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Filmed in 1978 by Thames Televisions 'Our people' programme - This extract looks at the struggles the local East End Asian community faces against the rise of racist attacks and the growth of the National Front.

First shown in Thames Television in 1979

*This is a shortened version of the original report.

On the way home from work and evening Prayers, 25 year old Bangladeshi, Altab Ali was attacked in broad daylight, where he was stabbed in the neck, within two hours of this unprovoked attack Ali was dead.

Community leaders that there have been hundreds of assaults in the last two years and the police have been ineffective to stem the flow of racist attacks. Police deny any lack of concern: They point to manpower shortages and also the unwillingness to community members to report the assaults. 7000 people marched from brick lane to Hyde Park in protest of the increase in Racist violence.

Thames Televisions 'Our People' programme follows some of the organizers behind the Anti Nazi movement in the East End of London - including the 'Rock against Racism' ANL demonstration and carnival in 1978.

First broadcast: 22/02/1979

The story of how - from 1976 to 1981 - Britain's Asian community stood tall against far-right violence and a rising tide of racist murders. The National Front are rising. So young British Asians join forces to defend themselves.

Altab Ali and the Battle of Brick Lane is a short animated documentary that explores the events surrounding the racist killing of Altab Ali, a young Bangladeshi worker in east London in the late 1970s. It tells the tale of the widespread racism faced by the Bangladeshi community living in east London at the time and how the incident inspired a generation of Bangladeshis to join hands in the fight against the racist forces. Using interviews of the activists involved in the anti-racist struggle and striking contrasting imagery, the film tells the tale of the event that marks a turning point in London's race relations.

There is also a fantastic online education resource, The Fight for Equality developed with young people from George Green School as a way to help others learn about the radical history on their doorstep. Local communities have come together to help stamp out racism by speaking out and taking direct action against hatred and intolerance.

Director biography: Diwas Bisht has been a PhD student in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University since Oct. 2017. Before joining the programme, Diwas was working as an Illustrator and Animation filmmaker in India. He holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting from the Delhi University (2010), followed by a MDes in Animation Film Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (2013).

A look into the life of the Bangladesh community in Brick Lane and Whitechapel during the 1970's.

James Cheeseman's award winning 8mm film depicting life in and around the East End during the 1970s.

The Altab Ali Story Written by Julie Begum
Director: Mukul Ahmed
Dramaturge: Patricia Cumper
Producer: Pauline Walker
Cast:
Mother: Saida Tanni
Dabir Miah/Postman: Delwar Hossain Dilu
Grandmother: Tonni Khan
Altab Ali: Porag Hasan

This heart-breaking story about the death of Altab Ali oscillates between a village in Sylhet, Bangladesh and a flat in East London and dramatizes the historic moment in 1978 when his mother is given the devastating news. The airmail letters to his family back home with descriptions of life in a foreign land are keenly anticipated but everything changes with the arrival of an ominous envelope from one of Ali's friends. This senseless murder is the catalyst for a mass anti-racist movement from the Bengali community; the first ever seen in Britain, culminating in a demonstration of 7,000 people marching to Downing Street via Hyde Park with his coffin. Though airmail letters are no longer a primary means of communication, the anger conveyed 'par avion', and the impact of this senseless murder live on, both for his family and the community at large.

Hundreds of people pass through the Altab Ali Park in White Chapel every day. Thousands of people know the name of Altab Ali Park. Millions of people can see the existence of the park on the map. However, only a few of us know who Altab Ali was and why the park has been named after him.

Documentary film about Altab Ali Park made by young people at Tower Hamlets Summer University exploring the racist murder of a Bangladeshi man, Altab Ali, in Brick Lane, East London in the 1970s. The tragedy sparked a wave of protests, and led the community to voice it's demands for human and civic rights in Britain.

This film was a joint winner of the Guy Ritchie Young Film Makers award 2004. The film project was led by Bhavesh Hindocha of Loud Minority.

For further information about 'Loud Minority', please visit their website at www.loudminority.co.uk

Dan Jones is an artist and activist based in Tower Hamlets. Eastside Community Heritage interviewed him as part of their project on London's long history of opposition to racism.

17 January 2024 - Speaker at Title: Summer of protest: Bengali anti-racist movement in 1978. 6-7.30pm Online organised by the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives based at Bancroft Road.

A Talk by Ansar Ahmed Ullah
At:
Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
17 January 2024

It is said that the brutal murder of Altab Ali on 4 May 1978 was a turning point that led to the mobilisation of an anti-racist movement by the Bengali community in the East End. This period marked a political awakening amongst Bengalis who had long suffered violent racist attacks and housing discrimination in the locality.

Ansar Ahmed Ullah explores what led to the summer of protests in East London, how the Bengali community forged alliances with other community and political groups, and how the movement developed in the following decade.