Councillor
Bishan Dass Bains
Lord Mayor of Wolverhampton
In office
May 1986 – May 1987
Member of Wolverhampton City Council
for Ettingshall Ward
In office
1975–2016
Personal details
BornShaffipur, Jalandhar, India
Political partyLabour (2010-present)
Alma materPanjab University

Bishan Dass is a British politician who became the first British Asian Lord Mayor of Wolverhampton in 1986.[1][2] He was first elected as Councillor of Ettingshall Ward on 1 May 1975.[3]

Life

Bishan Dass was born in a Ravidasia[4][5] family of Village Shaffipur in the North Indian state of Punjab.[6] In 1963, he came to the UK. He was elected for the first time to the Metropolitan Borough Council of Wolverhampton in 1979.[7]

Opposition to Racism and Caste Discrimination

He faced bitter experiences of casteism when Jat men of the left-wing Indian Workers Association (IWA), active in Britain since the 1950s, challenged his candidature in the local council elections in 1979.

Publications

He published a book named Pride Vs Prejudice, in which he penned down his lifelong struggle against inequality, discrimination, and prejudice. There are a number of horrifying and distressing stories about caste-based untouchability still practising in India and racial prejudice in the UK.[8]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ "Citizen UK – Wolverhampton, Sikh and Punjabi stories" (PDF). www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Meena Dhanda (July–September 2022). "The Concurrence of Anti-Racism and Anti-Casteism". The Political Quarterly. 93 (3). doi:10.1111/1467-923X.13147. hdl:2436/625161.
  3. ↑ Rawat, Vidya. "How upper castes in UK tried to defeat me : Bishan Dass Bains, Former Mayor Wolverhampton" – via www.academia.edu. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/7489
  5. ↑ https://www.academia.edu/31002963/How_upper_castes_in_UK_tried_to_defeat_me_Bishan_Dass_Bains_Former_Mayor_Wolverhampton
  6. ↑ "Alderman Bishan Dass Bains – Global Ambedkarite Convention".
  7. ↑ "Pride vs Prejudice: one man's fight against racism and inequality". wolverhamptonart.org.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Pride Vs Prejudice". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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