Colourful Heritage

Our Journey 2017

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www.colourfulHeritage.com ColourfulHeritage ColourHeritage

‘Fantastic community who came to Scotland and are now part of the fabric of the country. I like to think of Scotland as a great tartan. A marvellous tartan of all shades and colours and descriptions and there’s no question that the Asian community have woven themselves into the great tartan of Scotland and now it is the opportunity for those stories to be told ’

Alex Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland

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Welcome address by Omar Shaikh Colourful Heritage, Project Founder

As I put pen to paper to welcome you to the ‘GlaswegAsian’ exhibition being hosted at Scotland Street School Museum (SSSM), I cannot help but proudly reflect upon the last 7 years of events that has led us to this day. What started as an informal conversation amongst a group of friends in 2010 about the importance of preserving our heritage, to a proud defining day when we have launched a dedicated exhibition together with Glasgow Museums at SSSM.

With the single minded determination to capture, celebrate and inspire, we began locating and capturing the stories of the early South Asian and Muslim migrants to Scotland making some beautiful friends along the way. The things we learnt

humbled us and strengthened our resolve to carry on working in the domain of preserving our culture and heritage and to serve our communities which the early generation did so selflessly.

Colourful Heritage is a charitable initiative and its back-bone has been the tireless efforts of the team who, like myself, operated as volunteers in a pro bono capacity. Through seven years over 70 videos have been recorded, an archive launched, showcased our work internationally and published an academic chapter. At times we struggled with resources, people let us down and most of the funding for such initiatives was lottery related, thus making it difficult for Muslim communities to use.

Nonetheless, on reflection, Colourful Heritage is a great example of what a few committed, sincere and competent people can achieve. We may not have changed the course of history, but we have most certainly gone a long way to document it and address the archival silence - our history, told by our community. This I have no doubt will be a priceless asset for all of Glasgow and the generations to come.

This booklet provides a glimpse of the journey we have been on to curate the GlaswegAsian exhibition for you, and to give you an idea of what lies ahead for us in our quest to showcase and celebrate the contributions and sacrifices of our elders in making Scottish Society as we know it today.

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Welcome address by Duncan Dornan Head of Glasgow Museums

Glasgow Museums enjoys a significance in the lives of Glaswegians which Is matched in no other city. This is demonstrated most visibly in the attendance at our museums with 1.4 million visits by residents of the city last year. However, though this audience is more representative of our community than in most comparable museum services, it does not adequately reflect the newer communities who form part of our city. The relationship with Colourful Heritage has presented an exciting opportunity to address this issue. Drawing on the model of community engagement which characterises both the work of Glasgow Museums and Colourful Heritage the GlaswegAsians exhibition provides a model which we are confident will be followed by many others.

About Glasgow Museums

Glasgow Museums is the largest museum service in the UK outside London and operates 10 venues across the city. The civic museum collection includes over one million objects valued for insurance purposes at over £1.4 billion. It has been described as the finest civic collection in the UK and one of the finest in northern Europe. It is of international significance, with strength and depth across the four major disciplines: art, human history, natural science and transport and technology. Glasgow Museums’ aspires to combine the commitment to social justice with the excellence in research-based content.

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Over the past 7 years Colourful Heritage has achieved the following:

• Over 70 video stories accessible online at colourfulher-itage.com

• Held over 18 community engagement meetings, work-shops and events in Glasgow and Dundee.

• Showcased Colourful Heritage internationally and re-gionally at conferences in Lahore (Pakistan), London and Scotland.

• Entered into partnership with Glasgow Museums re-sulting in the creation of:

○ Scotland’s first dedicated South Asian and Muslim ar-chive launched in 2014. Housed at Mitchell Library, the archive was named after the UK’s first Muslim Councillor, Mr Bashir Maan. It consists of photo-graphs, letters, official documents as well as newspa-per cuttings contributed by various people.

○ The first of its kind - a historical exhibition based at Scotland Street School Museum. It contains a fas-cinating timeline dating from 1855 and amazing ar-tefacts such as a pedlar licence, 250-year-old Quran,

medal awarded in 1904 to an Indian Muslim soldier serving in World War 1 and an election poster from 1970 when Britain’s first Muslim was elected to pub-lic office.

• Edinburgh University Press publication (2017) by Pro-fessor Peter Hopkins in which Colourful Heritage have written a chapter titled “Feeling Scottish and being Mus-lim: Findings from the Colourful Heritage Project”.

