British Bangladeshi

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British Bangladeshi
Total population
283,063 in 2001 (0.5% of the UK's population)[1] Estimated at 500,000 in 2008 (0.8% of the UK's population)[2]
Regions with significant populations
London, Oldham, Birmingham, Luton, Bradford
Languages
Sylheti, Bengali, English
Religion
Islam

British Bangladeshi is a term to describe the British citizens who have immigrated from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom. The community is thriving in the capital with third generation Bangladeshis on their way to establishing themselves in the mainstream of British commerce and politics. They primarily live in the city of London, mainly in the East London boroughs and other cities including Manchester and Birmingham. There are an estimated amount of 500,000 Bangladeshi people living in the United Kingdom today as of 2008^[3]Many of the people have immigrated from the region of Sylhet since 1972.

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 2.1 Religions 2.2 Languages 2.3 Household 2.4 Health 2.5 High smoking rates 2.6 Employment 2.7 Education 2.8 Population Spread 3 Politics 4 Business 5 Notable British Bangladeshis 5.1 Politics 5.2 Television and Media 5.3 Music 5.4 Business 5.5 Artists/Writers 5.6 Sports 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Bangladesh went through a series of political upheavals, starting with the end of British India in 1947, a spell as East Pakistan and a battle against West Pakistan for independence in 1971. This caused many Sylhetis to come to London, in search of stability and work. In the 1970s changes in immigration laws encouraged Bangladeshis to come to the UK. Many of the first immigrants settled in Whitechapel where they worked mainly in the rug trade.

During the Partition of India the Bengali people that are from Bangladesh decided to flee to England for labor. Their main labor is either day labor, or a guest worker. The majority of Curry restaurants in The United Kingdom are owned by People of Bangladeshi origin, with 80%.

Many of these people have come from Sylhet region - a place of emerald green rice fields and dense tea gardens on the country’s eastern border. Sylheti people are a distinct ethnic group within Bangladesh and Sylhet is famous for the Muslim Saint Hazrat Shah Jalal, the great torchbearer of Islam.^[4]

They came from one of the world's poorest areas to London's poorest borough Tower Hamlets, where around 37% - 123,000 - of the borough's population is Bengali. In April this year, Tower Hamlets council officially renamed an electoral ward Spitalfields/Banglatown and a few years ago erected lamp posts made in a South Asian style and painted in green and red, the colours of the Bangladeshi flag. Each year, thousands throng the streets around the area for a massive festival celebrating Baishakhi Mela, the Bangladeshi new year.^[5]

[edit] Demographics

Bangladeshis in Britain are a largely young population, heavily concentrated in London’s inner boroughs and experience a range of socio-economic problems. According to the most reliable national enumeration – the decennial Census – in 2001; 283,063 Bangladeshis lived in the UK. 54 percent of the Bangladeshi population lived in the Greater London area and a high proportion of these London inhabitants were located within the inner boroughs. Indeed, the ‘heartland’ of the London Bangladeshi community is to be found in Tower Hamlets, which contained 65,553 Bangladeshi residents or over 30% of the borough^[6] and 22.8% of the UK Bangladeshi population. More than half of Bangladeshis were born in Bangladesh compared with 46 per cent who were born in the UK. The percentage of Bangladeshis born in the UK has increased from 35 per cent in 1991. Bangladesh ranks third in the list of countries of birth for Londoners born outside the United Kingdom.

[edit] Religions

The Bangladeshi population is dominated by one religion, Islam with 93% Muslim. No other ethnic group has such a majority in just one religion, although Pakistanis also have a very high percentage of Muslims, with 92%. There are many mosques in the communities, including the East London Mosque which is run by the Bangladeshis. The 142,931 Bangladeshi Muslims make up 24% of all London Muslims, more than any other single ethnic group, although Pakistanis are close behind (22%) while other significant ethnic groups are Other White (mostly Arabs, 14%) and Black African (12%).^[7][8]

[edit] Languages

Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom speak Sylheti, which is a distinctive dialect of Bengali, the main written language used for administration and other purposes in Bangladesh, parents value this linguistic heritage and encourage their children to learn Bengali. Over 90% of the people derive from the Sylhet region in North-East Bangladesh. In the home, families often use a combination of languages – Sylheti, Bengali and English. English tends to be spoken between brothers and sisters, but not always to parents, with whom Sylheti or Bengali was more commonly used.^[9]

Many pupils, particularly the boys, also attend Madrassah (religious school) or the Mosque in the evenings to learn to speak Arabic and to memorise the Qur’an.

