The diasporic South Asian communities, particularly the Bangladeshis, are often overlooked in our understandings of the (post)colonial South Asian experience. To understand the dynamics of identity within the Bengali communities in the UK today, it's really important to understand what pasts get passed on, how they are communicated, and the ways in which they're made sense of by each new generation. This paper examines the modalities of intergenerational transmission of key historical experiences within the British Bangladeshi Diaspora and explores how these memories fashion the present-day identities of the different Bengali generations. The paper specifically looks at how difficult memories of the 1947 Partition, the 1971 Bangladeshi independence and local histories of the community and their settlement experiences are played out within the contested diasporic community space of East London.
Through this examination, the paper locates the decisive loss of not only the cultural memories of the Bengali homeland but also the more local histories of migration, settlement and anti-racist struggles of the community over generations of British Bangladeshis. This generational loss of cultural memory is seen to be rooted directly in the changing identity frameworks of the younger diasporic generations. With greater exposure to the wider Muslim communities particularly from the Middle East and East Africa and increased access to more institutionalised, Arabic forms of Islam, there has been a clear transition from a Bengali cultural Identity framework towards the adoption of a more religious, Islamic identity. The gradual loss of Bengali language, widespread notions of economic and socio-political backwardness attached to the Bangladeshi national identity and evolving discourses of racism stemming from Islamophobia and concerns around global terrorism, have all contributed in these shifts towards the adoption of a Pan Islamic identity.
Beyond locating these generational shifts in identity positions and the resultant loss in collective memories and cultural heritage of the Bengali homeland, the paper also attempts to locate the critical memory work of Bengali community actors and activists who strive to keep the cultural memories of the Bangladeshi homeland relevant in the present. However, these attempts are further complicated by the growing influence of Islamic organizations and leaders that continue to challenge the cultural activists for leadership and representation of the community. These community divisions are further informed by the changing socio-political situations and discourses emerging from Bangladesh that continue to divide the community along political and religious lines.
By examining the role of key cultural institutions, monuments, commemorative events and remembrance practices located within Bengali east end through insights from participants from three generations of Bengali migrants, the paper locates the emergence of this contested community space; divided along generational, ideological, socio-political, religious and regional lines and how it impedes the communication of cultural memories within generations of Bengali Diaspora. In the process, the paper not only locates the larger convergences around histories of decolonization, migration and settlement but also the ones situated within the evolving racial, religious, socio-political discourses and identity positionalities of migrant Bengali communities in present-day Britain.
