Defend Staffordshire University Students Union from BNP attacks

Official statement from Unite Against Fascism

Love Music Hate Racism  

The British National Party - a racist and fascist organisation - has been active in Staffordshire and has nine councillors on Stoke-on-Trent city council. Staffordshire University Students Union has rightly taken a lead in opposing the BNP and defending the university's multiracial and multicultural student community. Union president Assed Baig was elected on an explicitly anti-racist and anti-fascist ticket. He has become a prominent young Muslim activist and a thorn in the BNP's side.

 

That is why the BNP has now launched an attack on Staffs Union, making legal threats against the union and backing a renewed campaign directed against Assed personally. The ostensible reason for these attacks is a link that was published on the Staffs Union website to another site that allows people to search the locations of alleged BNP members. This link has now been removed by Assed to protect the Students' Union from the BNPs legal threats.

 

The real reason for the BNP's attack is to undermine Staffs Union's anti-fascist policy, to knock down a Muslim activist who has been outspoken against racism and the BNP, and to intimidate every student who wants to oppose the BNP's racism and defend the university's diversity. That is why we must all rally to defend Staffs Union and Assed Baig against these attacks. If we fail to defend them we are effectively lining up behind the BNP attacks.

 

Recent assaults on Muslim students in City University in London have highlighted how a heightened climate of racism and Islamophobia can impact directly on the safety of ethnic minority students. The BNP wants to establish itself at universities and colleges in order to whip up race hatred and division. We must not let BNP fascists bully our student unions into dropping or stepping back from anti-racist campaigning. Let's keep our campuses multiracial, multicultural and Nazi free.

 

Official statement from Unite Against Fascism

Love Music Hate Racism

 

Statement supported by:

NUS Black Students' Officer - Bell Riberio-Addy
NUS LGBT Officer - Daf Adley
NUS NEC Officer - James Haywood
President of Sussex - Tom Wills
General Secretary LSE - Aled Fisher
Co-President SOAS - Ben Sellers
Essex SU Campaigns Officer - Mark Bergfeld
Leeds SU Welfare Chair - Hanif Leylabi
Goldsmiths SU Mature Students' Officer - Karl Rosen
Sussex Education Officer - Josh Jones
SOAS Womens Officer - Elly Badcock
Goldsmiths Trustee - Ruth Bibby
Sussex Entertainments Officer - Simon Englert
Adam Mason - President, Keele University Students' Union
Ateeqa Darr - Women's Liberation Officer, Bradford University Students' Union
Vanessa Brumby Education welfare officer Staffs uni
President of University of Huddersfield Students' Union Junaid Ejaz
Sussex International Students Officer - Riya Alsanah
Charankamal Singh - Sussex Post-Grad Officer
Syed Bokhari - Sussex UAF Co-Secretary

 

If you would like to add your name to the statement please email me.

Thanks