Bengali – King's Cross Story Palace

1979 Drummond St, London

We moved here on New Years Day

Nassar Ali moved to the UK on the 1st January 1979. ‘I remember looking in the passport and thinking, wow, we moved here on New Years Day’ Like a lot of men of his generation, his father was an economic migrant, who had come to the UK from Bangladesh in the 1960s to earn money ...

Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Cllr Nasim Ali: Occupation 84

Cllr Nasim Ali was a teenager when the occupation of Camden Town Hall happened. He and his school friends were both bemused and captivated as the events unfolded. It was their elders, friends and family that they saw campaigning for better housing. Lainy Malkani spoke to him about how events unfolded through his young eyes.

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Mahmud Hasan: Occupation ’84

Mahmud Hasan was a part time worker for the Bengali Workers Action Group in 1984. His role was to work with homeless people as well as run a luncheon club for elderly people. After a house fire took the lives of a young family in King’s Cross, the local community mobilised and occupied the Camden ...

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Liz Smale: Occupation ’84

In 1984 Liz Smale, 24 was working for race equality organisation, Camden Committee for Community Relations (CCCR) as a Community adviser. Working closely with the Bengali Workers Action Group, Liz ran advise sessions with the local community, helping with accommodation, racism and work issues. Homelessness was a constant problem. At the time Camden Council was ...

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Jamila Hasan: Occupation ’84

After the tragic death of a young Bangladeshi family in a house fire in 1984, an occupation of the Camden Town Hall was organised to draw attention to the poor housing conditions families were putting up with at the time. When news spread that a family had died in the fire, Jamila Hasan like so ...

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Sabes Sugunasabesan: Occupation ’84

Sabes Sugunasabesan was working at Camden Committee for Community Relations as a Housing Officer at the time of Occupation ’84. After the tragic death of a young Bangladeshi family in a house fire in 1984, an occupation of the Camden Town Hall was organised to draw attention to the poor housing conditions families were ...

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Helal Abbas: Occupation ’84

Helal Abbas worked as a community worker at the Bengali Workers Action Group in 1984 during the homeless occupation of Camden Town Hall. The BWAG as it was known, was initially set up to support restaurant workers in the King’s Cross and Camden area. Very much like the ‘gig’ economy today, the workers at the ...

1984 Camden Town Hall, London, UK

Errol Lawrence: Occupation ’84

Errol Lawrence was the Public Engagement Officer at Camden Committee for Community Relations in 1984. He went on to head research at the Runnymead Trust and is now retired. Lainy Malkani spoke to Errol about his involvement in the Occupation ’84 campaign which you can listen to below. Occupation ’84 is the story of Camden’s homeless ...

1980 Drummond St, London, UK

Drummond St and the Bangladeshi experience

To get to the heart of the story of Drummond Street’s Bangladeshi community you have to first take a seat in one of the oldest Bengali restaurants there and soak up its charming atmosphere. The Diwana Bhel-Poori House lies in the middle of the busy street midway between Euston Station and Hampstead Road. It’s been ...