| AdminHistory | Ansar Ahmed Ullah is a community activist who has lived and worked in the East End of London since the 1980s. He has worked as a youth, social and community worker and has been an active anti-racist campaigner. He has been involved with the Labour Party, a member of Joi Bangla Banned a 1990s Bengali rock band, Gravity and Bangladesh Support Group (BASUG).
Joi Bangla Banned began with a youth organisation, the League of Joi Bangla Youth. Three separate entities originated from this youth organisation. Initially, some members Shamsher brothers and others of the organisation formed Joi Bangla Sounds (later known as Joi - an alternative dub/dance music DJ team). It was a sound system with DJs who went on to produce records. Then Joi Bangla Crew was formed to accompany Joi Bangla sounds - a dance outfit. And finally the Joi Bangla Banned was formed. This was a conventional rock band which Ansar was involved in.
Ansar Ahmed Ullah has also been a member of the Management Committee of Swadhinata Trust. The Swadhinata Trust is a project of the Nirmul Committee created in 2000 to work and promote Bengali heritage with young people on a voluntary basis. Mr. Ullah was one of the founding members of Baishakhi Mela representing Nirmul Committee which was founded in 1992. He sat on the Committee on behalf of Council's Regeneration Officer because the department funded the Baishakhi Mela. As a member Mr. Ullah received papers related to Baishakhi Mela in which Banglatown Arts & Cultural Trust was one of the organiser. In his role as a Council Officer for the Regeneration Department, Mr. Ullah also received papers relating to Brick Lane Festival.
Mr. Ullah is also a founding member and the Organising Secretary of Altab Ali Foundation established in 2010 as Altab Ali Memorial Foundation. Therefore, he keeps/collects materials related to Altab Ali Park. The park was renamed Altab Ali Park in 1998 in memory of Altab Ali, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi clothing worker, who was murdered on 4 May 1978 in Adler Street by three teenage boys as he walked home from work. At the entrance to the park is an arch created by David Peterson, developed as a memorial to Altab Ali and other victims of racist attacks.
The Shaheed Minar ("Martyr Monument"), which commemorates the Bengali Language Movement stands in the southwest corner of Altab Ali Park. This is where the ceremony takes place. The monument is a smaller replica of one in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and symbolises a mother and the martyred sons. |
| CustodialHistory | Some of these records were collected as part of a Bengali Collections Development project by Shahera Begum, Heritage Trainee during 2011. For the brochure 'The Bengali East End: Histories of Life and Work in Tower Hamlets'. Visit https://www.ideastore.co.uk/local-history-online-oral-history-bengali-east-end
This material significantly broadened the range of collections from and about the Bengali community in Tower Hamlets. If you would like to add further material to our collections please contact us. |