On this day, 24 April 1976, the far-right National Front organised a march through the main Asian area in Bradford, northern England. Local politicians organised a counter-rally in the centre of town but hundreds of young Asians broke away, fought through police lines and attacked the racists.
The incident helped catalyse Asian youth resistance to racism the city, as many participants in the battle came together to form the Asian Youth Movement, which combated racist street violence, as well as racism by police and the state.
In our podcast Tariq Mehmood, one of the participants, recounted to us: “We would not let the fascists march in our areas. The police were protecting them and allowing them to march and have a meeting in our area. That would lay the basis of thinking in our heads that somewhere along the line, we needed our own organisations… We didn’t trust the police and not because we were anti-police at the time but just because of what they were doing to us. We didn’t believe they would defend us and besides, it was our duty to protect our areas.”
More info in our podcast episodes 33-34, available on your favourite podcast app or on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/09/18/e28-29-asian-youth-movements-in-bradford/
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