Altab Ali was a 25 year old clothing machinist. He was returning home after work when he was set upon by 3 local teenagers.
He was killed on the night of local council elections where the National Front stood in over 40 seats.
The murder took place in an era of rising race hate and far right activity.
East Londoners saw an increasing number and severity of racist attacks in the years from 1976 – 1978. Asian workers would have to walk to and from factories in groups for safety. The Brick Lane Mosque had to be stewarded, and Asian school children were often let out of school early to evade attack.
Asian Pregnant women regularly walked in groups to the clinic at London’s Whitechapel Hospital, to prevent racist attacks. At night times, there was often a virtual curfew for BME workers due to the poisonous atmosphere fostered locally by the Nazi National Front.
Earlier in 1978, then Tory opposition leader Margaret Thatcher had said “I think people are really rather afraid that this country might be swamped by people of a different culture; if there is any fear that the country might be swamped, people are going to be hostile to those coming in.”
This was an important part of trying to undercut the NF’s appeal by stealing their political clothes.
This was overt racism by a party leader, which has echoes in Britain today.
Altab Ali’s murder revealed a revival of murderous racism. Thatcher’s speech aided the NF initially. They claimed they were right to oppose immigration. Racists felt a new vindication in their vicious aggression.
In anger at Altab Ali’s murder, and just ten days after his death, around 7000 mainly Asians marched from the park where he was killed to Hyde Park in a national demonstration.
They were angry and wanted change. Bengali youth movements grew from London and spread to Bradford, Leicester and elsewhere, alongside the rise of the Anti Nazi League. These involved people such as Dilowar Khan, who remains a key anti racist and was central to recent defeats of the English Defence League in Tower Hamlets.
The killing was the appalling result of years of racist attacks, particularly in East London. The historian Peter Fryer said that between 1976 and 1985, 31 black people were killed by racists in Britain eg Shamir Kassam. She was a pregnant mother of three. Her sons also died in an horrific arson attack in Essex. No one has ever been brought to justice for this crime.
The racist onslaught and murders happened alongside numerous incidents of fascist graffiti, window breaking and abuse and threats in the street in cities where immigrants had settled. The National Front used intimidation and violence (which they often orchestrated) to provoke an Asian backlash. This, they hoped, would fuel would more anti BME hatred and electoral support for the NF.
Attacks continued after Altab Ali’s murder, eg Asian brewery workers were assaulted in Bow, East London, by around 30 fascists, in July.
June 1978 had seen Brick Lane, where many Bengalis lived and worked, subject to a Fascist inspired riot. Over one hundred youths, whipped up by NF paper sellers, attacked Asians and shops in Brick Lane. In response, Asians and anti-racists, such as Tower Hamlets TUC and Anti Nazi League members, organised a black solidarity day in July.
A large march and some strikes took place locally; some schools and workplaces were shut, with many white workers (including shop stewards from Fords) involved.
Alok Biswas wrote “a whole community expressed itself against injustice, privilege and oppression”.
East End Historian David Rosenberg writes powerfully on Altab Ali’s murder and community reaction. (https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/shine-a-light/remembering-altab-ali/ )
After great efforts by anti racists, the Whitechapel Park, scene of the murder, was renamed Altab Ali Park.
Tower Hamlets council is running an online event to mark today’s anniversary including the premiere of a new film. (https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/Arts_events_and_information/Altab_Ali_and_The_Fight_for_Equality.aspx#ad-image-0 )
More broadly, the Anti Nazi League’s campaign eventually broke the National Front.
We remember Altab Ali today and must renew ourselves in the fight against racism that fuels such outrages.
