This is a translation version of the original video documentary which was than transcribed and translated from Bengali to English. A book with the title of History of Bangladeshis in Greater Manchester has been published and it will be distributed to the libraries, schools and universities. The interview took place on 11 April 2010, so information about his personal family information may have been changed.
8.48 Alhaj MA Aziz Nunu Miah
8.48.1 Life in Bangladesh
Alhaj MA Aziz Nunu Miah was born in 1948 in the village of Motukuna, Bishwanath, Sylhet. His father’s name is late Mohammed Tormuz Ali and mothers name is late Ahmeda Khatun. In 1958 his father came to Britain. His father had huge amounts of agriculture land and his father was engaged in to do cultivation. His father used to employ the workers to do the farming work.
8.48.2 Journey to the UK & Immigration:
His father came to Britain in 1958. He followed in the foot step of his father and came to Britain in 1966 with a boy voucher. At that time he was student at the high school in class seven.
His father wanted him to come to the UK. He could not continue his study, he feels very unfortunate for not completing the education. He was only 13 years old, when he first came to Britain. He used to do some part time work and attended school for some days.
8.48.3 Life in the UK:
During the first three months, he stayed in Walsall, west midlands and went to oxford and then to the Ridding area in Berkshire. During the period of 1966 – 1973, he was able to do some study besides his part time employment. When his father came to Britain there were many job vacancies in the engineering and factory field. There were many Bangladeshis employed with these two sectors, his father was amongst them.
Many of the Bangladeshi people were employed at factories. The landlord used to provide beds and some other furniture. Due to the low earning, the people were not even in a position to think to bring their families in the UK. He remembered that one of the Gujrati men used to supply them all with the grocery items including live chickens.
The Bangladeshi fishes were not available at that time. If anyone had wished to have fish, then English fish was the real alternative. At that time, the grocery shops were the only shops in the Walsall area, there were about 2-3 shops in the Birmingham area.
Now days you will see there are many Mosques in every town, where the Asian or Muslim peoples are residing, but during 1960’s there were only few Mosques in the UK. At the time of Eid Prayer, the people used to hire the hall to do the Eid Prayer. There was one occasion, when he was in Riddling; they had to hire an Imam from London. There were no Muslim funeral services, so it was very difficult to organise funerals when people died. Now days, everything has been improved and life has become easier.
The first Bangladeshi funeral service had begun in the Mosque in London. At that time Haji Taslim Ali was in charge the Mosque. Now this part of the Mosque services became a full funeral services.
The people who worked in the board ship and came to Britain for settlement, he remembers those elderly people with his deepest heart. Since his arrival to the Britain he met some of the first generation immigrants i.e. Ayub Ali Master, Abdul Matin, Gous Khan, Afruj Miah and so on. He was not able to remember all the people’s name.
He said that if those people did not come to Britain for settlement, then it would have been impossible to come to Britain. They were the genuine people who did the community work.
8.48.4 Employment & Business:
While he was living in the Redding area he was employed at the “Karachi Restaurant”, his weekly wages added up to £5.00 per week. The restaurant owner was one of his relatives. He was young; therefore he did not get the opportunity to work as a waiter. He used to work in the kitchen as a kitchen assistant.
The accommodation and food was free, this was due to the relationship with the employer and he was young, therefore he took the advantage of not doing any work during the day time as he was studying at school. This opportunity was really good, he added. For about a year he worked as a kitchen assistant, then he was promoted to a cook and he worked as a cook for two years. Then he had the opportunity to work as a chef. His wages were increased too.
He said “in 1968 his wages was £20.00 per week. He was employed until he set up his own business. His relative employer is one of cousin known as Hafizur Rahman Tera Miah. His cousin brother was able to set up an electronic industry in Bangladesh known as “Surma Electronics Industry” situated at Newmarket, Dhaka.
He said this was probably the first electronics industry in Bangladesh. His cousin used to import TV parts from Japan and assemble the TV in Bangladesh. He mentioned this to show that his cousin is not doing the catering business but he is making contribution to the Bangladesh economy by setting up this industry.
His cousin was the owner of three restaurants, the first one is known as “Karachi” and the second one “East Bengal” both of them was in the Riddling area, and third one which was the “Kohinur” was in Canterbury area. He had the opportunity to work in all of the restaurants. Therefore, he did not require finding employment elsewhere.
In 1973, he bought a restaurant known as “Asia” in Chester and he moved there since then. That was a partnership business, fifty equal shares amongst partners. He paid £7,000.00 for this partnership. The business was good; the weekly takings were £300.00 to £400.00. The income from the business was sufficient to maintain him adequately and the price of goods was very cheap too. Weekly rent was £20.00 and the rate was also very cheap.
During the period 1973 – 1986, he was running the “Asia Restaurant”. In 1979 he opened another restaurant in Preston known as the “Asha Restaurant”. Firstly they bought the lease and paid £30,000.00. Later on they bought the freehold. The weekly takings were up to £4,000.00 to £5,000.00.
He was involved with this business for about five years and he sold his share to his partner. In 1980 he entered to another partnership and opened a restaurant in Darwin, it was known as the “Anan Restaurant”. He bought the share from his partner and was able to run this business for five years.
In 1986, due to his personal problem, he sold the business and went to Bangladesh. He opened a share shop at the Shukria Market was known as “Rubi Sharee Bitan” and opened another shop which was known as the “Runa Fashion” at London Mansion. Both of the shops much closed and were situated in Zindbazar, Sylhet. After spending a year in Bangladesh he returned to UK in 1988.
Since he came to UK, he stayed for five years and in 1970 he went to Bangladesh for first time. In 1970, he made the observation of general election. At that time, the majority of East Pakistani voted for Sheikh Mujib. There were several political parties such as Awamileague, Muslimleague, PPP and NAP headed by Moulana Bhasani.
