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The old town hall and fire station at the junction of Lady Margaret Road and the High Street, in Southall, London, UK.

Gurdip Singh Chaggar

Introduction

Gurdip Singh Chaggar (25 March 1958 – 4 June 1976) was an eighteen year old engineering student who was stabbed to death in Southall, West London on the night of Friday 4^thJune 1976. Two white teenagers, Jody Hill (17) and Robert Hackman (18), were found guilty of killing Chaggar in May 1977. They were jailed for four years having admitted manslaughter but pleaded not guilty to murder. Gurdip Singh Chaggar was the son of immigrant parents who had migrated to Southall, West London. The murder of a turbinned Sikh engineering student, “targeted during a quiet night out with friends by a gang of white youths”, prompted widespread demonstrations and rioting in Southall . Furthermore, the murder of Chaggar was said to be instigated by racial motivations “towards a large South Asian population, particularly from India's northern Punjab state” .The murder of Chaggar is said to be a landmark of “popularizing the right of self-defense and self-organization for BME communities facing perpetual racial violence”. Many of the South Asians living in Southall, West London were prompted to question the rise of “neo-fascism with an accompanying rise in racist violence” . Suresh Grover’s account of Chaggarwas’s murder provides avid descriptions of the “systematic indifference of the police to racist attacks” .  Grover begins with a description of Chaggar's murder stating, "The police officer turned to me and said 'It's just Indian blood. He was very rude and left the scene soon after. I was shocked - this was an officer saying it was just Indian blood and not of equal worth" . In the months that followed Chaggar's murder, The Southall Asian Youth Movement emerged which campaigned for rights and an end to racial hate crimes and police brutality.

Status of South Asians In Britain (1970’s)

The 1970’s were characterized by the rise of far-right fascism, racial violence, and anti-immigrant sentiments in Southall, West London. The first signs came in the 1970’s when “various media and policy discourses framed Asian citizens as welfare-scrounging ‘illegals’ ‘flooding’ Britain” . The foundation of The National Front (NF) held “anti-immigrant” demonstrations and served as a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. Many South Asians saw the increasing influence of broader politics, harassment, and violence within the British state and conservative elements within the south Asian community itself. South Asians were prompted to question the rise of “neo-fascism with an accompanying rise in racist violence”. The preaching of some leaders such as Enoch Powell claimed to strengthen forces of nativism and fascism in the UK. The status of South Asians in Britain during the 1970’s resulted in various degrees of hostility. Furthermore, an increase in anti-immigrant feelings and a need for tighter immigration control prompted racial prejudice in Britain.This resulted in a new generation of British Asians whose “formative years were being increasingly dominated by the overt racism promoted by Enoch Powell and the National Front (NF)” . Thus, many South Asians “galvanized a community to face down those forces terrorizing them – the National Front and the police” .

Organizations

The murder of Gurdip Singh Chaggar and Blair Peach prompted the creation of the Southall Youth Movement (SYM) which formed out of a communal need for direct action. Additionally, the emergence of far-right organizations were inspired by Enoch Powell, “which, in trying to conceal a post-war crisis in capitalism, conflated ideas about race, nation, immigration, invasion, dependency and criminality” . The creation of anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations demonstrated moments of profound change in Britain’s history. The SYM would go on to play a pivotal role, both in defending Southall’s Asian population against the "threat of racism and in helping to inspire the foundation of other Asian youth organizations across the UK” . Together with other anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations, the SYM was at the forefront of opposing the NF when it came to Southall in April 1979. The creation of the SYM led to similar action in other cities, including Bradford, Manchester and Sheffield - together they would come to be known as the Asian Youth Movements (AYMs) . The Asian Youth Movements (AYMs) of the 1970s and 1980s were examples of “political movements influenced by black politics and a version of secularism that became a unifying force between different religious communities” . Also, AYM’s in the political history of Asians in Britain aimed to dispel institutional prejudices of the police and of the state more generally.

Historical Significance & Legacy

The events in Southall initiated the historical transformation of Britain. The leading events following the death of Gurdip Singh Chaggar and Blair Peach are said to be historically significant for South Asian communities across the country. Public reaction to Gurdip Singh Chaggar’s death, and other underlying racial tensions towards the South Asian population, ultimately led to a long legacy of individuals advocating for change. Many South Asians felt the need to create their own political culture of “racist resistance that sprung out of Southall in the 1970s and 80s” whose main intent was to inspire, guide and galvanize the many" . One member of the community said, "We are likely to die in this country. We don't have a place we can call home like our elders, which is going back to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. We want to live as equal citizens. So, if it means staying and fighting that's what we have to do and we're not going to give an inch to that”. The communities of Southall and people from afar continue to honor the memories of Gurdip Singh Chaggar and Blair Peach through different events. Southall Resists 40, a locally led coordinating group, has been established to promote the 40th anniversary of these momentous struggles, plan events commemorating 1976 onwards and support such initiatives by affiliated groups. Their aim is to “remember the past by learning lessons from the resistance that was created, but also to prepare for the future” .

Further Reading

• A. Martin Wainwright, The better class' of Indians: Social rank, Imperial identity, and South Asians in Britain 1858–1914 (Studies in Imperialism), Manchester University Press, 2012. A significant focus on the role of class.
• N. Ali, A Postcolonial People: South Asians in Britain, Hurst Press, 2008. A critical survey for readers.
• S. Mukherjee, South Asian Resistances in Britain, 1858 - 1947, A&C Black, 2012. Significant events for South Asians in Britain.
• S. Nasta, Home Truths: Fictions of the South Asian Diaspora in Britain, Palgrave, 2001. An Inquiry Concerning the Asian Diaspora in Britain.