• Collaboration with the British Council on several fronts, including the development of their digital library for South Asians abroad.

• Reverse migration research – conducted preliminary analysis in Pakistan seeking individuals who returned to their native land having migrated earlier to Scotland.

“I think it’s a wonderful Idea. Every community, Jewish community, Irish commu-nity and Italian community, everybody has its archives. It was only we who were missing. I wish Colourful Heritage all the support and my cooperation and I wish them well.”Bashir Maan, UK’s First elected Muslim Councillor

“I’m delighted to endorse and support the Colourful Heritage Project. I think it’s fantastic for somebody who was born and bred in Glasgow but the stock of immi-grant parents. For me it’s important not just to know who I am but to know where I have come from, what my heritage is, what my values are and that helps to shape where I want to go in the future.”Humza Yousaf, SNP MSP

“It is important that we undertake this project whilst the older generation are still alive because they are part of Scotland and we should hear their stories.”Lord Sheikh, Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum

“Very proud and happy to be supporting the Colourful Heritage Project. It’s a project we knew from the start was a very important project and a timely project. It’s something we knew would have a lasting impact in Scotland. Its telling a story that often doesn’t get told and it’s a story that has relevance not just to the Muslim community but to the wider community in Scotland.”Tom Lea, Alwaleed Centre, Edinburgh University

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Britain – Land of Flowers Dr. M. Shafi Kauser

Britain is a land of flowers like peopleand we should live with them like flowers

whether we gain pain or pleasure

When our own people did not care forour talents, we came to this country andworked very hard, going door to door

doing odd jobs (as economic migrants),facing discriminatory behaviour,

but kept on smiling with pain and pleasures

To improve the poor conditions of ourfamilies back home we had to workvery hard often doing menial jobs,

in snowy nights and on occasion withracist colleagues – who kept on throwingremarks nevertheless we kept on sifting

pearls from mud

There were times when we heard thenews of immense sorrow or happiness

from home but we could not affordto join them. Even in these circumstances

we kept on smiling to everyonethough our eyes were filled with

tears as our hearts were broken butwe still distributed love and flowers to every one

This is an extract of an ever growing poem which is available online. This poem was written by Dr. M. S. Kauser in 1969. It serves to highlight the difficulties the community faced in their early days and the positivi-ty with which they successfully and ultimately overcame such.

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Introduction to ‘GlaswegAsians’ exhibition Scotland Street School Museum, Glasgow

Following the establishment of the first ever dedicated ‘Bashir Maan’ archive at Mitchell library in 2014 and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Colourful Heritage and Glasgow Museums in 2016, an insight café was held at SSSM between Glasgow Museum and community members from a variety of backgrounds and faiths. This gave us an insight into what themes the community wanted to see in our planned exhibition, giving rise to the following five themes; Entrepreneurship, Schools, Civic & Political engagement, Family and Social Life and Contributions to WW1 and WW2. Each of these themes are explored in greater detail over the next few pages.

Our exhibition at Scotland Street School Museum is Scotland’s first dedicated exhibition which will promote the contributions of the South Asian community to

Scotland. Come and explore how the ‘Punjabi pedlars’ evolved into ‘exceptional entrepreneurs’ and ‘pioneering political figures’. Learn about how they arrived and settled in Scotland. Discover the many social, economical and political ‘firsts’ achieved by this small yet very organised community that had a visionary outlook and learn about the early trailblazers/pioneers and the qualities they possessed that helped make this possible. Find out what factors helped influence Scotland to produce not only the first Muslim Councillor but also the first Muslim MP in the UK.

We hope you come and enjoy the exhibition, and explore how these communities have woven themselves into the great colourful tartan of Scotland!

Scotland Street School Museum 225 Scotland St, Glasgow G5 8QB

“The current day success of the Pakistani Muslim Community in Scotland is a testament to the efforts of the pioneers of this community, who came to live and work in Scotland in the 1950’s and earlier. They came as young men and women with the ambition to work hard and make a good life for themselves, for their children, and to be good citizens. They succeeded in all this and in forging a unique identity for themselves and for future generations. These pioneers may not all be here anymore but their spirit lives on. “Baroness Nosheena Mobarik, CBE

“I am delighted to support the Colourful Heritage and Contributions of South Asians in Scotland” project. Many of our first generation, who contributed so much to the fabric of Scottish Society, by choosing this country as their home, have sadly passed before their stories could be told. But their legacy lives on through this project, which rightly highlights the important stories of the past, as we work together to frame our future”Tasmina Shaikh, former MP

