of Quebec lost a lot of careers. There are about 500 000 Sikhs in Canada. That petition should have more than 500 000 signatures by now. If all Sikhs had recognized their duty to the Panth, then that would have been the case. Instead, there are, at this point, only about 2000. We should be ashamed. Take initiative to contact your MP and sign the petition. Take initiative to make everyone else in your family, Sangat, and community contact your MP, by email and phone, and sign the petition. If you don't do it, no one else will. If you are lazy now, then what face will you show to Guru Sahib? Think about it carefully. If we fail to put enough pressure on the Federal government, then they will not use their disallowment powers. And when 1 year passes, it will be too late and the only hope then will be for a new Quebec provincial government that is willing to change the law to be elected. This is unlikely due to the number of imbeciles in Quebec that are racist or don't recognize the human right to practice one's religion. So disallowment is the best hope that we have. Do not let the Sikhs of Quebec down; help in any way that you can!
  16. Comedian, 27, is ridiculed for saying she felt 'threatened' and 'scared' when four Sikh men boarded her plane, questioned why they were allowed to fly and described them as a 'different type of Muslim' Jess Hilarious has been forced to apologize after posting a series of videos to her four million followers in which she confused Sikh men for Muslims The comic says: ' Where are they going?' filming the men as they got on the plane She later adds: 'If I'm scared, I'm scared. F**k y'all. I felt threatened' Jess, who appears on Fox comedy Rel, continues her tirade after being allowed back on the evacuated plane, saying it's ironic 'I don’t see those people' Later appears to have called the men Muslim in a now deleted apology She has been labelled as Islamophobic and ignorant online and forced to say sorry to both the Muslim and Sikh communities in a later video In it she admits to being 'unaware of Sikhs' and says she is 'still learning' Jess posted the clips online just a day after the New Zealand terror attack By Lauren Fruen For Dailymail.com Published: 15:38, 19 March 2019 | Updated: 17:17, 19 March 2019 e-mail 207 shares 40 View comments A comedian has been ridiculed online after saying she was 'threatened' and 'scared' by four Sikh men boarding her plane before describing them as a 'different type of Muslim'. Instagram star Jess Hilarious, 27, posted a series of videos to her four million followers in which she commented on the four passengers wearing turbans, getting onto her plane. The comic, real name Jessica Moore, is now under fire for the Instagram posts, which she has since deleted. In one clip, the comedian, who stars in Fox comedy Rel, can be heard saying: 'Where are they going? Where are they going?' as the men board her flight. She later reaffirms her fear after the plane was emptied of passengers for unknown reasons, adding: 'If I'm scared, I'm scared. F**k y'all. F**k how y'all feel. Y'all mad at me because I don't side with every other black person. Because I don't side with every other race—f**k y'all. 'I feel how I feel, I felt threatened, and that was it. And I'm not flying there. We were evacuated, b***h! Why? Why, with no reason explained at all, no technical difficulties or nothing. Y'all going to listen to Jess with the mess one day, because my news is real.' Once back on the plane she continued her tirade, suggesting the reason the plane had been evacuated was because of the men, adding: 'So, how ironic is it that we boarded the same plane and I don’t see those people. Yeah, we’re fully boarded. Eat my a**.' Video playing bottom right... Click here to expand to full page +10 Jess Hilarious posted a series of videos to her four million followers in which she commented on the four passengers wearing turbans, getting onto her plane +10 The comedian, who stars in Fox comedy Rel, can be heard saying: 'Where are they going? Where are they going?' as the men board her flight +10 This now deleted apology has been attributed to the actress in which she says 'I was totally unaware of the different types of Muslims, so yes I’m ignorant to the facts so TEACH ME' It is not known why the plane was originally evacuated. The Sikh Coalition blasted her actions as 'spewing fearful, bigoted rhetoric'. A spokesman told the DailyMail.com: 'The Comedian Jess Hilarious spewed fearful, bigoted rhetoric about visibly Sikh passengers on social media this weekend. No community should be the target of hate and bigotry. 'In addition, we invite Jess to participate in an interfaith educational training, which would cover the dangers of racial and religious profiling.' She also quickly came under fire online after people labelled her Islamophobic and ignorant. One said: 'Also, Sikhs aren’t Muslims. Even if they were, that’s not a bad thing. You’re canceled.' Another added: 'Really disappointed in jesshilarious and the islamophobic (sic) comments she made, not that there’s EVER a good time but right now? bigger yikes. I truly hope someone pulls her aside and makes this moment teachable, but also nobody owes her that. there’s FREE knowledge on the interwebs.' And one wrote: 'So apparently @jess_hilarious wasn't the reason these men were removed from the plane. This doesn't change that she was ignorant and Islamophobic. It's always a bad time to be that way, but this is particularly a bad time.' The comedian Jess Hilarious spewed fearful, bigoted rhetoric about visibly Sikh passengers on social media this weekend. No community should be the target of hate and bigotry. Jess has now been forced to apologize to both the Muslim and Sikh communities. In a video captioned 'Official Statement Regarding Sikh & Muslim Community' Jess tells her followers: 'So, naturally in my previous post, I was defensive, but that’s what happens when you don’t take the time to really know what’s transpiring. 