Anita Bhalla

Anita Bhalla was born in Nairobi, Kenya. She moved to Selly Oak, Birmingham with her parents and siblings in 1963, aged 7. In an oral history interview for the Asian Youth Culture project, Bhalla described Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech as a turning point in her relationship with her white classmates. She remembered how the speech caused a shift in attitudes, with racism becoming more prevalent. As a teenager, Bhalla took part in various South Asian cultural activities with her friends, such as watching Bollywood films in cinemas located in Handsworth and Moseley Road.

In 1974 Bhalla began her teacher training at the University of Leicester. She became heavily involved in politics and activism, particularly regarding women’s rights. For example, Bhalla’s earliest activities included campaigning for a creche in her university and demanding international student fees be lowered, which involved occupying the office of the Director of Education. In addition, Bhalla regularly attended Anti-Nazi League marches in the Midlands and London. She became vice-president of her student union in 1976.

Bhalla and other racialized minority women activists would meet and support one another regularly. Before sharing campaigns and student union speeches to the male-dominated student union committee, for example, women would meet to discuss how they would pitch their work to the committee in order to be taken seriously. During this period, Bhalla became aware of the specific challenges facing some young South Asian women which were not being addressed by local authorities or community leaders, including domestic violence and forced marriage. As a result, Bhalla founded the first South Asian women’s hostel in Leicester, and one of the first in the country. She undertook this work as an employee of the Leicester Community Relations Council, which funded the project. Creating a hostel for South Asian women was controversial and South Asian groups debated whether they wanted such a service. Local South Asians in Leicester, for example, marched outside the hostel and demanded Bhalla be sacked. The hostel’s development went ahead, however, and Bhalla would often appear on the radio to discuss the hostel’s services as well as other issues facing young South Asians. Bhalla moved back to Birmingham after her degree. She became involved with the Asian Resource Centre in Handsworth, which was run by community activist Ranjit Sondhi.

Bhalla has had an extensive career in broadcasting, particularly with the BBC. During the 1980s she was a presenter for East in West, a programme for Leicester’s large South Asian communities which was broadcast on BBC Radio WM. The programme was run by broadcaster Muhammad Ayyub, who also ran Oriental Star Agencies, which promoted South Asian music in the UK. By 1988 Bhalla was the lead producer for various programmes on the BBC Midlands Asian Network, which was launched in 1989 and was a precursor to the BBC Asian Network, which became nationally available in 1999. The funding for BBC Midlands Asian Network from 1990 to 1995 was approved by the Regional Directorate of the BBC in part because of the experience of senior producers such as Bhalla. Her work during this period of expansion included reaching out to under-represented user groups such as the Midlands’ Mirpuri community.

Alongside a twenty-six-year career at the BBC, Bhalla’s work has included documentary filmmaking and public service. For example, she was Vice-Chair of Council at the University of Warwick and a member of Birmingham’s Social Inclusion Commission. Bhalla’s current work includes chairing B:Music, a charity that runs Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, and chairing Birmingham City University.