“I’m proud to represent my home and its people. Our City’s slogan is “People Make Glasgow” for a reason. A city that has welcomed all, a city where whenever you arrive, or wherever you arrive from, you become a Glaswegian. This is a model that should act as a gold standard for communities across Europe.” Anas Sarwar, MSP

“This excellent example of community work will enable the present and future generations to appreciate the many sacrifices and hardships their grandparents were required to endure. I am honoured to be associated with the Bashir Maan Archive and the Colourful Heritage video recordings and I wish the project every success.”Rt Hon the Lord Martin of Springburn

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About usWhat is Colourful Heritage?

The Colourful Heritage project is Scotland’s first communi-ty heritage focussed charitable initiative that aims to preserve and celebrate the contributions of South Asians and Muslims to Scotland.

It consists of nearly 70 oral stories captured as short films creat-ing the largest online video archive of first-hand accounts. The video footage enables viewers to see their facial expressions, feel their emotions and hear the voices of these great men and wom-en reliving their experiences. The video stories are from people from all walks of life, in a variety of different languages (Urdu, Punjabi & mainly English) covering Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. The stories have explored themes around migration, entrepreneurship, family life, identity and role of religion.

In addition, Colourful Heritage in partnership with Glasgow Life have created a dedicated archive and exhibition celebrating South Asian and Muslim achievements.

How colourful heritage started

Today, there are over 50,000 South Asians in Glasgow alone. Some of them are immigrants whereas others are newer gen-

erations of people who immigrated to Scotland many decades ago. Have you ever wondered what motivated our elders to travel half way across the world to a foreign land? What chal-lenges they faced on arrival in Scotland? Since most of them were uneducated/from villages in Punjab, what work they did to survive?

To address these very questions, a group of young social entre-preneurs in 2010 got together raising their concerns that there was an ‘archival silence’ from the South Asian and Muslim com-munity, whereas other communities were very good at preserv-ing their past. They worried that not enough had been done to preserve the ‘inspirational stories’ and ‘pearls of wisdom’ that this early generation/the migrants had to offer, and that some-thing had to be done before those elders passed away. Therefore what started as an informal discussion between friends has to-day become ‘Colourful Heritage’ – the first and largest heritage focused, community led charitable initiative in Scotland.

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In 2014 Colourful Heritage, teamed up with Glasgow Life to create Scotland’s first dedicated physical archive based at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. It is named after Mr Bashir Maan who as a trailblazer was a leading political figure in Glasgow who became Britain’s first Muslim elected to public office in 1970 as a Councillor in Glasgow and was Scotland’s first Muslim Justice of Peace in 1968.

The archive contains photographs and documents from as far back as the 1930s which are contributed by various members of the community. The archive gives many useful insights into the lives of these first brave explorers.

The archive is open to the public to view at:

The Mitchell Library,Archives, Level 5,North Street, Glasgow G3 7DNTel no :0141 287 2910

We invite you to deposit further material into the archive. Please contact us directly on info@colourfulheritage.com to do this.

Bashir Maan Archive

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Colourful Heritage Timeline

Our timeline charts the history and progress of South Asians and key events in Scotland over the last 100 years or so from the early arrival of the Lascars to the present day involvement of women in politics. Starting from 1855 this fascinating timeline takes you through the journey of the evolution of the South Asian and Muslim community in Scotland.

The physical timeline is on display at the GlaswegAsian exhibition at Scotland Street School Museum, Glasgow. Log onto our web-site (colourfulheritage.com) to view and add to the digital version of this timeline. Do you think there is a moment that should be captured in our digital timeline? If so help us populate it further by sharing your interesting facts and images via email on info@colourfulheritage.com.

Every event shared is an additional strand that weaves into the colourful tartan fabric of Scottish society!

South Asian Lascars in Scotland

South Asian lascars (seamen) are seen more often in Scotland. By the end of the century there are Lascar-only facilities in Glasgow Docks.

1860’s

1892 -1901

Queen Victoria employs Abdul Karim

Queen Victoria employs Abdul Karim (1863-1909) as an attendant. He accompanies her whenever she resides at Balmoral. A holiday cottage is named after him on the estate.

1926 - 19301914

World War One

Over 1 million Indian soldiers fight with the British forces during World War One.

