FAQ

Upper floors

Here are some illustrations of some of the building terms used in this guide.

1. Lead flashing
2. Lead valley
3. Gutter
4. Parapet gutter
5. Parapet
6. Hopper
7. Sash window
8. Downpipe
9. Shopfront
10. Gulley

Upper floors

If you can, regularly check for and clear leaves and debris from gutters and downpipes. If you have them, check valley or parapet gutter particularly if the building is perched on by pigeons.

Shopfront

Check that the heating system is working properly.

Top tip

To reduce the cost of getting gutters cleared at high level try banding together with neighbours to use a single contractor to save money.

Upper floors

If you have them, clear valley or parapet gutters to prevent water rising above the leadwork and causing damp internally. Take extra care if it is wet or icy under foot. 

Make sure that any fire safety equipment has been serviced. Drains should be rodded out if they overflow during wet weather. Remove silt and debris to ensure water discharges freely.

WELL DONE!

You’ve kept your building well maintained for another year.

Algarra, B, Jerome, L, Ullah, A A, Iqbal, J & Shahid, A et al (2006) ‘Teachers notes: 3 generations of Bengalis in Britain’, London, Nirmul Committee

Ahmed, Faruque (2016) Shaptahik Janomot: Muktijudder Ononno Dalil in Bengali, Dhaka, Ittadi Grantho Prokash Ahmed, Faruque (2016) Shaptahik Janomot: Muktijudder Ononno Dalil in Bengali, Dhaka, Ittadi Grantho Prokash

Ahmed, Faruque (2010) Bengal Politics in Britain: Logic, Dynamics and Disharmony, North Carolina, Lulu Publications

Ahmed, Faruque (2020) Bengali Settlement in Britain, Dhaka, The University Press Limited

1. Bangladesh High Commission, London 
2. Bangladesh government
3. Banglapedia - the National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (2015) Asiatic Society of Bangladesh accessed on 19 February 2021 

Bangladesher Swadhinatar Rajat Jayanti Udjapon Committee (1997) Bangladesher Swadhinatar Rajat Jayanti Swarakgranta, London, The Committee to Celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Bangladesh Independence

Bass, Garry (2013) THE BLOOD TELEGRAM: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide A riveting history - the first full account--of the involvement of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 1971 atrocities in Bangladesh that led to war between India and Pakistan 

Caroline Adams went to Calcutta, India, where she became a volunteer in the Cathedral Relief Service, and got involved with the care of refugees during the Bangladesh War in 1971 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/23/guardianobituaries1

Chowdhury, Yousuf (1998) Akattore Bilet Probashi in Bengali, Dhaka, Ishan Prokashani

Chowdhury, Abu Sayeed (2012) Probashe Muktijudder Dinguli in Bengali, Dhaka, The University Press Ltd

Eade, J., Ullah A. A., Iqbal, J. and Hey, M. (2006) First chapter of Tales of Three Generations of Bengalis in Britain, London, Nirmul Committee.

Matin, Abdul (1989) Swadhinata Sangrame Prabashi Bangali, London, Radical Asia Publications

Mannan, Sheikh Abdul (1998), Muktijudde Juktorajyer Bangalir Obodan, Dhaka, Jotsna Publisher

Mookherjee, Nayanika (2015) Spectral Wound: Sexual Violence, Public Memories, and the Bangladesh War of 1971 Investigation of the lives of violated women of the 1971 war

Moiz Abdul Majid (2020) Ecologies of Emancipation: The Mukti Bahini, Rivers and the Unravelling of Pakistan.

Rauf, Mahmoud A (2016) Tritio Bangali Muktijuddo in Bengali, Dhaka, Bud Publications

Rahman, Ferdous (2009) Probashe Mahila Muktijoddha in Bengali, Dhaka, Shapla Prakashani

Swadhinata Trust link to interviews of 1971 Bengali activists in the UK   and link to Bangladesh history

Tower Hamlets MP Peter Shore and the Warden of Toynbee Hall Donald Chesworth supported Bangladesh’s struggle for independence. Bangladesh Government formally recognised their contribution by honouring them in 2012.

Toki, R, Jahanshahi, R, Khanom, H & Rahman, A (2012) The Legacy of Women’s Contribution in 1971, London, Central London Youth Development Trust.

7 March Foundation https://www.7thmarch.com/

Links to some films/footage

Language movement

1. On 21 March 1948, Pakistan’s Governor Md Ali Jinnah addressed a public rally at the Ramna Racecourse Maidan (currently Suhrawardy Uddyan) where he declared that Pakistan's state language is going to be Urdu and no other language. 
   
   
2. Language movement by DFP
   Part 1 and Part 2 
   (© Courtesy to DFP, received through the Press Wing of Bangladesh High Commission, London) https://youtu.be/SznsX6ZA_zw (sourced from Public Diplomacy Wing of Ministry of Foreign Affairs received through the Press Wing of Bangladesh High Commission, London)
   
   
3. Concert for Bangladesh – first-ever world aid concert organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian Bengali sitar player Ravi Shankar. The concert was held on 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide. The concerts were followed by a bestselling live album, which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972.

7 March speech

1. 7 March 1971 speech by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
   
   
2. A song based on the historic 7 March speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Singer Carlyle Laurent, Lyric Abu Maruf, Concept Kamal Ahmed, Record Label: Imparting Ideas, Released 2021)
   
   
3. The 7 March Foundation and SOAS South Asia Institute, University of London jointly inaugurated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Annual Lecture in 2018. The talk was delivered by Professor James Manor titled ‘Understanding Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’

Genocide

• NBC footage of Dhaka University killings 
  
  
• Stop Genocide (1971) - Shot and released during the 1971 war, Zahir Raihan’s 20-minute documentary features newsreel footage and photographs that draw parallels between the Pakistani army’s atrocities in Bangladesh, Nazi violence in the Third Reich, and the bombing of Vietnam by American forces.

War

1. (Nine Months to Freedom - This film shows the impact of the war of nine months. Director S. Sukhdev)
   
   
2. Matir Moina – The Clay Bird (2002) Tareque Masud’s autobiographical debut is a poignant look at a rural Muslim family grappling with both religious fundamentalism and the nationalist movement. The film is set a few years before the Liberation War. In one scene, the independent-minded Ayesha Bibi observes, “Earlier there was a heaven-and-hell difference between home and what was outside of it, now it feels the same”
3. Moushumi Bhowmik’s Jessore song and Jessore Road highlighting the plight of refugees. 
     
4. Muktir Gaan film documents a cultural troupe inspiring Bengali resistance fighter across the region in 1971. Interview and audio recording from Swadhinata Trust Music project of Mahmudur Rahman Benu who features in Muktir Gaan.
   
   
5. The second film, Muktir Kotha, looks at the wartime experiences, including the role of women in the war.
   
   
6. Guerrilla (2011) Bengali star Jaya Ahsan plays a freedom fighter taking on Pakistani forces while also searching for her missing journalist husband. The highlights include Ahmed Rubel playing Altaf Mahmud, the Bangladeshi freedom fighter and songwriter who popularised the revolutionary song Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano.
   
   
7. Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s release on 8 January 1972 from Pakistan, he addresses a press conference in London.