| Description | Papers relating to the organisation and activities of the London; East London and Essex; Plumstead, Woolwich and Charlton; and Greenwich branches of the Indian Workers Association, consisting largely of correspondence, but including newsletters and reports. Most of the papers date from the 1970s, although there is one letter dated 1960 and a programme dated 1969
Material relating to the London branch comprises:
/1 letter from Rattan Singh to Sant. Singh Sahota, President, and Avtar Jouhl, General Secretary, of the Indian Workers Association, inviting them to Independence Day celebrations organised by the London branch, 17 August 1960
/2 letter from members of the London branch to Jagmohan Joshi, General Secretary of the Indian Workers Association, and members attending the National Conference, November 1967, setting out an account of a dispute between the membership of the branch and Rattan Singh and members of his executive committee who have allegedly illegally remained in office without holding bi-annual elections and have not fulfilled their duties as officer-bearers. The letter contains the signatures of twenty-two members of the London branch
/3 agenda of the Annual General Meeting of the London branch, held at the Labour Party Office, Camden Town, London, 29 April 1973. Names and addresses of members of the branch have been written on the reverse of this document.
/4 photocopy of a letter from a member of the London branch to Jagmohan Joshi discussing the agenda of a forthcoming Central Committee meeting, giving details about the recent campaign work carried out by the women's section and particularly by 'comrade Fatima', who has established close contacts with women strikers at Grunwick, amongst other activities; and emphasising that branch meetings must include speeches in Hindi or another language that Gujarati speakers can understand 30 June 1978
/5 letter from Deepak [Mathur] to Avtar Jouhl discussing Central Committee business and referring to the branch not receiving copies of Lalkar, 6 August 1979
Material relating to the East London and Essex branch comprises:
/6 letter written in Urdu from Avtar Singh to a fellow Indian Worker regarding the charge and report sheet of the East London branch, 16 August 1973
/7 newsletter of the East London and Essex branch, no.3 July/August 1978 containing articles about racist attacks on migrants living in the area; the visit to London of Indian Prime Minister Moraji Desai; an explanation of the effects of the 1971 Immigration Act on black workers; and a report on the recent Indian Workers Association conference in Coventry. The newsletter also includes a translation of a poem originally written in Urdu by Jagmohan Joshi, entitled 'People's War'
/8 report explaining the reasons why the East London and Essex branch resigned from the Indian Workers Association at a meeting of the branch executive committee on 11 February 1979. The report gives a brief history of the branch and information about its campaigning activities during that time, and contains a detailed account of differences between the branch members and the Central Executive Committee of the Indian Workers Association during this period.
The file also contains a letter from Hardev S. Dhillon, general secretary of the Greenwich branch, to Avtar Jouhl enclosing payment for the hire of a coach from Birmingham to Plumstead on 7 September 1968, and a programme for celebrations organised by the Plumstead, Woolwich and Charlton branch to mark the Independence of India at Woolwich Town Hall, 7 September 1969 |