1917

Lascar living in Anderston, Glasgow

Nathoo Mohammed. Indian Pedlars in Glasgow

A few Indian pedlars are based in Glasgow, including Sundhi Din (who had previously worked in Scotland as a valet) and Nathoo Mohammed, who encourages family and friends to come too.

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New arrivals in Glasgow

Atta Ashrif, Fateh Sharif and Ghulam Mohammed Sharif, all relatives of Nathoo Mohammed, travel to Glasgow. Other arrivals include Banta Ram Bhatti , Kehar Singh Rakhra and Bhai Thakur Singh.

Mr Fateh Sharif.

First Glasgow grocery shop selling Indian goods, 1930

1933

First Scottish Muslim convert to perform Hajj to Mecca

Lady Zainab Cobbald (1867-1963), born Lady Evelyn Cobbald, daughter of the Earl of Dunmore, becomes the first Scottish Muslim convert to perform Hajj to Mecca.

1936

Mohammed (Abdul) Salim plays for Celtic

Mohammed (Abdul) Salim from Kolkata (Calcutta) plays for Celtic, becoming the first Indian to play professional football anywhere in Europe

Taj Mahal, first Indian Restaurant in Glasgow

A Taj Mahal restaurant is open in Glasgow during the Empire Exhibition

1938

WW2, Around 2.3 million Indian soldiers fight with the British

1939 - 1945

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Mohammed (Abdul) Salim plays for Celtic

Mohammed (Abdul) Salim from Kolkata (Calcutta) plays for Celtic, becoming the first Indian to play professional football anywhere in Europe

WW2, Around 2.3 million Indian soldiers fight with the British

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

2014

1939 - 1945

Jamiat ul Muslimin

Purchase of building in Oxford St, Gorbals, for Scotland’s first permanent Mosque. Haji Muhammad Kaka, Jamadad Khan, Fakir Khan, Sajawal Khan, Ghulam Muhammed Sharif, Muhammed Ali Azam and Latif Khan each pay £100 (around £4000 today) to purchase a building in Oxford St. 1944/45

Seamen’s club is established for Indian and Pakistani seamen

Sher Brothers cash and carry empire established

Sher Mohammed, who started as a peddler selling door to door, and his brothers open a warehouse business which develops into the Sher Brothers cash and carry empire.

1953

Asian Population Growth

The population grows from 3,500 in 1961 to 16,000 by 1970. In Oct. 1970, Glasgow Muslims community donated £400 to help victims of East Pakistan in a cyclone which had killed 300,000.

First Scottish man, James Dickie becomes Yaqub Zaki as he converts to Islam at Oxford St mosque in Glasgow.

The Pakistan Association is set up in Glasgow

1962

Zubeda Hussain becomes dux

Zubeda Hussain becomes dux - an award for the highest academic achiever - at Adelphi Terrace Secondary School.

1967

First Muslim town councillor in the UK

Bashir Maan is elected as town councillor for Kingston, Glasgow

Invention of chicken tikka masala by the Shish Mahal restaurant

After a diner complained about the dryness of the chicken Mr. Ali Ahmed Aslam created what is now thought to be the UK’s most popular dish. Robin Cook in 2001 claimed it was a British national dish.

Early 1970’s

Balwant Singh Chadha becomes the first Sikh Justice of the Peace in Glasgow, 1972.

1983

Yacub Ali opens Castle - Europe’s largest cash and carry

1984

Glasgow Central Mosque is complete

Doors open on 18th May 1984. The carpets are donated by General M Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, and are still in use in 2017

First females

1990, Neelam Bakshi becomes first female South Asian councillor in Glasgow.

1994, Farkhanda Chaudhry becomes the first female Muslim Justice of the Peace in Scotland

Yacub Ali donates £500,000, Strathclyde Universities largest ever donation.

1997

First Muslim MP in the UK

Muhammad Sarwar is ellected the first Muslim MP in the UK

Twinning agreement between Glasgow and Lahore

Lord Provost of Glasgow Liz Cameron and the Mayor of Lahore Mian Amer Mahmood sign a twinning agreement between Glasgow and Lahore

2006

First Muslim and South Asian Member of the Scottish Parliament.

Glaswegians elect Bashir Ahmad to the Scottish Parliament.

