It sounds funny when i say it now, but. Every now and then on a Game Show Youd have, like, a brown person come on. And that was a moment for my family. We were like, come, come, come, theres like some indian guy on here, you know. All i remember now is he was just brown. That was good enough for us, right . Ifeel like being bengali and bangladeshi, its almost seen as at the bottom. Were like a minority within a minority. Being a bangladeshi woman, that stopped me achieving certain things. We as a community forget the power we have. In the year when bangladesh turns 50 years old, im going to show you what it means to be British Bangladeshi in 2021. Look here with Ali Official. Lets go and how the young generation of British Bangladeshis are changing things up. Yeah, moments like that make me feel, like, ok, ali, maybe youre doing something right. Maybe youre doing something right. Typically, when people think of British Bangladeshis, they may think of, like, East London or Tower Hamlets or that Brick Lane street. Not for me. You know, i grew up in an area in the county of devon. One of the whitest parts of england. Look, i live right outside of this river, ive got views. Theres a super pool. They trying to, like, push into me. Oi, no to a lot of my white friends, i was actually the only brown person they had ever met in their entire life, right . It got so bad that once my cousin came to visit me in town, but my friends got me and my cousin mixed up. Me and my cousin look nothing like each other. Number one, my cousin is shorter than me. Numbertwo, i have a beard, and my cousin doesnt. And number three, my name is ali, and shes called fatima. I remember this one kid, we used to go forjogs in the park, and we werejogging, we were jogging, jogging, jogging and, i kid you not, this is absolute truth, he said, when i first met you, i thought you were a terrorist. Wait, what . he said, i dont know, man, like, youre the only asian dude i know. The only other asians ive seen have been on the news. And theyre terrorists. If i hadnt met you. I wouldnt have known, like. You were just a normal kid. Like, your familys just normal. From a very early age, i had to almost be an ambassador for this entire demographic without even realising it. Tv workers in Dakar Shout for official independence i for east pakistan. 50 years ago this year, back in 1971, bangladesh became a new country. Tv many of these people have spent most of the past nine months running away from somebody who wanted to kill them. It was a painful road to independence. Tv the new flag of bangladesh, a state of bengal. Ive never seen this footage. Bangladesh my dad migrated from bangladesh to england in the 1970s. To a land in which he did not know the language of, he didnt know anyone there. He came in the hope and in the pursuit of a better life. Tv theres an estimated 50,000 bangladeshis in london, many of them living in Brick Lane. Im not going to lie, a lot of those haircuts still exist amongst bengali uncles. The immigrant dream, i think, for a lot of people is to have your own business. So, my dad, he was a chef. He was an incredible chef, still is. My dad saved, saved, saved, saved. There was a restaurant in devon that someone was selling, and my dad was like, this could be my opportunity to have my own business. You know, that was the only indian restaurant in my little town. And, of course, White People love curry. So, you know, my dad made a really good decision. Wed make one annual trip to london from devon, and you felt a real sense of culture in Brick Lane. As a family, wed come here and fill our boots up with Meat And Chicken and halal groceries. And obviously wed go into one of these indian restaurants, have a meal then go back home. And that was like a great day out. Over 80 of indian restaurants in the uk are run by bangladeshis. Many of them here on Brick Lane. Abdul arrived in Brick Lane in the 1970s and grew up around here. Hes owned this restaurant since 2012. So, this is city spice. Were known as the king of Brick Lane. And his son niaz, whos 20, helps him run it. 2012, what was Brick Lane like back then . It was amazing. It was like a Market Day every day of the week. Hundreds and hundreds of people walking around, drinking, eating. Every single shop on this road was a restaurant. More than 60 odd restaurants, and every single one was packed. Back in the � 70s, when i started off, it was all have a couple of pints, go out the pub and have a vindaloo. The � 70s and � 80s, you grew up in East London. Report Brick Lane, in the heart of londons east end. The bengalis, the latest. In a long line of immigrant communities to settle here, found themselves the victims of intimidation, | harassment and hatred. What