| Description | This file predominantly contains sequences of correspondence between the General Secretary and members of the committee of the Coventry branch between 1964 and 1967. There are also a small number of newspaper cuttings, and a flyer dated 1990.
Correspondence consists of:
/1-/12 letters dated 1964 discussing disagreements between members of the Coventry executive committee and the Central Committee, and a dispute between different factions within the branch, connected with contested election results, affiliation to the Central Committee, and the holding of membership money. The dispute appeared to centre around Rajmal Singh, President of the branch in 1964, who later broke away from the rest of the branch that remained affiliated to the national Indian Workers Association. Rajmal Singh considered that the Indian Workers Association leadership and the office bearers of the Coventry branch were too closely connected with the Communist party. Some of these letters include the names and addresses of members of the branch committee.
/13-/18 letters and press releases dated 1965 giving details about decisions made by the branch committee and events organised by the branch, including Independence Day celebrations and a public meeting held to celebrate Indian Republic Day. Letters include the names of speakers at both these events, and the names and addresses of members of branch members and office holders
/19-/21 letters written in Urdu from the General Secretary of the Coventry branch, Gurdev Singh Dhami, to Jagmohan Joshi 1966-1967 discussing arrangements for Independence Day celebrations organised by the branch in 1966; giving details about decisions made by a meeting of the branch executive committee 28 October 1967; and making suggestions about possible changes to a document sent by Joshi with a provisional title 'Hungry India'. Dhami thinks it should be changed to 'Food Problems in India'
/22-/25 letters and statements issued by Jagmohan Joshi in April and May 1968 in response to newspaper articles in 'The Birmingham Post' about the activities and statements of Rajmal Singh. The papers request corrections to be published in this newspaper explaining that Rajmal Singh had been expelled from the Coventry branch of the Indian Workers Association in 1964, and distancing his views from both the local and national organisation.
Newspaper cuttings consist of short articles published in an unidentified local newspaper, probably in 1968, containing statements by Rajmal Singh, cited as President of the Coventry branch of the Indian Workers Association. One article reports that the Coventry branch is to lobby the Indian High Commission to allow Indians who have obtained British passports the opportunity to obtain Indian passports. The other article reports claims by Rajmal Singh that the Coventry branch has lifted its ban on admitting members of the British Communist Party to its executive committee. The newspaper cuttings also include two letters sent to the newspaper in response to this article; one is from Sardara Singh, President of the Coventry branch, with the information that Rajmal Singh is a member of a group that split from the Coventry branch in 1964 to form an independent body
The file also contains a flyer printed in English and Punjabi giving details of a May Day celebration organised by Coventry branch, held at Barras Green Social Club in Coventry, with speakers from Piara Singh Devsi, African National Congress, Indian Workers Association, Anti-Dowry Campaign, together with poetry and singing. |