'In understanding the error of my actions, I have to first acknowledge the rooted issues, which means racially profiling a group of individuals based on their appearance and on top of that—publicizing it on a platform where others can be hurt by it and others were hurt from it. 'I’m not sure if these particular individuals that were on the plane are aware of my actions by now, but either way, I would love to apologize personally to them first for my insensitive and ignorant behavior. 'I am still learning and I was unaware of Sikhs. A lot of them reached out to me and educated me on who they are and what they stand for.' Jess came under fire online after users pointed out that the men were Sikh and not Muslim and 'even if they were that's not a bad thing' +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 Jess has now been forced to apologize to both the Muslim and Sikh communities +10 Jess posted the videos online just a day after the New Zealand terror attack RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Mobster John Gotti Jr is demanding a police apology after... Music video director who worked with Michael Jackson says he... Share this article Share She added: 'Yet, I would still like to apologize to all of you who were aware and offended by my actions. I refuse to teach, spread or be an advocate for hatred—I just want to make people laugh.' In an earlier, now deleted, apology attributed to the actress she is said to have written: 'I saw four people of that calibre and I just revert back to the past. 'I was totally unaware of the different types of Muslims, so yes I’m ignorant to the facts so TEACH ME.' Jess posted the videos online just a day after the New Zealand terror attack in which 50 people were killed at two mosques. She confirmed she will be donating $15,000 to the victims of the tragedy. DailyMail.com has contacted a representative for Jess for comment. Share or comment on this article: Comedian accused of Islamophobia for saying Sikh men on her plane made her feel 'threatened' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6826339/Comedian-accused-Islamophobia-saying-Sikh-men-plane-feel-threatened.html
  17. WJKKWJKF, Just a heads up for Sikhs in the UK. This UK based restaurant owner who also is runs a political website on Malaysian politics has made anti-Sikh and anti-Turban statements against a top Sikh Malaysian policeman a couple of days back. This is the original article:https://www.malaysia-today.net/2018/09/28/amar-singhs-turban-must-be-too-tight/ This is the Sikh policemans response: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/29/amar-calls-rpk-racist-over-turban-remark/ Another article by the UK restaurant owner justifying his racist remarks: https://www.malaysia-today.net/2018/09/29/muslims-wearing-turbans-are-terrorists-and-extremists/ This individual Raja Petra Kamaruddin runs with his family this restaurant http://gossiponbroadway.com located at 2,BROADWAY, NEW MOSTON, MANCHESTER, UK M40 3LN. This is a heads up for all Sikhs to decide for yourself if you would still want to patronise a business run by a racist bigot who believes in Malay race supremacy over all other races in Malaysia while they are our masters and we are the foreigners who live at their mercy. Please spread this information to everyone you know,Sikh or non-Sikh. This is the best way to send a message to bigots and race supremacists that their hatred would not be tolerated any longer by us ordinary folk. Thank you.
  18. The biggest preparators of Sikhphobic hate crime and attacks offline and online have been muslim fascists and far right wing racist white nationalists. Yet Sikhs have been extremely slow recognising this fact and speaking out against it. Even the term "sikhphobia/sikhphobic" is relatively new and should have been used ages ago when muslims started to come out with islamophobia, homosexuals with homophobia and jews with antisemitism.
  19. Just the other day I had some incident with a racist boss who made some snide remarks. I wont go into detail but it was some nasty racist stuff. How to deal with these racist bosses? p.s on a sidenote most of the racism I have dealt with has been in the voluntary work sector. Where bosses can get away with alot of racist abuse as the volunteer has little rights. To go in breif details this female manager has done similar things to other asian workers. I felt like having a real go at her to give her a taste of her own medicine. I am still actually thinking of doing this. But then I thought as a man I should not do this to a woman. But maybe I should as this is the only way she will learn.
