Difference between revisions 798019195 and 814900950 on enwiki

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = 
| name             = Altab Ali
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = 
| image_size       = 220px
| alt              = 
(contracted; show full)

Of the three attackers, two were white and one was black.<ref name="Being Bengali"/> Ali's killers were Roy Arnold (aged 17) of Limehouse, Carl Ludlow (aged 17) of Bow and an unnamed mixed race male from Poplar (aged 16). It was the 16-year-old who committed the stabbing and when police asked him why, his reply was "for no reason at all". He stated, "If we saw a 
[[Paki (slur)|Paki]] we used to have a go at them. We would ask for money and beat them up. I've beaten up [[Paki (slur)|Pakis]] on at least five occasions."<ref name="Education, Racism, and Reform" />

==Aftermath==
[[File:Altab Ali protest.jpg|220px|thumb|left|Protest march by Bangladeshis to [[Downing Street]] with murdered Ali's coffin, 14 May 1978]]
(contracted; show full)|isbn=978-0-85969-577-0}}</ref><ref name="Violent Racism">{{cite book |last=Bowling|first=Benjamin|title=Violent Racism: Victimization, Policing, and Social Context|year=1988|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=48|isbn=978-0-19-826252-7}}</ref> It was described at the time as "one of the biggest demonstrations by Asians ever seen in Britain".<ref name="Education, Racism, and Reform" />

The murder provoked a mass mobilisation of the Bengali community locally
.<ref name="Judaism, Christianity, and Islam">{{cite book |last=Gilman|first=Sander L.|title=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Collaboration and Conflict in the Age of Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3AfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA171&dq=Altab+Ali&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBWoVChMIg-vQ0ar6yAIVgrkUCh0gXgg5#v=onepage&q=Altab%20Ali&f=false|year=2015|publisher=[[Hong Kong University Press]]|page=171|isbn=978-9888208272}}</ref> The protest against the murder politicised a generation of young Bengali activists,<ref name="Judaism, Christianity, and Islam"/> and many Bangladeshis were drawn into political activity in the aftermath of the murder.<ref name="A People's History of London">{{cite book |last1=German|first1=Lindsey|last2=Rees|first2=John|title=A People's History of London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7BN6m4LSkOQC&pg=PA248&dq=Altab+Ali&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEkQ6AEwCGoVChMI-b_J9frsyAIVQrIUCh1ZJgqI#v=onepage&q=Altab%20Ali&f=false|year=1988|publisher=[[Verso Books]]|page=248|isbn=978-1844678556}}</ref> This began a movement that eventually pushed the National Front out of Whitechapel, and helped affirm Bengali identity there.<ref name="standard"/>

The [[Anti-Nazi League]] and the [[Rock Against Racism]] movement were born out of the events of 1978.<ref name="independent">{{cite news |last=Clarke|first=Hilary|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/life-on-the-lane-1157728.html|title=Altab Ali: The racist murder that mobilised the East End|work= |location= |publisher=''[[The Independent]]''|date=23 May 1998|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Entrance, Altab Ali Park.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Entrance to [[Altab Ali Park]]]]
The name Altab Ali became a widely known symbol of resistance against racism generally and is associated with the struggle for human rights, specifically in defence of the Bangladeshis in the UK after Bengali the community mobilised in May 1978 to defend itself against racist attacks that were represented in the murder of Altab Ali.<ref name="UKIA"/> As a response to persistent racial tension, residents began to organise neighbourhood committees and youth groups.<ref name="Muslims in British Local Government"/> His murder was the trigger for the first significant political organisation against racism by Bangladeshis.<ref name="UKIA"/>

The Altab Ali Foundation was later set up, which holds thean annual commemoration to all victims of racism, staged in the former St Mary's Churchyard that, which was renamed [[Altab Ali Park]]<ref name="eastlondonadvertiser2">{{cite news |last=Brooke|first=Mike|url=http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/altab_ali_s_racist_murder_in_whitechapel_remembered_37_years_on_1_4061835|title=Altab Ali's racist murder in Whitechapel remembered 37 years on|work= |location=London|publisher=''[[Docklands and East London Advertiser|East London Advertiser]]''|date=6 May 2015|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref> by [[Tower Hamlets Council]] in 1979.<ref name="After the Cosmopolitan?"/> Altab Ali Foundation soon became a movement against racism around the East End of London. The campaign against racism that took place after Ali's murder influenced the identification and association of the collective social and community image of British Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets.<ref name="UKIA"/>

Every year since Ali's death, an annual commemoration has taken place in Whitechapel in his memory.<ref name="eastlondonadvertiser2"/><ref name="eastlondonadvertiser1">{{cite news |last=Barnett|first=Adam|url=http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/anti_racists_and_bangladeshis_mark_altab_ali_day_in_whitechapel_1_3589309|title=Anti-racists and Bangladeshis mark Altab Ali Day in Whitechapel|work= |location=London|publisher=''[[Docklands and East London Advertiser|East London Advertiser]]''|date=7 May 2014|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref> In October 2015, [[John Biggs (politician)|John Biggs]], the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, announced that the borough would host an annual Altab Ali Commemoration Day.<ref name="bbc"/>

==See also==
* [[British Bangladeshi]]
* [[List of British Bangladeshis]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sublimephotography.co.uk/eastendphotos/whitechapel/photos/big/altabali.jpg Altab Ali Park entrance]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Altab}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Anti-Asian sentiment]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi Muslims]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British people of Bangladeshi descent]]
[[Category:English murder victims]]
[[Category:People murdered in London]]
[[Category:People from Sylhet District]]
[[Category:People from Whitechapel]]
[[Category:Deaths by stabbing in England]]
[[Category:Racially motivated violence in England]]