The British Asians who fought #fascism in the seventies

#BlairPeach’s death 40 years ago followed the killing of a schoolboy – two murders that ignited an #AntiRacist struggle.

By Gouri Sharma
23 Apr 2019

London, United Kingdom – "On a sunny Saturday in June 1976, teenager Suresh Grover was in Southall chatting with a friend outside the Dominion Cinema when he noticed a police officer standing next to a pool of blood.

"'I asked him, ‘Did somebody die there?' Grover told Al Jazeera. 'And he turned to me and said ‘It’s just Indian blood’. He was very rude and left the scene soon after. I was shocked – this was an officer saying it was just Indian blood and not of equal worth.'

"The blood had flowed from the body of #GurdipSinghChaggar.

"The 18-year-old student was killed the night before in a racist attack in the west #London district, which had recently become home to a large #SouthAsian population, particularly from India’s northern #Punjab state.

"Grover, now 62, said: 'The next day we went to the police station, surrounded it, made speeches and #Southall came to a standstill. By the end of the afternoon around 5,000 people – men, women, #Asians, #AfroCaribbeans – had gathered in a show of #unity, #solidarity and defiance. It was the first time this sort of protest had happened and it had a profound impact on Southall. That day, the #SouthallYouthMovement was born.”

Read more:
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/4/23/the-british-asians-who-fought-fascism-in-the-seventies

#ACAB #Fascism #Racism #AntiImmigrant #EnglandRiots #UKRiots #BristolRiots #Skinheads #NeoNazis