  20. http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/03/shopkeeper-sent-flying-after-being-hit-by-car-while-defending-polish-boy-6549914/ https://www.gofundme.com/amo-singh-stroud-antiracism
  21. Man shouting 'get out of my country' shoots dead Indian engineer 'because he thought he was Middle Eastern' Adam Purinton alleged to have uttered racist slurs before opening fire at Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe, killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injuring patrons Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot A Kansas man has been charged with shooting dead an Indian man and wounding another Indian man and an American in a bar, in a suspected hate crime. Adam Purinton, 51, was charged in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder, Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe told a news conference. Purinton is accused of shooting and killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, also 32, in the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the Olathe Police Department. At least one bystander told the Kansas City Star that the man shouted "get out of my country" before shooting the Indian men. He is also accused of wounding American Ian Grillot, 24, who was shot when he tried to intervene, the Kansas City Star reported. Witnesses told the Kansas City Star and The Washington Post that Purinton was thought to have been kicked out the bar Wednesday night before the shooting took place. “He seemed kind of distraught,” Garret Bohnen, a regular at Austin’s who was there that night told The Washington Post in an interview. “He started drinking pretty fast.” He reportedly came back into the bar and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent. When he started firing shots, Grillot, a regular at the bar whom Bohnen called “everyone’s friend,” intervened. Two officials from the Indian consulate in Houston were going to Kansas to meet the injured men and police to "ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action," Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup said in a statement. Witnesses told The Washington Post that Purinton was thought to have been kicked out the bar Wednesday night before the shooting took place. “He seemed kind of distraught,” Garret Bohnen, a regular at Austin’s who was there that night told Post in an interview. “He started drinking pretty fast.” He reportedly came back into the bar and hurled racial slurs at the two Indian men, including comments that suggested he thought they were of Middle Eastern descent. When he started firing shots, Grillot, a regular at the bar whom Bohnen called “everyone’s friend,” intervened. "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family," Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said in a Tweet. The US embassy in New Delhi condemned the shooting. "The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live," US Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson said in a statement. "US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief." Howe would not elaborate on the details of the incident or the motive for the shooting. "We want to be able to be sure about our facts versus speculation. So we are not prepared at this point to talk about the particular facts of the case because this is still very fresh," Howe said. Kavipriya Muthuramalingam, a friend and former colleague of the shooting victim, has raised more than $250,000 via a crowd-funding website to help his family with funeral and other expenses. "This came as an incredible shock - as he is one of the most gentle, nicest human beings you would meet," Muthuramalingam said. "He was non-confrontational, non-controversial, easy-going, always smiling." The killing led news bulletins in India and drew strong reactions on social media, amid growing concerns that US President Donald Trump's "America First" rhetoric on immigration and jobs has fuelled a climate of intolerance. "Don't be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla," Siddharth, a well known South Indian actor, tweeted to his 2.6 million followers. Trump's election was welcomed at first by many in India who interpreted his calls to restrict immigration by Muslims as signalling support towards Hindu-majority India, which for decades has been at odds with Pakistan, its largely Muslim neighbour. But the Trump administration also has skilled Indian workers like Kuchibhotla in mind as it considers curbing the H-1B visa program, worrying both India's $150 billion IT services industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Kuchibhotla's Facebook page, where he called himself "Srinu", said he joined Garmin in 2014 from Rockwell Collins. He took a master's in electronics from the University of Texas in El Paso from 2005-07, according to LinkedIn. He was married but had no children. The FBI was investigating whether the incident was a hate crime. "We are looking at whether the crime was committed via bias motivation. We are really at the preliminary stage at looking at every aspect," said Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBI's Kansas City Field Office, during the news conference. The US attorney office in Kansas and the US Department of Justice will also evaluate the case as more evidence is gathered, Tom Beall, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas said, the Kansas City Star reported. The United States saw a wave of hate crimes, including a spike in anti-immigrant incidents, during the first month after Trump's election in November, the Southern Poverty Law Centre reported. Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers who worked at Garmin as members of the Aviation Systems Engineering team, the Star reported. "We're saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night's incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved," the company said in a statement, according to the newspaper. The suspect fled from the bar on foot and was apprehended five hours later at an Applebeeâs in Clinton, Missouri, where he reportedly told an employee that he needed a place to hide out because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men, the Star reported. Purinton, who was not armed, was arrested without incident, the newspaper reported. Purinton, a Navy veteran, was being held on a $2 million bond in the Henry County Jail, where he waived his right to fight extradition to Johnson County, the paper reported. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kansas-bar-shooting-murder-srinivas-kuchibhotl-racial-motivated-adam-purinton-prosecutors-austins-a7596846.html
