Correspondence and campaign files

This series comprises sequences of incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Indian Workers Association, together with material relating to campaigns with which the organisation was involved. This consists of reports; information leaflets and flyers; printed pamphlets; typescript and printed articles; press statements; and press cuttings, and includes material issued by other groups with similar political views to those of the Indian Workers Association, particularly other black and Asian organisations, and white anti-racist groups.

The subject matter of much of the correspondence and campaign material focuses on the struggles of the Indian Workers Association and other groups against racism and racial discrimination in Britain. Much material concerns the passing of successive legislation to control immigration into Britain from Commonwealth countries during the 1960s and 1970s, and the concurrent introduction of Race Relations legislation. Other papers focus on racial discrimination in employment, housing and social life, and racist attacks suffered by members of black and Asian communities in Britain, and the ways in which some politicians exploited the immigration issue, particularly Peter Griffiths in Smethwick in 1964, and Enoch Powell in his speeches in Birmingham in 1968.

Other correspondence and campaign files focus on campaigns against international racism and imperialism, seen for example in the conflicts in Vietnam; the civil rights campaign in the United States of America; and opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa. There is also a substantial amount of material relating to Indian politics and the reaction of the Indian Workers Association and other groups to the State of Emergency imposed on the country by Indira Gandhi's Congress government during the 1960s and 1970s, and the treatment of political opponents during this period.

There is also some general correspondence concerning the administration of the Indian Workers Association. Correspondents include individuals; members of political and campaigning organisations in Britain, India and elsewhere; British Members of Parliament; Indian diplomats and politicians; officers of the Race Relations Board; and government officials.

Taken together, the papers in this series reflect the wide-ranging activities and political impact of the Indian Workers Association during the 1960s and 1970s, when Jagmohan Joshi was General Secretary of the organisation. Many of the files were probably kept by Joshi, and the original order has been maintained. Files have been arranged within the series to list correspondence first, from MS 2141/A/4/1 to MS 2141/A/4/9, followed by the campaign files from MS 2141/A/4/10 to MS 2141/A/4/21. There may well be some overlap between files as a result of preserving original order. Some campaign files include correspondence, and there is a small amount of printed material within some correspondence files. Files may also overlap in subject matter, partly due to the fact that the Indian Workers Association was often involved in more than one campaign at the same time, and because much general correspondence discusses current campaigning activities.