3G Ban in UK Inner

Introduction to 2nd strand Community creativity - dialogue between second and third generation on welfare and community involvement in the UK, from the 1970s-80s In this strand we focussed on the emergence of the second generation of Bengali community activists and their entry into mainstream politics during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bengali community politics moved away from preoccupations with political struggles in Bangladesh which were discussed in the first strand and an alliance was forged between some of the first generation, such as Tassaduq Ahmed and Fakhruddin Ahmed, and the younger activists such as Rajonuddin Jalal, Noor Uddin Ahmed, Jamal Hassan, Akikur Rahman and Sunahwar Ali, for example, who are interviewed here and others such as Abbas Uddin and Ala Uddin.They seized the oppor- tunity of gaining both access to the local political system and to state funding channelled through the local borough council, the Greater London Council (GLC) and the Inner London Educational Authority (ILEA). They also saw the importance of building alliances with activists outside the Bengali community, such other ‘Asians’ from Hackney, Newham, Camden & Southall and those from the white majority such as Caroline Adams, Mark Adams, Peter East, Terry Fitzpatrick, John Newbegin and Clare Murphy. Through various ‘redevelopment’ schemes – the Spitalfields Project and BENTH are two examples discussed here – government money began to flow into Spitalfields and other wards where the Bengali population was rapidly expanding.Although it was most- ly Bengali men who contributed to these developments, the interviews with Mithu Ghosh, Shila Thakor and Clare Murphy reveal the important role played by women and the influence of debates about women’s rights and gen- der equality. The interviews also look beyond this period of Bengali community formation and political mobilisation to events leading up to contemporary situation in Brick Lane. They point to the crucial economic and social changes – the decline of the garment industry, the expansion of the service sector, especially restaurants and shops, the emergence of a third generation where the highly educated pull away from those without prospects.In Spitalfields the impact of the ‘global city’ was felt by the gentrification of the conservation areas by rich white ‘immigrants’,the colonisation by high technology, advertising, media and the artistic sector, the arrival of City of London business- es and across the borough generally the transformation of the derelict docks in the south into the gleaming Manhattanesque landscape of Canary Wharf and the new housing for white middle class newcomers on the Isle of dogs and other southern localities. Brick Lane is still the centre of Bengali enterprise but it has become, a global icon, and attempts by local Bengali entrepreneurs and others to market the area’s Banglatown - the East End’s answer to the West End’s Chinatown. Another key development since the early 1980s has been the increasing importance of Islam.This has been driv- en by the arrival of wives and dependants during the 1980s and 1990s and debates about what beliefs and prac- tices should be handed on to the very large third generation.The secular radicalism of those interviewed here has been challenged by Islamist critiques of western materialism and the British government’s involvement in two Gulf conflicts etc.This critique is associated with the expanding influence of faith based organisations, and political developments back in Bangladesh. Jamil Iqbal and John Eade P. S. from John Eade: On a personal note I would like to express my pleasure in reading the interviews of those whom I met during my doctoral research on Bangladeshi community representation. I began the research at a crucial time - 1980.This was only two years after the murder of Altab Ali, which features so large in this strand of the project. I originally wanted to research the Bangladeshi involvement in the garment trade - another theme in this strand - but the factory owners were understandably suspicious and I made little progress. However, as one door closed another opened because many of them were eager to tell me about their role as community leaders and the thesis developed into a study of how Bangladeshi activists articulated the needs of Bangladeshi resi- dents in the housing and education sectors. Between 1980 and 1986 I focussed on how this political struggle played out within Spitalfields and was fortunate enough to publish my thesis as a book – The Politics of Community – through Ashgate in 1989. I have continued to research and publish the issues outline above and have had the pleasure of working with some of the younger cohort of white and British Bangladeshi researchers such as Jamil Iqbal, Halima Begum, Isabelle Fremeaux, David Garbin and Georgie Wemyss. Inspired by this project I will ensure that The Politics of Community is reprinted with some chapters from my subsequent work and put on the Swadhinata website. 