Videos
Haji Riaz Ahmed
Haji Riaz Ahmed arrived to Leeds, in 1970, migrating from Jhelum to Rochdale and then onto Leeds. He was the first Gentleman of Kashmiri descent, to start a goldsmith and jewellery business from his home in the Elfords. In this video he reminisces over his childhood memories and recalls how the early community in Leeds supported him.
Mirajudeen Quraishi
Mirajudeen Quraishi came to the United Kingdom in 1962 from Karachi. Upon arrival he would live a short period in Bradford before coming to Leeds. He would go onto train as a TV and radio engineer and later work on the railways. In this video he reflects upon his experiences of early life in the UK, over Sunday breakfast.
Mohammed Abdul Razzaq
Shakeel Meer sits with friends to reflect upon the stories and experiences of his father, Mohammed Abdul Razzaq who came to England in the 1950’s,remembered as a bubbly character who loved a challenge such as driving from the UK to Pakistan and back, when it was possible. In this video, Shakeel shares some of the key memories he holds on to of his father.
Shakeel Meer
Shakeel Meer came in the early sixties with his family, at the request of his father. In this video he reflects upon his childhood in the 1960s, school boy challenges and first experiences of racism.
Ehjaz Hussain
Ehjaz Hussain arrived in 1967, residing in Morley and working in several factories and Mills. In this video he reflects upon the different types of work he undertook and the common leisure activities available to his household.
Syed Abid Shah
Syed Abid Shah arrived to the United Kingdom from Lahore in 1970, an avid cricketer and serious business man. In this video he reflects upon his activities and memories from his arrival, as well as how the Asian family business grew in East Leeds.
Mohammad Latif
Mohammad Lateef came in 1966, as a 14-year-old with his father. In this video he reflects upon the journey to the UK, the house in which he grew up in and its condition, the popular Kirkstall showers and the Kirkstall Forge where he worked.
Tanvir Kiani
Tanvir Kiani’s father arrived in 1962. In this video Tanvir reflects upon his own childhood, including memories of food, the community and experiences of racism. He also ponders upon some of his father’s sayings.
Barkat Ali
Haji Barkat Ali came as a 12-year-old boy, in 1966. A child living with his father, away from his mother, he reflects upon the challenges of communicating, wo and living with great hardship by the time he left school and started working, aged 15.
Baytuk Men’s Group
The Baytuk men’s group meets each Sunday at the Hamara Centre. Mehmood Mir, Mohammed Fazal and Rasheed Butt share their early memories of simply living, in crowded houses full of men, using the outdoor loo and communicating with loved ones back home in Kashmir/Pakistan.
Aziza Din
In 1963, Aziza Din and her family, joined her father who had already been living in England, five years prior. In this video she explores her experiences of being a first-generation young Kashmiri teen in Leeds and reflects upon the various businesses that supported the community at the time.
Salma Khotia
Salma Kotia was born and educated in the city of Karachi. After marrying into a well-established family based in Leeds, she made the journey, leaving her family behind, to come to England. In this video she reflects upon her then new life in 1970’s Leeds.
Hanif Malik
Hanif Malik’s father migrated from Kashmir to Leeds as an economic migrant. Hanif reflects upon his own childhood, the community around him and even recalls the Queen’s 25th Jubilee.
Haji Resham Khan
In this video Zahid and Khalid Khan share their childhood memories of their father Haj Mohammed Resham Khan who came to Leeds in 1962 as bus driver. When Khalid arrived a few years later, he speaks of his shared love for Leeds united football team and their father’s community activism.
Farouk Butt
Farouk Butt came to Leeds with his family in the early 1960s, upon the request of his father Fazal Karim, who had migrated to England in the 1950’s. In this video he reminisces the cold and snowy winters enjoyed as a child, the street where he grew up and the friendships, he held on to dearly.
Khalid Ansari
Mr Khalid Ansari came to Leeds in 1964 on the voucher scheme, from Lahore. He would work as a postal worker and later be the first secretary of the Leeds Muslim council. They would go onto establish the mosque at Brudenell Grove. In this video he shares a few details from his early memories and accomplishments.
