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Indian Workers' Association
The Indian Workers' Association (IWA) is a political organisation in Great Britain which consists of Indian immigrants to Britain and their descendants. IWA branches are organised in some major cities such as Birmingham and London. As one of the oldest and most active groups of immigrants, the organisation has been working in the fields of politics, race relations, industrial relations and social welfare, as well as many cultural issues. At the forefront of the struggle within trade unions, it has campaigned tirelessly against racism and on civil liberties issues.
Pamphlets, memorandum and statements are frequently issued by the IWA and the press regularly interview IWA leaders. Azad Hind was its earliest publication written by V P Hansrani with assistance from Kartar Nagra. By doing such publications and statements, the IWA remains permanently in the public eye. Their activity includes anti-racism campaigning, industrial action, social work within immigrant communities, and film shows. Their members included Udham Singh, and they focused on agitating for Indian independence. After this was achieved, the groups became largely moribund. The IWA (GB) continues to support struggles among workers in the Asian community in the UK and revolutionary change in India.
The journal Lalkar, which used to be linked to the IWA, is now independent (it is edited by Harpal Brar of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist)).
The Indian Workers' Association (Hindustani Mazdoor Sabha) has its foundations in London in the 1930s and was formalised in Coventry by immigrant workers from India. It was formalised on 24 December 1939 at 46 Welgarth Avenue Coventry, by men such as VP Hansrani and its first President was Chanan Kooner.
Shaheed Udham Singh, a member of the famous Ghadar Party also facilitated the founding of the Indian Workers Association by his activities in London. The stated aim of the IWA was the establishment of an independent India, and the organisation worked with the India League in this particular endeavour. The IWA published bulletins in Urdu and Panjabi called Azad Hind to educate Indian migrants about the independence movement and the need for an independent India. This publication was written and edited by Vidya Parkash Hansrani with assistance from Kartar Singh Nagra. After the execution of Udham Singh in 1940, up until the late 1950s, prominent activists of the IWA included - Surat Alley, V P Hansrani, Ujagar Singh Rurka, Kartar Singh Nagra, Thakur Singh Basra, Charan Singh Chima, Mohammed Fazal Hussein, G. D. Ramaswamy, V. S. Sastrya, and Akbar Ali Khan. Many of who became chapter Presidents during this period.
The organisation has been fairly active in supporting working class struggles amongst Asians in Britain and struggles for genuine freedom for working people in India. The second generation of notable activists have included Jagmohan Joshi and Harpal Brar. Jagmohan Joshi, a leader of the IWA from the early 1960s until his death in 1979 is widely considered to have been a central figure in black political action in the 1960s and 1970s. Sivanandan refers to him as "the man who had initiated so many of the black working class and community movements of the early years and clarified for us all the lines of roll/class struggle". Remembering patriots of the Ghadar Party and supporting struggles for creation of a society in line with vision of Shaheed Udham Singh, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha and other Patriots of the Ghadar Party has been the focus of activity.
The IWA's roots extend back to various socialist, communist and anti-capitalist organisations founded in British India which waged a struggle for an independent Indian nation, frequently in concert with other organisations involved in the independence movement. These organisations were opposed to both colonial rule and the domination of the Indian economy by quasi-feudal landlords known as zamindars which owned cash crop plantations (primary producing tea and jute, coal mines, and textile factories throughout India.
The IWA also drew inspiration from the Ghadar Movement, an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The Ghadar Movement was heavily socialist and communist in nature, and a British branch was founded in the early 20th century. In 1928, Krishna Menon founded the India League, an English-based organisation which peacefully campaigned for the full independence and self-governance of India, which would also influence the goals of the IWI over the next decades. The League was established in 1928 by Krishna Menon and has been described as "the principal organisation promoting Indian nationalism in pre-war Britain".
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Indian Workers' Association
The Indian Workers' Association (IWA) is a political organisation in Great Britain which consists of Indian immigrants to Britain and their descendants. IWA branches are organised in some major cities such as Birmingham and London. As one of the oldest and most active groups of immigrants, the organisation has been working in the fields of politics, race relations, industrial relations and social welfare, as well as many cultural issues. At the forefront of the struggle within trade unions, it has campaigned tirelessly against racism and on civil liberties issues.
Pamphlets, memorandum and statements are frequently issued by the IWA and the press regularly interview IWA leaders. Azad Hind was its earliest publication written by V P Hansrani with assistance from Kartar Nagra. By doing such publications and statements, the IWA remains permanently in the public eye. Their activity includes anti-racism campaigning, industrial action, social work within immigrant communities, and film shows. Their members included Udham Singh, and they focused on agitating for Indian independence. After this was achieved, the groups became largely moribund. The IWA (GB) continues to support struggles among workers in the Asian community in the UK and revolutionary change in India.
The journal Lalkar, which used to be linked to the IWA, is now independent (it is edited by Harpal Brar of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist)).
The Indian Workers' Association (Hindustani Mazdoor Sabha) has its foundations in London in the 1930s and was formalised in Coventry by immigrant workers from India. It was formalised on 24 December 1939 at 46 Welgarth Avenue Coventry, by men such as VP Hansrani and its first President was Chanan Kooner.
Shaheed Udham Singh, a member of the famous Ghadar Party also facilitated the founding of the Indian Workers Association by his activities in London. The stated aim of the IWA was the establishment of an independent India, and the organisation worked with the India League in this particular endeavour. The IWA published bulletins in Urdu and Panjabi called Azad Hind to educate Indian migrants about the independence movement and the need for an independent India. This publication was written and edited by Vidya Parkash Hansrani with assistance from Kartar Singh Nagra. After the execution of Udham Singh in 1940, up until the late 1950s, prominent activists of the IWA included - Surat Alley, V P Hansrani, Ujagar Singh Rurka, Kartar Singh Nagra, Thakur Singh Basra, Charan Singh Chima, Mohammed Fazal Hussein, G. D. Ramaswamy, V. S. Sastrya, and Akbar Ali Khan. Many of who became chapter Presidents during this period.
The organisation has been fairly active in supporting working class struggles amongst Asians in Britain and struggles for genuine freedom for working people in India. The second generation of notable activists have included Jagmohan Joshi and Harpal Brar. Jagmohan Joshi, a leader of the IWA from the early 1960s until his death in 1979 is widely considered to have been a central figure in black political action in the 1960s and 1970s. Sivanandan refers to him as "the man who had initiated so many of the black working class and community movements of the early years and clarified for us all the lines of roll/class struggle". Remembering patriots of the Ghadar Party and supporting struggles for creation of a society in line with vision of Shaheed Udham Singh, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha and other Patriots of the Ghadar Party has been the focus of activity.
The IWA's roots extend back to various socialist, communist and anti-capitalist organisations founded in British India which waged a struggle for an independent Indian nation, frequently in concert with other organisations involved in the independence movement. These organisations were opposed to both colonial rule and the domination of the Indian economy by quasi-feudal landlords known as zamindars which owned cash crop plantations (primary producing tea and jute, coal mines, and textile factories throughout India.
The IWA also drew inspiration from the Ghadar Movement, an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The Ghadar Movement was heavily socialist and communist in nature, and a British branch was founded in the early 20th century. In 1928, Krishna Menon founded the India League, an English-based organisation which peacefully campaigned for the full independence and self-governance of India, which would also influence the goals of the IWI over the next decades. The League was established in 1928 by Krishna Menon and has been described as "the principal organisation promoting Indian nationalism in pre-war Britain".