Skip to content or view screen version

Public meeting & Exhibition celebrating 1857, 1st Indian war against imperialism

Saif | 18.10.2007 04:24 | Globalisation | Social Struggles | Birmingham

Public meeting and Exhibition in Birmingham to celebrate the anti-imperialist struggle of 1857 in south asia.

Hello friends,

A public meeting has been organised, in Birmingham, to celebrate 150th year of 1857, first war of independence against the British imperialist rule in south asia, on Saturday 20th October 2007, 2.00 pm. Venue is Norton Hall, Ralph Road, Saltley, Birmingham B8 3QU. Speakers are:

Dr John Newsinger (Bath Spa University)
Dr Ram Puniyani (Writer, Scholar -- from India)
Younus Taryaby (Kashmiri Workers Association)
Hani Lazim (Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation)
Dr Virinder Kalra (Manchester University)

An exhibition highliting the struggle and events surrounding south asia in 1857 will also be on the display. As you know 1857 saw a sustained and widespread uprising. Although commonly known as the ‘Indian Mutiny’ in many British history books, the uprising, which spread from Kandhar to Chittagong i.e. across much of the northern and central South Asia, lasted almost two years and had all the aspects of a war against imperialism and for independence.

Aim of this event is not only to remember what happened in 1857, but also to understand the parallels that exist between the south asia of 1857 and world today. We will be looking at 1857 as one of the high points of continuing popular anti-imperialist resistance, in which people identifying with different communities and religions but sharing many aspects of culture consciously came together to resist an aggressively racist colonial power. In the process we will talk about propagation of contemporary imperialism and racism under the guise of “democracy”, “freedom” and “globalisation” and the struggles against them in South Asia and here in Britain as it is imperative that we reclaim our shared history of anti-imperialist struggle.

All welcome.

Saif
- e-mail: committee1857@yahoo.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.1857.org.uk