Khaldah Parveen
Khaldah Parveen’s father joined her uncle in England, in 1961.Within a couple of years she and her mother would join them. In this video she reflects upon her experiences working in factories and the the experiences of racism and intimidation her family and elders underwent to work towards the establishment of the communities’ foundations.
Reminiscing at the Lingfield Centre
As a group of elders gather to Reminisce at the Lingfield Centre, Rafiq Tahir speaks of his first week living in Leeds in 1970. Mohammed Yakoob reflect upon their early memories of living and working as a driving instructor and the rise of the Asian driving school industry.
Muhammad Saddique
Mohammed Siddique came from Chakswari, Kashmir, in the early 1960s.Hhe reflects upon the community living in Blackman lane and Chapeltown, his hobbies as an avid collector of stamps and clippings. In this video he discusses his memories of growing up in East Leeds and the growth of the community who would eventually found the Bilal mosque, where he is chair.
Professor Fatih Muhammed
Imaam Qari Asim MBE of the Makkah Masjid reflects upon the memory of the previous senior Imam, his father, professor Fatih Muhammed, who came as a student in the 1980s.Through some of the items his father has left behind. Qari Asim ponders upon the memories attached to the of his father’s experiences, living a simple life, far away from home, as an imam in a foreign place.
Kwaja Mohammed Hanif
Kwaja Mohammed Hanif of Stratford street came to Leeds in 1961. In this video he reflects upon his earlier memories in Kashmir, the challenging application process to come to England and some of the memories he had of life in Beeston.
Mir Bostan
Mir Boston is a legend within the Pakistani/Kashmiri Community. Arriving in 1952 and residing near St James Hospital, he would go on be a supporting actor, stuntman, award winning rifle shooter, photographer and all-round performer. In this video he reflects upon some of his earlier years in Leeds.
Abdul and Najma Sattar
Musarat Razzaq shares her father Abdul Sattar’s memories from partition to finding work at the Catton Foundry before working on the markets in the early 60s, from Faisalabad district.He would bring his wife Najma over a year later and start their small business as asian market traders,like many other families at the time.
Ishtiaq Mir
The wellknown local urdu poet and Business man,Ishtiaq Mir and his Brother in Law, Mansha Mir, retell the story of the original Mir brothers who arrived from the late 1940s onwards, including Ishtiaq’s father and uncles who ran a fish and chip shop on Cherry Lane.
Pervaiz Akhtar
Haji Pervaiz Akhtar takes his sons on a small trip down memory lane,reminiscing on a childhood in Kirkstall during the 60s. The very house he lived in, from the site of his old house below the entrance of the Odeon Cinema to the places where his father had worked.
Rafiq Kotia
Mr Rafiq Kotia arrived in 1950,to join his father and step mother in Leeds. An avid Grammar school Rugby player and later teacher and Businessman; Rafiq shares his memories of working side by side with his brothers and his father Noor Mohammed ,who had come to the UK after the second world war and grown his successful business from a market stall to the famous Kotia Limited factory.
Mukhtaar and Mum
Fazal Begum recalls her childhood during the year of the Partition and the traumatic incidents she witnessed, whilst in conversation with her son Muktaar, who recalls his first impressions of the UK when he arrived as a child in 1977.
GHULAM HUSSAIN
Arriving to join his father and uncles in the early 1960s,Ghulam Hussain relays childhood memories, coming with next to no English, yet through the kindness of a former teacher and personal dedication and hard work, he would go onto achieve his degree, join the labour movement and going on to heavily influence the development of the Pakistani communities’ needs in East Leeds.
Mumtaz, Asif and Hanif
Three friends Dr Mumtaz Khan,Hanif Kwaja and Asif Ahmed ,sit to recollect their earliest memories in Leeds, during the 1960s and 70s. Sports, limited communication with family back home and problems with the Yorkshire accent, are among their recounted memories.
Jabar karim
Well known Community Radio DJ Jabar Karim (founder of Radio Fever Fm) remembers his childhood arriving from Lahore to Britain. In this interview he shares the family struggle as his determined mother strived and struggled to open a family run a meat shop on Alexander Road whilst raising her children alone in the early 70s.