Contested memories

The Shahid Minar and the struggle for diasporic space

Bibliographic Data

ID2146284
AuthorsC Alexander (0000-0003-1669-0053, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume36
Issue4
Pages590-610
Publication date2013-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2012.674542
OpenAlexW2024631039
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited16

Drawing on new empirical research on 'the Bengal diaspora', this paper explores the struggle over Bangladeshi identity in East London, as exemplified in the monument of the Shahid Minar and the related celebration of Ekushe, which marks the beginning of the Bangladesh national liberation struggle. Bringing together theories of diaspora consciousness and memorialization, the paper explores the ways in which rituals and memory work both as a form of continuity with the homeland and as a method of claims-staking for minority groups in multicultural spaces. Using original interviews with community and religious leaders, the paper explores the ways in which the establishment of the monument and the memorialization of the Liberation War represents the re-imagination of the Bangladeshi community in London and draws the lines for the contestation of this identity. Keywords: Bangladeshi/BengaliBritaindiasporamemorymulticulturalism Acknowledgements Thanks to Joya Chatterji and Shahzad Firoz for their support during the project. Thanks also to Wendy Bottero, Caroline Knowles, Peter Manning, Claire Moon and the ERS reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper. Notes 1. The song was, fittingly, written by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, a resident of Tower Hamlets 2. Ekushe means literally 'twenty-first', but is used to denote Martyrs' Memorial Day on 21 February every year. 3. Shahid Minar translates as Martyrs' Memorial, or Tower of the Martyrs. 4. This account is from field notes supplied by Shahzad Firoz. I am grateful to him for this account and for braving the freezing February night air. 5. Autograph Association of Black Photographers was founded in 1988 to raise the visibility of black photographers and artists. It moved to its permanent home in Rivington Place, East London, in 2007. 6. Bangladesh 1971 ran from 4 April to 31 May 2008. 7. Nari Chetona translates as 'Women's Power Awake' (Sayeeda Shikha, interview). 8. Glynn (Citation2006) notes that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was declared president of the newly formed Bangladesh while on a visit to London. This reflected the significant role played by the Bengali migrants in supporting the liberation struggle, particularly in raising funds for the liberation fighters (see http://www.banglastories.org). 9. http://static.visitlondon.com/assets/maps/guides/bengali_history_walk.pdf 10. It is important to recognize that those supporting Bangladeshi nationalism and the Liberation War still identify themselves as practising Muslims, while being critical of Islamist groups associated with East London Mosque (Eade and Garbin Citation2006; Glynn Citation2006). 11. Tower Hamlets had over forty mosques at the time of the research, most coordinated by a local Council of Mosques (Sajjad Miah, interview). 12. East London Mosque has established links with Islamist groups such as the Jamaat I Islami through its youth organizations such as Young Muslim Organization and Islamic Forum Europe (Eade and Garbin Citation2006

Aesthetics · Art · Collective memory · Diaspora · Homeland · Identity (music · Media studies · Memorialization · Multiculturalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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