Balwinder Singh Rana (born 1947) is an Indian-British anti-racism and

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

activist. He was a cofounder and the first president of the Indian Youth Federation in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

, the first Indian youth organisation in the UK.

Life

Originally from Punjab, India, Balwinder Rana moved to the United Kingdom aged 16, in December 1963. He joined his father and two older brothers to live in

, Kent. He spent five years working in factories, experiencing constant casual racism. While studying for his

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

at Gravesend College, he remembers an upsurge in racism after Enoch Powell's 1968 Rivers of Blood speech. Rana and other students set up the Indian Youth Federation in Gravesend in 1969, combining its public launch with Indian Independence Day celebrations. The group invited the local MP, mayor, and councillors, as well as those in professions with a reputation for making racist decisions: bank managers, headteachers and railway staff. The group helped inspire South Asians to set up Asian Youth Movements elsewhere in Britain through the 1970s and 1980s - for example, in Sheffield,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Birmingham and Luton. Rana joined the Anti-Nazi League in 1977. He took part in the Battle of Lewisham, and went on to work full-time for the Anti-Nazi League. He was present at the

1993 Welling riots On 16 October 1993, an anti-racism march near Welling in South East London turned violent, leading to large-scale clashes between police and protesters which left around 70 people injured. The march was intending to demand the closure of a booksho ...

. He later helped to set up Sikhs Against the English Defence League, and to organize a 2011 Luton counter-demonstration against the EDL. In October 2018 Rana joined an Anti-Nazi League against the

Democratic Football Lads Alliance The Football Lads Alliance (FLA) was a right-wing movement in the United Kingdom founded by John Meighan in 2017. According to ''The Times'', "the movement was set up as a self-proclaimed 'anti-extremist' movement" but had increasingly become as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Balwander 1947 births Living people British people of Indian descent Indian emigrants to England British anti-racism activists People from Gravesend, Kent