Mohamed Fazal Hussain

The Godfather

Mohamed Fazal Hussain was born in Bangalore, British India in 1904 and, before his migration, was a schoolmaster. He migrated to Bradford in 1927, becoming one of the first South Asians to live in the city. Whilst little is known about Hussain’s early experiences in Bradford, Indian Political Intelligence (IPI) reports suggest he was a committed supporter of Indian independence and Indian migrant workers’ rights. In a document compiled by IPI in 1942 on leading personalities of the Indian Workers’ Association (or, as it was known at the time, Indian Workers’ Union), Hussain was listed as the secretary of the Bradford branch. His occupation was ARP (Air Raid Precautions) worker during the Second World War. IPI agents noted that his views were not as extreme as his counterparts, and that he may have had a moderating influence on the organization.

Hussain had a long-held passion for filmmaking. For example, he was a costume man on the 1937 production Elephant Boy, starring Sabu and produced by Alexander Korda. A 1976 documentary, produced by Yorkshire Television and directed by John Willis and Paul Dunstan, followed Hussain as he pursued his ambition of producing the first British-made Pakistani feature film, under his company Fazwin Film Productions. The documentary highlighted the facets of South Asian life in Bradford and the respect Hussain garnered as an elder of the community and a long-standing advisor on practical and ethical matters. For example, Hussain took a leading and authoritative role at the local mosque, which was in a house on Lumb Lane. The documentarians noted that when Hussain came to Bradford, there were two other Muslims in the city. In 1976, the figure stood at 30,000. During the filming of the documentary, Hussain was a personnel officer at Repton Foundry near Bingley and was responsible for the day-to-day management of the foundry’s workers. According to the documentarians, before this job he was a road sweeper, market trader, restaurateur and local politician, although details about the party he was associated with and his career as a politician are unknown. He enlisted his colleagues’ support to shoot his romantic-thriller feature film in Ilkley, which was tentatively titled ‘Who Is the Owner?’ His son, Naseem, had a starring role.

The documentary revealed Hussain’s family life, as well as the broader dynamics of immigration and family reunification among Bradford’s South Asians. Hussain was married to Lily, a Bradford local whom he met whilst working in the ARP. Lily stated that she was nervous to be seen with Hussain at the start of their relationship, and that it took time for her friends to accept him. They married in 1947, although Hussain was already married to a Pakistani Muslim woman named Janat. He remained married to both women, who lived in separate homes in Bradford but would unite for family occasions. The documentary also detailed the difficulty families faced whilst navigating immigration legislation, as Hussain attempted to bring his eldest son, Ikram – who had been committed to a mental health institution in Pakistan for several years – to the UK for treatment.