Remembering the racist murder of Akhtar Ali Baig in East Ham in 1980
Akhtar Ali Baig (right). On the left is a guy who joined the demonstration on Saturday 19 July 1980 was one of my friends and we used to call him Robin. I do no remember his full name. This image and those below are taken from http://www.e7-nowandthen.org/2018/06/racism-in-forest-gate-in-1970s-and_12.html
Does anyone remember the racist murder of Akhtar Ali Baig in broad daylight in High Street North, East Ham, on 17 July 1980? Akhtar Ali was a student of Queen Mary College, Mile End, of Pakistani origin. He was murdered by a group of skinheads in front of hundreds of people, on a busy hot sunny afternoon.
I am connected to the incident in several ways. I was a semi-eyewitness to the incident and one of the killers was in the same year as me in Trinity School in Canning Town (now the location of Rokeby School) and used to be in my class. In English classes we set on the same desk – each desk catered for two students with two chairs. I still remember his first name, Alexander, but forgot his second name. During the early years in secondary school, he was a nice and friendly kid, but later something happened to him that turned him into a vicious racist.
Akhtar Ali Baig died on the western side of High Street North, in front of a shopfront, financial institution, in between Milton Avenue and Plashet Grove. It was probably between 2 pm and 3 pm when the murder took place.
During that summer, I was working in a factory near Petticoat Lane during the school holiday before starting my A-Level studies in September 1980. The business was owned by a non-turban-wearing Sikh. My job was to cut extra bits of threads leftover on jeans and other garments and I think it was called finishing. As 17 July was my real birthday, I decided not to work and take the day off to celebrate and a friend who was also doing holiday-job near me decided to join. As our favourite place was East Ham, both of us had lived in Newham, although I moved out of the borough in 1979, we decided to go to High Street North, near the station.
We passed the spot where Akhtar Ali was murdered when everything was normal and kept on walking southwards until probably where the WHSmith was located and then decided to walk back. As we approached the East Ham station, we heard people talking about a racial attack and stabbing and we saw police cars and an Ambulance. An injured man was lying on the floor on the road next to the pavement, being attended by an ambulance crew. As we walked closer things became clearer and I remember seeing a blanket being placed over the dead body of Akhtar Ali. Shortly afterwards, the police raided a property in Milton Avenue and arrested at least one of the killers of Akthar Ali, presumably who lived there. These killers were in their teens.
Many things happened after that, including the spontaneous gathering of people in the evening near the murder scene, the arrival of people from ELWAR (East London Workers Against Racism), two huge demonstrations and an anti-racist movement that grew and then dissipated fast through infighting. Those who were involved at the leadership levels of the movement can tell what happened, but we found the in-fighting very disturbing and disgusting. I and my friends operated at the street level and enjoyed living in Newham – walking, chatting, visiting cafes, going to the parks, swimming, etc., and regularly faced violent racists all over the places, both in the Borough and outside.
One of the demonstrators being arrested on 19 July 1980
Just one more thing on this story. On Saturday, 19 July 1980, two days after the murder, which was on the previous Thursday, I got hit by a metal bar on my forehead twice and got two painful bumps, during a confrontation against a group of racists who were terrorising non-white people in High Street North, East Ham, when we were doing sit-ins outside Forest Gate police station. Someone brought the news to us and about ten close friends among us jumped into two vans and drove straight to the High Street North, parked in a side road when saw the racists and confronted them. Later my friends drove me home and when my father saw that I was injured he went mad at me joining such activities. I told him that it was my duty. Although he was not pleased, certainly because he was worried about my safety, he did not say anything after my response.
During the demonstration when we go to the old Forest Gate Police Station in Romford Road, on the corner of Green Street, the crowd stopped. From my memory, they were demanding that some individuals who were arrested earlier be released (I could be mistaken on this). The sit-in was going for quite a long time. In the meantime, about ten of us headed to East Ham High Street by two vans to confront racists manacing black and Asian people there. I believe this guy who is being arrested in the above picture was one of our friends called Sandy (I do not remember his full name).