2007

Female Firsts

2014, Baroness Mobarik enters the House of Lords

2015, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh becomes the first female South Asian MP elected in Scotland

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EXHIBITION THEMES:

Entrepreneurship

Discover how the Punjabi pedlars evolved into exceptional entrepreneurs, initially men and later followed by women. Explore how these economic migrants mainly from villages near Faisalabad, who initially worked as pedlars, created their own jobs becoming hugely-successful businessmen of today. See how they managed to change the food palate of Scotland forever and how women stepped into business then and now. Valuable advice for any budding entrepreneur - come along and explore for yourself.

‘I was working with the chefs at Tollcross restaurant and was making 34p/hour. When there was no work, I couldn’t believe it but they made me clean and scrub the floors. But I never said ‘no’ as I needed to learn how to do things. So when I learned it I moved into my own restaurant and became my own chef ’ Shaheen Unis, Mrs Unis Spicy Foods

‘In life, always there’s an opportunity. If you’re fast enough to grab it you will become successful. If you are slow and let it go by, you carry on life as normal. In business there’s always a risk. If you have the ability and the confidence of starting a business then you will be successful’

Maqbool Rasul

Pedlars names in Police Register, Glasgow Circa 1940. Glasgow City Archives © CSG CIC Glasgow Libraries Collections (Archives)

Pedlars standing outside Tanda & Ashrifs warehouse, 23 Nicholson St, Gorbals, Glasgow. © Colourful Heritage

Zia Qureshi, outside his grocery shop, Switchback road,

Bearsden, Glasgow. Circa 1970.

Courtesy of Aminah Qureshi.

Nemat Kada (The blessed one) sweet and savoury food shop, Maxwell Drive, Glasgow. Circa 1970.

© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collections Photo taken by Eric Watt

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EXHIBITION THEMES:

Civic & political engagement

Uniquely Glasgow has pioneered so many firsts in the political arena with Britain’s first Muslim Councillor (1970) and first Muslim MP (1997) both coming from Glasgow. What factors came together to make this possible? Why did South Asians proudly adopt a Scottish identity? Come and explore.

It’s only ignorance that breeds prejudice or hatred. Once you get to know a thing, you might start loving it’Bashir Maan, UK’s first Muslim Councillor (1970)

‘I believe that if you have a commitment, you have a dedication and you have a strategy and you’re honest and you have faith in yourself, and in the community and in the people, then you’ll succeed’ Mohammed Sarwar, UK’s first Muslim MP (1997)

Bashir Maan celebrates after being the first Muslim to be elected as a councillor in the City of Glasgow Corporation, 1970

‘It doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is where we’re going as a nation’ Late Bashir Ahmed, First Muslim MSP (2007) taking oath after being elected as MSP.

© Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body – 2017

Police Cadet Sawarnjit Matharu First Sikh policewoman in Scotland1974

Image courtesy of Sawaranjit Matharu Kaur.

Hamza Yousuf (2016) taking oath after being elected as an MSP.

© Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body – 2017

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EXHIBITION THEMES:

Social & family life

Learn how early cinema showing Indian films helped to bring communities together. Weddings, visits to the park and to friends homes as well as meeting and playing outside were all important social engagement events that encouraged integration and social etiquettes amongst children and adults. This also helped preserve the mother language of Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi which were spoken by many in those days.

A poetry event organised by Dr. Kauser from the Pakistan Art & Literary Circle, Glasgow that was initially setup in 1976 – © Colourful Heritage

1967 Grafton Square, Glagsow. The Bhatti family and Saddiq family enjoying a social gathering while the children play outside © Bhatti family

Heer Raanjha, 1975 Film Poster. Showing at the La-Scala Cinema, Sauchiehall Street. Glasgow.

© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

Mr. Ghulam Nabi Choudhry in his Glasgow Corporation

Transport bus driver uniform. Pollokshields, Glasgow

1967.

His son sadly writes on the back of the photograph,

poignantly highlighting the reality of the difficulties

people faced working long shifts and doing overtime in

those days.

© Furrukh Choudhry family

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EXHIBITION THEMES:

War

Britain had to call in reinforcements from British India (presently India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) in 1914. Nearly a million and a half volunteer Indian army soldiers of varying faiths were drafted in from British India to help in both world wars. Over 100,000 of them lost their lives yet very little is known of their sacrifices. We owe a lot to these forgotten heroes of war.

Soldiers from the London Scottish pose with an Indian soldier Circa 1914

by Jane Jones is licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

Gravestone of Abbas Bhickoo, Greenock. He was from Sangamesh-war, Maharashtra and served on the ‘City of Benares’ ship which was torpedoed in 1940. He was rescued and brought to Greenock, where he died soon after and was buried there.