49 Tales of Three Generations of Bengalis in Britain Interviewees Profile Mr. Abdus Shukur Age: 49 Interviewed: 21 March 2006 Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal and Charlie Sen Mr. Shukur was one of the founding members of Bangladesh Youth Movement (BYM) in the 70s and was its chairman and secretary. He was very much involved in Brick Lane in the 1970s in relation to the anti-racist movement and was chairman of the Spitalfields Housing and Planning Rights Service (SHAPRS).At the time of the interview Mr.Shukur was a Labour Party councillor for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Rev. Aloke Biswas Age: 61 Interviewed: 19 May 2006 Interviewer: Jamil Iqbal and Charlie Sen The Reverend Biswas started his career as a social worker in the borough of Hackney in 1972. In the 1970s he was involved with the struggle against racism and he is still working as a social worker on a part time basis. Mr. Akikur Rahman Age: 53 Interviewed: 05 March 2006 Interviewer: Jamil Iqbal and Abdul Aziz Mr.Rahman was a young political activist in the late 1970s.He was one of the organisers of the Black Solidarity Day in reprisal to the murder of Altab Ali - one of the biggest demonstrations in East London where 7,000 people marched from Whitechapel to 10 Downing Street. At the time of the interview Mr. Rahman was a Liberal Democrat Party’s councillor for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Ms. Clare Murphy Age: 59 Interviewed: 01 June 2006 Interviewer: Jamil Iqbal Ms. Murphy came to Tower Hamlets in 1972 to work with Avenues Unlimited as a Community Development Worker. She challenged the local authority on such issues as housing, repairs etc and formed a group to do something about the Bengali housing problems. Currently, she works part- time with the YMCA. Tales of Three Generations of Bengalis in Britain 50 Mr. Dan Jones Age: 65 Interviewed: 06 March 2006 Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal and Ansar Ahmed Ullah Mr. Jones was a well-known youth and community worker and also the secretary of the Trade Union Council in Tower Hamlets. He struggled for the rights of ordinary Bengali people in and around Brick Lane. He has written, edited and illustrated a number of books. He has worked for Amnesty International UK as a campaigner and education officer for many years. Mr. Derek Cox Age: 68 Interviewed: 22 March 2006 Interviewer: Jamil Iqbal, Abdul Shahid and Shanaz Shahid. Mr. Cox has been a youth and community worker for over 40 years and worked for Avenues Unlimited in Brick Lane. It employed the first full-time Asian youth worker, Ashok Basu Dev, in the early 1970s. Mr Cox was involved in setting up the Montefiore Community Centre. He now works for New Avenues, the successor to Avenues Unlimited. Mr. Jamal Hasan Interviewed: 07 April 2006 Interviewer: Jamil Iqbal Mr. Hassan currently works at Camden Community Law Centre. He was a community and youth worker in the East End from 1972 until 1981. He was also involved with the Bangladesh Welfare Association (BWA). He became secretary of the coalition organisation which staged the demonstration from Brick Lane to Hyde Park. Mr. John Eversley Interviewed: 23 March 2006 Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal and Charlie Sen Mr.Eversley is a part-time university lecturer and managing director of a not- for-profit social research company. He has worked in Spitalfields from 1977 and was primarily concerned with adult community work but also had a lot of contact with youth organisations. He was involved in anti-racist struggle, partly through trade union movement and partly through community work. 51 Tales of Three Generations of Bengalis in Britain Mr. John Newbigin Age: 58 Interviewed: 21 March 2006 Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal and Charlie Sen In January 1976 Mr. Newbigin started working with Avenues Unlimited as a youth and community worker. He worked with Bengali youth in and around Brick Lane.Now he works as a freelance journalist and strategic consultant to the cultural industries. Ms. Cathy Forrester (Peters) Age: 54 Interviewed: 7 June 2006 Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal, Riza Momin and Maliha Haque Ms. Peters moved to the Chicksand Estate in 1962 when she was ten years old. As a local resident she experienced the problems faced by the Bengali community in Brick Lane. She stood up for the cause of the Bengali community in the late 1970s and was beaten, dragged and arrested by the police when a fight broke out between youth groups. Rev. Kenneth Leech Age: 66 Interviewed: 09 March 2006, Manchester Interviewers: Jamil Iqbal, Ansar Ahmed Ullah and Charlie Sen The Reverend Leech has served as a director of the Runnymede Trust, a leading think-tank promoting ethnicity and cultural diversity. He was involved in the foundation of the Christian Socialist Movement and the Jubilee Group - a network of socialist Christians.

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