  22. AMRITSAR: Sikhs in the UK have blamed the government for ignoring the incidents of hate crimes directed at the community. "The Sikh Federation, UK was dismayed when the Hate Crime Action Plan was issued in July, which appeared to have been written as though the estimated 750,000 British Sikh community did not exist," said Gurjit Singh of the Federation to TOI on Thursday. He said the body had written to Prime Minister Theresa May, UK home secretary Amber Rudd and secretary of the state at the department for communities and local government Sajid Javid about the hate crime directed towards the visible Sikh community. He said for Sikhs it was not a new phenomenon following the Brexit vote, but something that raised its ugly head at the national and international level more than 15 years ago post 9/11 and had not been properly acknowledged by the successive British governments. Chair of Sikh Federation, UK, Amrik Singh said, "More than 30 years ago Sikhs were legally recognized by the law lords, the highest court in the country, as a 'race' and afforded protection. However, whilst individual Sikhs have been successful to prosecute in cases of direct and indirect discrimination, the community as a whole has continued to suffer in silence." He said PM May announced in late August that 'race audits' would be conducted within 12 months. "Given the way the home office and others have dealt with hate crimes directed towards Sikhs, we expect the home office to come up short and give new meaning to term 'institutional racism,'" he said.Network of Sikh Organizations, in its letter to the home secretary on November 30, stated, "At the beginning of the year we uncovered some important statistics. Twenty-eight percent of the victims of so-called 'Islamophobic' hate crime were in fact non-Muslim - Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and those of no recorded faith." http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/UK-Sikh-body-says-British-govt-ignoring-hate-crimes-against-community/articleshow/55736611.cms
  23. Canada apologizes for 1914 rejection of Asian migrant ship Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologizes, Wednesday, May 18, 2016, in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, for a 1914 Canadian government decision that barred most of the passengers of the Komagata Maru from entering the country. Canadian officials refused to allow the Indians in, even though they were British subjects just like every other Canadian of the time. The chartered vessel was carrying 376 Indian passengers, nearly all of them Sikhs, bound for what they thought would be a new life in Canada. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP) The Associated Press By ROB GILLIES Posted: May. 18, 2016 8:00 am Updated: May. 18, 2016 9:38 pm TORONTO (AP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in Parliament on Wednesday for a government decision in 1914 to turn away a ship carrying hundreds of South Asian immigrants. The Komagata Maru from Hong Kong arrived off Vancouver only to have almost all of its 376 passengers, nearly all of them Sikhs from India, denied entry due to immigration laws at the time. The passengers were hoping to challenge Canadian immigration law, which refused entry to any Indians who had not arrived in Canada via a continuous journey from the Indian mainland nearly impossible at the time. The law was seen as a measure to stymie Indian arrivals. Officials refused to allow the Indians in, even though they were British subjects just like every other Canadian of the time. After 20 passengers who had previously lived in Canada were allowed to disembark, the ship was turned away. The ship was eventually sent to Calcutta, and least 19 people were killed in a skirmish with British soldiers. Others were jailed. "Canada's government was, without question, responsible for the laws that prevented these passengers from immigrating peacefully and securely," Trudeau said. "For that, and for every regrettable consequence that followed, we are sorry." Opposition leaders also apologized. New Democrat leader Thomas Mulcair called it "racism, plain and simple." A spectator in the public gallery hollered out a Punjabi slogan that signals happiness after Trudeau spoke. Former prime minister Stephen Harper apologized at an event in British Columbia in 2008, but members of the Sikh community have long said an apology should be offered formally in Parliament. There are more than a million Canadians of South Asian descent. Trudeau had pledged to make an apology during his election campaign last year. He noted in Parliament on Wednesday that Canada's current defense minister, Harjit Sajjan, once commanded the reserve regiment that turned back the Komagata Maru and thanked him for helping the Komagata Maru incident get national attention. "Before entering political life, the minister was the commanding officer of the British Columbia Regiment Duke of Connaught's Own the same regiment that once forced out the Komagata Maru," Trudeau said to applause. "A century ago, the minister's family might well have been turned away from Canada. Today, the minister sits beside us, here, in this House." Sajjan tweeted that he was humbled and grateful and he thanked Trudeau.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use