In 1992, he opened a takeaway business known as “Ahmed Takeaway”; his eldest son is running this business now, now he is semi retired. His eldest son does not wish him to work there. His children have obtained degrees and are working in different offices.
In 1960 – 62, the restaurant businesses had begun. In the Redding area he has only seen three restaurants. Those were the Karachi, the Bombay and the Tajmahal. In every town, there were one, two or three restaurants. The people who had restaurant businesses, some of them were able to bring their families in the UK.
During the 1960’s the people were very busy with their work. One day was the day off for many Bangladeshi workers. While he was living in the Redding area, on his off days, he used to go to London to see his friends and relatives. At that time the social culture was very effective.
8.48.5 Housing:
Many of the Bangladeshi people were employed at factories. At that time most of them were single, therefore, they used to live in a shared accommodation. He said “I have seen 10 – 15 people living in one house”. He said in three bedrooms house, about 8 – 10 people used to live there. The rent for the single bed was higher than the double bed, so people used to share the beds. The rent for the single bed was £1.00 and sharing a bed was £0.50.
The landlord used to provide beds and some other furniture. Due to the low earning, the people were not even in a position to think to bring their families in the UK. He remembered that one of the Gujrati men used to supply them all with the grocery items including live chickens. The Bangladeshi fishes were not available at that time. If anyone had wished to have fish, then English fish was the real alternative. At that time, the grocery shops were the only shops in the Walsall area, there were about 2-3 shops in the Birmingham area.
Since his arrival to the UK, he bought and sold many houses, the house where he is residing was purchased by him. In 1977 he bought this house for the price of £9,000.00, the current market value is about £200,000.00 he added. This house is consisting of five bedrooms and it is semi detached.
He said the road communication and the housing have been improved compared to 1960’s. There was no baths inside the houses; the people had to use the public bath. The new generation is not going to believe it as they have not seen the past.
8.48.2.4 Social & Family:
During the liberation war in 1971, he got married. He is the father of two son and two daughters. He brought his wife to the UK in 1977. One year later, since his wife’s arrival in the UK, they travelled back to Bangladesh. In 1986, he and his wife return back to Bangladesh. His wife remained in Bangladesh until 1990 and he returned to UK.
In between he travelled several times to see his wife and children. His young son was suffering from illness and according to the doctor’s advice he had to bring his family back to UK. He said he had two brothers and two sisters and amongst them he was the third born. They enjoyed a very happy family life with their parents.
Since he was living in Chester, he was involved with the Bangladeshi Association. He attended many meetings in Manchester to represent Bangladeshi living in Chester.
When he retired the Army General Mohammed Ataul Gani Osmani came to Britain on behalf of the Janata Party, he organised a reception party in Chester.
When President Ziaur Rahman came to Manchester, he was part of the organising committee. He was also engaged in the community work. He served as a treasurer and now is serving as the chairman of the Shahjalal Mosque in Chester.
In 1990, he performed the Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) along with his wife. In 1998, he and his wife performed the Umrah. In 1999, he took his wife and young son to do the Hajj for second time.
Sometimes, he goes to Bangladesh to see his close relatives. His spare time is dedicated for the Mosque and his family. His mother and other siblings are residing in Bangladesh, so he intends to retire his life in Bangladesh.
In the past, the leaders from the community had done the real community work, without any self interest. Those people, many of them are no longer alive, but he remembers their hard work.
8.48.7 Independence of Bangladesh:
He was in Bangladesh during the liberation war. He left Bangladesh just few weeks before the victory day. When he flew from Sylhet Airport, the military were there, he was afraid at that time that they could have been killed by the Pakistani Military. The messages were given by the Army officers to those people, who flew from Sylhet that they should tell the others on arrivals that the condition of the country is safe and war is not affecting the public.
On arrival to the UK, he has seen that Bangladeshi people, who were living in the UK, made an effort to put up the demand to the British authorities to gain their support for independence.
On 26th March 1971, when the war was declared, he had the intention to join with the liberation force called Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) but unfortunately he did not get any channels to communicate. The people who joined the force must have been joined before he said.
Bangladeshi people who were living in the UK during the liberation war, they did everything they could to put their whole hearted support for the independence of Bangladesh. From demonstrations to collecting funds for purchase of firearms, many people had given their full week’s wages and some people had donated their savings too.
He remembers 5 senior leaders, who worked hard to unite the people and organised demonstrations. He said they were called Gous Khan from London, Afruz Miah from Birmingham, Matin Miah from Manchester; those are the some key people who led this independent movement in the UK.
He recognised the support received from Russia and India to the Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) to win the war. After a long battle with the Pakistani army, the Bangladesh became an independent state on the 16th December 1971.
8.48.8 Conclusion:
He made the comparison remarks of 1960’s and current time, he said that the old days were a really hard life; many things have now been improved. In 1966, when he first came to Britain, there were not many Bangladeshi families who arrived in the UK. At that time only boys came to Britain with a boy vouchers. The main employment sector was at factories for the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.
There are about 500,000 Bangladeshis that are residing in the UK. There are some people who have obtained the higher degrees and are working as Doctors, Engineers, Barristers and contributing to the local politics. He encourages the Bangladeshi community to come forward and work as a team to advance the community even further. New generation British Bangladeshis have some interest for the country of Bangladesh, but due to lack of support, they are reluctant to get involved in community work.
Beside that he encourages the parents and community leaders to play vital roles to motivate the young people to make some connection to their roots. Obviously, the Bangladeshi community are living in a multi culture society, and they need to maintain and improve the relationship with the British society in order to get the best outcomes, which will benefit their life in the UK.
