King Charles III comes to Banglatown
For British-Bangladeshis, a new chapter was added to their history on the day
It is not every day that a reigning monarch comes to visit your locality or goes on a walkabout in your township. But that monarchs do find time to engage with their subjects at certain special moments in the royal narrative was demonstrated on a February day – 8 February to be precise – when Britain's King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla went visiting Banglatown in London.
For British-Bangladeshis it was in more ways than one a coming of age for a community which had for decades struggled, and struggled relentlessly and hard, to carve a niche for themselves as a vibrant community in the United Kingdom. The monarch's visit, lasting 120 minutes, was a crowning achievement for a community which through the passage of time went into an assertion of itself as one determined not only to establish its rights in the United Kingdom but also make it known that it was a significant cog in the wheel of social, political and economic movement in the country.
For British-Bangladeshis, the visit of the king was in a broad measure a journey back in time to a recapitulation of the travails the community had come through since the 1970s. And 1978 is a critical point of time in the community calendar because it was the murder of a young British-Bangladeshi named Altab Ali which galvanised the community into resisting racism in the country. Ali was killed for no other reason than that he was an immigrant. One of the young people who hacked him to death simply could not come up with a credible reason for the assault on the young man.
The sacrifice made by Altab Ali forms an important chapter in the history of the evolution of British-Bangladeshi society in the United Kingdom. In the decades since 1978, the community, in numbers as well as influence, has expanded enormously, to a point where Britain's political classes realise how important a stake they have in its well-being. The curry industry, today a vibrant presence in the British economy, has long been a signature tune of the community.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
But things have not stopped there for the British-Bangladeshis. In recent years, the children and grandchildren of those early groups of Bengalis making their way to British shores have made it a point to go beyond the parameters their elders have so long been confined in. Young British-Bangladeshis today work for various departments of the government, including the Foreign Office, the Justice Department, and the armed services. Three women of Bangladeshi descent are currently members of the House of Commons, apart from a very large number of mayors and councillors.
It was against this remarkable background that King Charles III went to visit Banglatown in a month which coincides with the observance of Ekushey back home in Bangladesh. In what is today a clearly multicultural Britain, the monarch was welcomed at the entry point to Altab Ali Park, a living memory to the martyred young man, by prominent members of the British-Bangladeshi community when he and the Queen Consort arrived in Banglatown. Among them were such proud British-Bangladeshis as Shafi Ahmed, the Speaker of Tower Hamlets, and Deputy Mayor Maiyum Talukdar.
And then came that moment when the organisers of the royal visit to Banglatown, British Bangladeshi Power and Inspiration (BBPI), in the persons of its founder trustee Ayesha Qureshi MBE JP and founder Councillor Abdal Ullah, formally welcomed the King and the Queen Consort on behalf of the British-Bangladeshi community. As a crowd of British-Bangladeshis cheered the royals, with the young breaking into traditional Bengali music and dance, King Charles III and the Queen Consort were introduced to members of the community whose contributions to its development are today part of history.
Among them were Bengalis whose role in the anti-racist movements of the 1970s has become part of the record. Also on hand to greet the royals were such leading members of the British-Bangladeshi community as Nobab Uddin, former editor of the prominent Bengali weekly Janomot, media personalities Zaki Rezwana Anwar and Urmi Mazher, pioneers in the anti-racist movement Rajon Uddin Jalal, Ansar Ahmad Ullah and Helaluddin Abbas, London Bangla Press Club President Emdadul Haq Chowdhury and former General Secretary of the club Muhammad Abdus Sattar.
Urmi Mazher narrated briefly the background to the 1952 Language Movement and the history of the Shaheed Minar to the royal couple, while Nobab Uddin acquainted them with the history of Bangladesh's War of Liberation, the contributions of British-Bangladeshis to the cause back home as also the support for the Bengali struggle by the British people and government in 1971. The former editor of Janomot also informed the King of the contributions of the curry industry to the British economy, to the tune of £4.5 million.
Another high point of the royal visit to Banglatown was the planting of an elm sapling by King Charles III in the memory of martyr Altab Ali, at the park now bearing his name, to the accompaniment of the song Jodi Tor Daak Shune Keu Na Aashe.
Accompanied by Abdal Ullah and Ayesha Qureshi, the King and the Queen Consort moved on through Osborne Street to Banglatown gate at Brick Lane, where the royals were welcomed by Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh's High Commissioner in the United Kingdom. Prior to their departure and journey back to the palace, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla made their way to Graam Bangla, symbolic of Bengali cultural tradition, where they were introduced to 17 British-Bangladeshi women associated with the BBPI Jamdani Network.
On behalf of BBPI, the young Propa Rezwana Anwar presented a jamdani saree to the Queen Consort, while Nilupa Uddin made a gift of her recently published book Halfway to the King. The next stop for the royal couple was the historic Brick Lane Jame Mosque, where they were warmly welcomed by members of the mosque trustee board.
And then ended the royal visit, leaving the British-Bangladeshi community thrilled to no end, convinced that when King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla came visiting, their efforts toward making themselves a relevant part of the larger United Kingdom society stood vindicated. It was a powerful sign of the British-Bangladeshis, with roots back home in Bangladesh, having truly and assertively come of age in the United Kingdom.
Bengali pride was at work as the King and the Queen Consort spoke to the members of the community, walked around Banglatown, clearly enthused by the warmth demonstrated towards them.
For British-Bangladeshis, a new chapter was added to their history on the day.
