Battle of Brick Lane, 1978

Brick Lane, London

Ten days after the murder of Altab Ali, on 14 May 1978 Bengalis took to the streets in their thousands to protest. Between ten and twelve thousand Bengalis, straddling multiple generations, gathered near the place of Ali’s murder on Adler Street, Tower Hamlets. They marched behind Ali’s coffin first to Hyde Park, where they rallied, then on to Prime Minister James Callaghan’s office in Downing Street to deliver a petition. This protest was a watershed moment in the history of British Asian anti-racist activism.

While this most recent racist attack was the catalyst for their uprising, this East End community had faced years of hostility, abuse and violence which had escalated in the 1970s. With their headquarters in Bethnal Green, the National Front were an increasingly threatening presence in the area. The march for Ali mobilized the community and their allies to continue to resist this far-right group and fight for their rights, triggering a summer of protest in the area surrounding Brick Lane. The Bengali community were supported by trade unions and anti-racist organizations, as well as the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Anti-Nazi League. It was in this volatile context that the Bangladeshi Youth Moment and the Bangladeshi Youth Front were formed, while the Bengali Housing Action Group was also a key force in the resistance movement.  The summer of 1978 saw weekly confrontations on the streets between Bengalis and their allies and the National Front, as well as other forms of protest, including a march on 11 June organized by the Anti-Nazi League together with Bengali youth organizations, a march on 30 June 1978 in protest against the murder of Ishaque Ali and a ‘strike against racism’ on 17 July.

The park on Adler Street was renamed Altab Ali Park in 1998.