Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

Karamjit Chaggar
The brother of Gurdip Singh Chagger
I was born in Hoshiarpur, India 1948, and was the 3rd of five children; two older sisters,
one younger sister and my late brother Gurdeep, who was the youngest. My father found
work in Tanzania, Africa, which is where we spent our childhood years. As with many other
Indians I too left Tanzania for Britain in 1967, prior to a brief stay in India; leaving my family
behind in Hoshiarpur. I lived in various places with friends and relatives while I studied, and
looked for work. My parents and two younger siblings came to join my here in 1972 (my two
older sisters were now married and settled in India). Our first home was in Ealing, (west London),
but we soon bought a house in Southall, which is where we settled. I was married in the
August of 1974, and my first son was born in the August of 1975. At this point my younger
brother, Gurdeep was 16 years old.
On Friday 4 June 1976, Gurdeep went to the Dominion cinema in Southall with friends, as
he sometimes did. It was outside this cinema that the heinous murder was committed. This
whole period of time, from the murder, to the court case, is very difficult to talk about. It is
difficult, but it’s something that I won’t ever forget.
He never came home on the night of 4 June. My parents were concerned, but I told them
not to worry, as from time to time he stayed over at a friends. I thought it was just him being
a teenager, having fun, and forgetting to call home. On the day after he died, I was at home
when the police came to the house, and asked me to come with them to the police station
as my brother had been in a fight. This was late afternoon. I went with them, and they asked
me some questions, and gave me my brothers watch. I answered the questions and held
the watch. I was shocked; they didn’t tell me that he had been stabbed. I confirmed that the
watch was his, and answered some more questions, it was all very confusing. After questioning
me, they dropped me at the top of the street. As I walked to the house, I met some people
and they told me what had happened to Gurdeep. Our friends and family knew before
me, I was in a complete state of shock. By the time I got home, the house was full of people,
most of them were crying. My parents took it very badly, I watched them crying. The murder
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