Letters from the Indian Workers Association

This file comprises copy letters sent by Jagmohan Joshi as General Secretary and Avtar Jouhl as General Secretary, National Organiser, and Branch Secretary of the Indian Workers Association, to individuals and organisations, many consisting of brief replies to letters described at MS 2141/A/4/1, or elsewhere in this section, confirming arrangements to meet, or asking for information. Letters are arranged in chronological order, with undated correspondence placed at the end of the sequence.
More detailed or substantial correspondence includes:
/8 letter sent to the Bulgarial Legation; Czechosloval Embassy; Hungarian Legation; Polish Embassy; Romanian Legation; and Russian Embassy enquiring about schemes operating in socialist countries under which people have opportunities to gather cultural knowledge, in order for the Indian Workers Association to expand its cultural activities June 1964
/10 letter sent to the Chairman of Birmingham Education Committee expressing concern at the proposals for 'reception centres for immigrant children' being considered by the committee, and giving the views of the Indian Workers Association, 10 November 1965
/20 letter to the District Postmaster, London, concerning the launch of Lalkar in the first week of October 1967
/27 letter discussing a forthcoming lobby at the House of Commons to protest against restrictions to be imposed on Kenyan Asians and dependents of migrants entering Britain, February 1968
/29 letter to T. Smythe, General Secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties, criticising the race relations industry for neglecting the interests and views of immigrant communities, but suggesting a meeting including representatives from the West Indian Standing Conference and the National Federation of Pakistani Associations rather than relying on representatives of Government sponsored bodies, March 1968
/31 letter to the Director General of the BBC protesting against the corporation's decision not to show the programme 'Cause for Concern', which appears to have been on the subject of police discrimination against black people. The letter refers to the arrest of members of the Indian Workers Association at a demonstration in Birmingham in May 1968. The letter is dated 1 August 1968
/59 letter to Albert Bore, Secretary of the District Labour Party in Birmingham, concerning a demonstration to protest against a National Front march and rally at Saltley Gates to be held on 26 February 1977, and discussing plans for a united demonstration between the Trades Council and black organisations including the Indian Workers Association; Bangladesh Workers Association; Afro-Caribbean Association; Harambee; Pakistani Workers Association and the Kashmiri Workers Association, 12 February 1977
/61 letter from Avtar Jouhl to Deepak [Mathur] , setting out points to include in a leaflet on racism and fascism in Britain, 8 August 1978

There are also a small number of letters sent within the organisation during the early 1960s, including /2 a letter from A. S. Rai, General Secretary in 1961, asking executive committee members to attend a meeting of the General Council of the Indian Workers Association in Birmingham in October 1961, and /3-/5 letters from the Finance Secretary, Mohan Singh Bassa, discussing the accounts, and potential irregularities in the functioning of the Central Committee, also dated 1961.

The file also contains some undated notes, mainly handwritten by Avtar Jouhl, consisting of the names of some committee members and records of sums of money paid by local branches of the Indian Workers Association, and a letter from Avtar Jouhl printed in 'Des Pardes' weekly discussing the Industrial Relations Act, working class unity, and the need to repeal the 1971 Immigration Act

Part of this file is closed under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 until 2048 because some items contains personal information about individuals. The remainder of the file is available for consultation. Remove marked 'closed' items before serving.