[edit] Household

Asian households are larger than households of any other ethnic group. Households headed by a Bangladeshi person were the largest of all with an average size of 4.5 people in April 2001, followed by Pakistani households (4.1 people) and Indian households (3.3 people). Only 9 per cent of Bangladeshi households contained just one person. Three quarters (74 per cent) of Bangladeshi households contained at least one dependent child. This was the highest proportion for any ethnic group and was nearly three times that of White British households (28 per cent). The highest proportions of married couples under pension age, with or without children, were found in Asian households. Over half of Bangladeshi (54 per cent) contained a married couple. The proportion of pensioner households ranged from 2 per cent of Bangladeshi households to 27 per cent of White Irish households. These types of households made up 2 per cent of all households in Great Britain whereas among the Bangladeshi community they made up 17 per cent of households.

[edit] Health

[[Bangladeshi men and women in England and Wales reported the highest rates of 'not good' health in 2001. The age-standardised rates for Bangladeshis were 14 per cent (men) and 15 per cent (women). These rates, which take account of the difference in age structures between the ethnic groups, were around twice that of their White British counterparts. Bangladeshi men were three times as likely to visit their GP than men in the general population after standardising for age. After taking account of the different age structures of the groups, Bangladeshi men and women had the highest rates of disability.^[10]

[edit] High smoking rates

Bangladeshi men were the most likely group in England to smoke cigarettes (44 per cent in 1999). Although very few Bangladeshi women smoked cigarettes, a relatively large proportion (26 per cent) chewed tobacco. This method of using tobacco was also popular among Bangladeshi men (19 per cent), but they tended to use it in conjunction with cigarettes. In the general population, men and women were equally likely to be smokers. However, among minority ethnic groups women were less likely to smoke than men. The sex difference was particularly marked among the Bangladeshi group. Part of the pattern of smoking among the different ethnic groups is explained by the socio-economic differences among the groups. For example, Bangladeshi men were over represented in the lowest socio-economic class (semi-routine or routine occupations), and these men also had the highest rates of smoking.^[11]

[edit] Employment

In 2004, three fifths of Bangladeshi men in employment worked in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry, compared with one sixth of their White British counterparts. Bangladeshi women are also concentrated in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry. One in three Bangladeshi women worked in this industry in 2004, compared with one in five of all women in employment.^[12] In 2001/02, among men, Bangladeshis had the highest unemployment rate in Great Britain at 20 per cent - four times that for White British or White Irish men. Bangladeshi women also had the highest unemployment rate of all at 24 per cent, and over 40 per cent of under-25 Bangladeshi men were unemployed.^[13]

[edit] Education

Compared with all pupils nationally, Bangladeshi pupils have below average attainment at the end of each key stage, but achievement is improving, especially among Bangladeshi girls. The attainment of Bangladeshi pupils at Key Stage 1 is considerably below the national average and the same pattern is shown in Key Stages 2 and 3. The proportion of Bangladeshi pupils attaining five or more A*–C grades in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is also below the national average.^[9]

Greater fluency in English is playing a key part, the progress of Bangladeshi pupils through Key Stage 1 and 2 in English tends to be rapid compared with other subjects. At the end of Key Stage 2, they are attaining 11 percentage points above the national average in English. This is a considerable achievement when set against the fact that their peers who have English as a mother tongue are also improving their language skills from a very different starting point.^[9]

Bangladeshi pupils make more progress than several other minority ethnic groups between Key Stage 3 and GCSE. Bengali speaking pupils with greater English fluency are closing the gap for GCSE average scores with other language groups. For example, 71% of Bangladeshi pupils who achieve level 5 at Key Stage 3 achieve five or more A*–C grades at GCSE, compared with 67% of Pakistani pupils and 48% of Black Caribbean pupils. Overall, the correlation between FSM eligibility and attainment at GCSE is less strong for Bangladeshi girls and boys than for other groups. Overall, girls are more likely to do better in education than boys, with 55% of girls achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE compared with boys at 41%, and the achievement rate overall is at 48% for Bangladeshi pupils compared with 53% for all pupils.^[9]

[edit] Population Spread

The table below shows the dispersity of Bangladeshi people in the United Kingdom. The figures for all of the English regions, cities and boroughs are based on 2005 estimates, whilst the figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are from the 2001 Census.