© Robert Spry

Africa General Service medal 1904 - Medal awarded to Sepoy Mausamdin

of the 27th Punjabis regiment for fighting in the battle of Jidballi.

© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

Muslim Indian soldiers pray in their camp in

Mesopotamia, Iraq Circa 1914

© Imperial War Museum (Q 24572)

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EXHIBITION THEMES:

Schools

Find out how the education department and learned community members supported young students to teach them English with specific ESOL aids and how the Muslim community started their own Islamic and Urdu school as early as 1965. Learn about the story of Dr. Ibrahim Ashrif, the first Pakistani student to graduate with a PhD from Edinburgh University in 1953 and the first Pakistani to obtain an MBE in Scotland in 1963.

Mr. Mohammed Taj Bhatti running an after-school class teaching English to newly arrived children in Glasgow, at Abbotsford school in the Southside of Glasgow in 1964/65

© Bhatti Family

Dr. M Ibrahim Ashrif MBE went to Allan Glen’s School, Townhead, Glasgow in

1938. After attending agricultural college in Lyallpur – now Faisalabad – he undertook a PhD in agricultural science at Edinburgh

University around 1949-50. In 1963 he was awarded an MBE for his outstanding

research in the Gambia, becoming the first Scottish South Asian to gain this honour.

© Ashrif Family

Muslim school Glasgow weekend class. Teaching urdu and Quranic studies, 1961.

© Colourful Herritage

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Get involved

The ball has already started to roll in terms of engaging our var-ious South Asian communities, encouraging them to contribute their heritage towards this exhibition. We would also encourage you to come forward if you would like to deposit any items that we could add to our museums for others to enjoy, or know someone we should interview. If you would like to join us – as partners, sponsors or volunteers then get in touch now.

Email: info@colourfulheritage.com

Ours is a colourful, vibrant and thriving community, Colourful Heritage wishes to bring the community together on the com-mon platform of culture and heritage.

If you feel as strongly about preserving our heritage as we do, join us! There are many ways you can:

Like and Follow Us

Follow us for the latest updates, news and events on:

Web page: ColourfulHeritage.com Facebook: ColourfulHeritage Twitter: @ColourHeritage

To stay up to date on our initiatives, events, contests, volun-teering opportunities, jobs in the community and much more, join our Facebook page and follow up on twitter. Also a great way to know what all is happening in the community and neigh-bourhood!

Acknowledgments and special thanks:Colourful Heritage would like to thank all those who have as-sisted including those on our Advisory Board and our Trus-tees. Special thanks goes to Glasgow Life, Al Waleed Centre at Edinburgh University, Scottish Government, Islamic Finance Council UK, Radio Ramadhan Glasgow, Aruba Tabish , Dr Sa-qib Razzaq, Nawaz Ali, Munawar Akbar, Farkhanda Chaudhary MBE, Ghulam Rabbani MBE, Bashir Maan CBE, Lord Sheikh, Omar Shaikh, Lord Martin, Dr. Shafi Kauser, Maqbool Rasul, Dr Aman Durrani, Sajid Quayum and with special regards to Tariq Shaikh.

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‘No other organisation in Scotland had worked to preserve the work of our South Asian forefathers and elders who came to Scotland nearly 70 years ago. We wanted to highlight the positive contributions they made to the Scottish society both to the host and the Asian communities and wanted to create awareness of the personal sacrifices that they made to achieve this.’ Tariq Shaikh - Colourful Heritage Trustee

‘It was important to have a real sense of being a Scottish Muslim and to record those stories and that thinking and the thought process of what they went through and the challenges they faced and to better understand where we are now and how we move forward from here.’Sajid Qauyum - Colourful Heritage Trustee

‘The stories of the first generation that have come needed to be captured to learn more about our own learning and development and our own past. There was a certain urgency around the project to capture these stories before the first generation passed away.’Dr Amanullah Durrani - Colourful Heritage Trustee

Colourful Heritage Team

‘It has been an eye opening experience gathering information towards the exhibition and charting the South Asian community timeline from the earliest arrivals till the present day. It has helped me to better understand not only the challenges faced by these early settlers but also their immeasurable contribution to the Scottish society. Despite their difficulties they still showed determination and perseverance in their employment and in all spheres of community planning for the future generation of GlaswegAsians.’Dr. Saqib Razzaq - Colourful Heritage, Project Researcher

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