Birmingham based creative force Inqlab is back with a renewed thirst for justice: local artists and DJs will come together at the Wagon & Horses pub in Digbeth, Birmingham on Saturday 10th October to raise funds for the ‘Justice for the North West 10’ campaign.

Fun-da-mental, the original voices of dissent, headline with a surprise DJ set on a night that includes many of Birmingham’s finest MCs, producers and DJs and Line-up also includes:

• Juice Aleem – one of the best MCs in the UK: Jerusalaam Come his debut solo album available now on Big Dada
• Mad Flow – the best beatboxer in the UK and MC of immense talent
• The What Supreme – MC and organiser of Birmingham’s premier hip hop night ‘The Unseen’
• Moyma – one of Birmingham’s best turntablists playing dubstep/drum & bass
• 3 Men in a Dub – playing their favourite dub selection.
• Themantof – Inqlab resident from day one: breakbeats, drum and bass, old school rave.
• Hussain Bros. - DJing underground soul and mukhtalif beats.

All artists are playing for free, giving their time and energy to support the North West 10 – all proceeds from the night will go to the campaign.

The campaign began in response to eleven Pakistani students and a British National being arrested in Manchester on April 2008 as terrorist suspects amid a blaze of UK wide publicity. None have been charged. One returned to Pakistan voluntarily, three remain in custody and all remaining in the UK face deportation despite no evidence linking them to terrorism. Of the 12 men initially arrested, 11 are Pakistani nationals, 10 held student visas and one is British. Family members of the men are being refused visas to come and visit their sons in prison.

Tariq Mehmood from the campaign said “These men are being punished even though the legal state has declared them innocent. Their custody and deportation violates the principle of constitutional government and threatens the very liberty which it purports to protect. Terrorism is abhorrent and so is the arbitrary and indefinite detention of innocents”.

Faisal Hussain, Inqlab co-founder said “Their case has further incited the demonisation of Pakistani Muslims in the media and has encouraged the insidious racism that’s on the rise in the UK despite our longstanding history as a nation built on multiculturalism. It gives fuel to the racist right wing, whose views are becoming normalised in an increasingly fearful society. This only pushes the polarised extreme into fundamentalism, radicalism and hate“.

Faisal continues “This is not the answer. Solidarity against injustice, regardless of race or religion is the only way forward and music has always been at the centre of demonstration. This is where Inqlab steps in: it provides a platform for politically active artists and acts as a means to mobilise and work together towards the aim of combating racism, human injustice and fundamentalism”.

www.southasianalliance.org

Sign the ‘Justice for North West 10’ petition:  http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/28461.html

For interview:
Faisal Hussain at  faisfx@another.com and 07736 783434

Media are invited to attend the event, but are also required to give a contribution to the campaign as there are NO press passes as it is a fundraiser.

Editors notes:
• The national campaign is called ‘Justice for the North West 10’ www.j4nw10.org
• The contact details for the campaign organizers are:  J4NW10@yahoo.com or Birmingham: Naeem 07721 427690, London: Jasbir Singh 07989 337253, Sheffield: Jawed Siddiqui 07962 174582, Manchester: Tariq Mehmood 07808 173031.
• Inqlab website www.southasianalliance.org
• The word 'inqlab' is a take on the term 'inquilaab', which means 'revolution' in a number of Asian and Middle-Eastern languages (including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Persian and Turkish).
• The idea behind inqlab was to create a 'conscious club night'. The people who put on the nights, the inqlabees, all have common interests in cultural activism, campaigning and community development. They want to put on nights with good music and a nice progressive vibe which provides a platform for them to spread the word about various human rights, civil liberties and poverty-related issues that they feel passionate about.