Region	Population	Bangladeshi	Percentage	Cities/Boroughs with significant communities
Greater London [12]	7,456,100	166,900	2.2%	Tower Hamlets - 33%, Newham - 10%, Camden - 6%
West Midlands [13]	5,350,700	36,800	0.69%	Birmingham - 2%
East Midlands [14]	4,327,500	9,900	0.29%
South East [15]	8,184,600	22,000	0.27%
North West [16]	6,839,800	31,500	0.46%	Oldham - 5%
East [17]	5,563,000	25,600	0.46%	Luton - 4%
Yorkshire and the Humber [18]	5,107,500	16,300	0.32%	Bradford - 1%
South West [19]	5,086,700	7,600	0.15%
Scotland [20]	5,094,800
North East [21]	2,549,700	7,800	0.31%
Wales [22]	2,903,085	5,436	0.19%
Northern Ireland [23]	1,685,267

[edit] Politics

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (May 2008)

There are many politicians who are Bangladeshi, and are part of the main political parties of the United Kingdom, mainly involved with the Labour Party and George Galloway's Respect which controls the Bethnal Green and Bow. There are also people who are councillers, which includes Rofique Uddin Ahmed, Salim Ullah, Sirajul Islam, Helal Uddin Abbas and many more in the London borough of Tower Hamlets^[14]

The expansion of settlers from Muslim-majority countries has been accompanied by the growth of Islamist organisations. There are several types of organisations. Some are already established in Muslim-majority countries and extend their activities to Britain. Others are set up in this country to provide a Muslim voice at local and national level – for example, the long-established Council of Mosques, UK and Éire and the Union of Muslim Organisations, as well as the younger but higher profile Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

The MCB is probably the most successful lobby at the national level given the encouragement it has received from the government after the demise of the much more radical Muslim Parliament. Youth groups are also active among Bangladeshi communities, such as the Young Muslim Organisation (YMO), which is affiliated to the Islamic Forum Europe (IFE) - an organisation based in Tower Hamlets with several branches across Britain, including Oldham and Birmingham. These Islamist groups can be distinguished from Islamic organisations. Islamist groups may be involved in politics – locally, nationally and transnationally – whereas Islamic groups following Tabligh Jamaat, Deobandi and Barelvi ideologies seek to avoid politics and focus on religious activities, such as propagating (dawah) their own particular understanding of correct Islamic practice.

[edit] Business

Today many of the Bangladeshi community are now part of the Curry Industry in Britain, more than eight out of 10 Indian restaurants in the UK are owned by Bangladeshis, the vast majority of whom - 95% - come from Sylhet. In 1946, there were 20 restaurants or small cafes owned by Bengalis; in 1960 there were 300; and by 1980, more than 3,000. Now, according to the Curry Club of Great Britain, there are 8,500 Indian restaurants, of which roughly 7,200 are Bengali. An awful lot of chicken tikka masala, apparently now Britain's national dish, has its origins here.^[15]

Other than the Curry business, local people also own Grocery shops or markets where it sells all Bangladeshi types of foods including, Fish, Meat, Vegetables and more to serve the local Bengali communities, and also Travel and Money Exchange services throughout East London. People have gone beyond by working in Media, where the first Bangladeshi channel abroad was created called Bangla TV in 1999, and later another channel called Channel S in 2004 where it broadcasts the Baishakhi Mela and the first Sylheti-speaking channel, ever since there has been bitter rivalry between both channels.

Dozens of travel agents offer flights to Sylhet with Biman Bangladesh Airlines for around £500; the weekly Sylheter Dak - with a UK circulation of around 7,000 a week - has an office here. There's a shop called Sylhet Stores, a lawyers' office called Sylhet & Co and a Bangladeshi Welfare Association. There are Bangladeshi banks and remittance shops, and a booming black market in money transfer. Almost everything, it seems, harks back to Sylhet.^[16]

[edit] Notable British Bangladeshis

[edit] Politics

• Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin
• Muhammad Abdul Bari - Secretary General of Muslim Council of Britain
• Anwar Choudhury - High Commissioner to Bangladesh
• Murad Qureshi
• Lutfur Rahman
• Eenasul Fateh

[edit] Television and Media

• Konnie Huq - Longest Blue Peter presenter
• Nina Hossain - ITV News presenter
• Shefali Chowdhury
• Nazrin Choudhury
• Hannan Majid
• Akram Khan
• Fareena Alam

[edit] Music

• Boyan Chowdhury
• Zoe Rahman

[edit] Business

• Syed Ahmed - Candidate of The Apprentice
• Iqbal Ahmed
• Abdul Latif
• Tommy Miah

[edit] Artists/Writers

• Runa Islam
• Rezia Wahid
• Monica Ali

[edit] Sports

• Anwar Uddin

[edit] See also

• Brick Lane, known as "Banglatown"
• Bangladeshi American
• Desi
• List of British Asian people
• BBC Asian Network
• Islam in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

• Bangladeshi Diaspora in the UK^[1]

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[edit] External links

• Bangladeshi Diaspora in the UK
• Bangladeshis in London
• British Bangladeshi Who's Who 2008

1. ^ http://www.surrey.ac.uk/Arts/CRONEM/SOASBangladeshi%20diaspora%20PaperDRAFT-7June2005.pdf