were those experiences like . I was well prepared. I mean, i was Rough And Ready, youve got to be Rough And Ready to be brought up. My generation has no idea what that was like. We used to get picked on for the way we dressed, the way we smell, you know, the colour we looked. The bengalis who organised the weekends Sit Down in Brick Lane, the usual Sunday Haunt of national front supporters. We fought back, we used to get called names, we called them back. If we just sat down and took it, if we dont retaliate, then theyll make a habit of it. We used to live on the bottom of the street. And our neighbour. My mum used to cook food, and he used to complain we smelled of onions. But we left the area. He would eat curry every day, hed come and knock on my mums door. We couldnt get a job anywhere, them days, you know, so we created our own industry. We created our own product that we could sell to make a living out of it. Thats how i see it. Today, were at altab Ali Park, which is a park in memory of altab ali, who was a bangladeshi man murdered by three racist individuals back in 1978. The British Bangladeshi community ended up protesting in thousands. Its through the sacrifices and perseverance of the older generation that we can. Not live perfect lives, but live a much More comfortable life. Altab Ali Park is in the East London constituency of bethnal green and bow, an area represented by mp rushanara ali. She was the first ever British Bangladeshi mp elected to the uk parliament. When political leaders amplify tensions, when they fail to show Courage And Leadership and stand up in the face of division and hatred, then we send the wrong message. You made history when you became the first British Bangladeshi mp. How did yourfamily Take That decision . They were quite nervous, if im honest, because nobody had done it before. They could see that it was not going to be an easyjourney. And they were right, of course. When i won the election, what was really obvious was that it had a huge significance to the British Bangladeshi community, particularly my mum and dads generation. They often would say, now we feel like we belong because we have somebody whos, you know, one of our daughters in the mother of parliaments, and they would talk like that. Week in, week out, my constituents have been mourning the loss of loved ones. British bangladeshis are twice as likely to die from covid 19 than the White British population. The covid 19 pandemic has hit our community really hard. So many of us have lost loved ones, have lost friends. It is partly down to health inequalities. We live in More overcrowded conditions here in areas like this. Weve got a higher prevalence of people who are in front line jobs. Weve got to learn from this. To the next Boy Or Girl who wants to get into politics, what words would you give them . I grew up having Impostor Syndrome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You often feel like you dont belong. What i would say to the younger generation watching this is charge ahead. Dont waste too much time having Self Doubt and beating yourself up. Its about seizing the life that you have. Thats all you can do. The next person i want to speak to has struggled with Impostor Syndrome and anxiety. But shes had huge success in bringing her mix of Britishness And Bangladeshiness to primetime tv. Assalaamu alaikum, nadiya. Wa alaikum salaam. How are you . In 2015, Nadiya Hussain won the sixth series of the great british bake off. Lam never, ever going to put boundaries on myself ever again. Im never going to say i cant do it. Im never going to say maybe. Im never going to say i dont think i can. I can, and i will. Since then, shes been named one of the most influential people in the uk, and shes certainly one of the countrys best known British Bangladeshis. That actually happened yeah. I met the queen its Nadiya Hussain. You are an example of what i think is someone who, incidentally, now happens to be bangladeshi. So, im a firm believer that as a bangladeshi and a british, ill take the good bits from this bit and ill take the good bits from that bit. I believe that we firmly, happily live in that grey area. Im proud to say that i mix up my britishness and My Bangladeshiness and put it all together in cookbooks that people actually really like. Its taken me a very long time to accept that middle place. You know, ive always felt im too haram to be halal, too halal to be haram, too white to be brown, Too Brown to be white. You know, all of these, like, contradictions. Im not going to lie for a second and tell you that there are times where ive wanted to bleach the brown out of me because life would have been so much easier if i wasnt brown, if i wasnt bangladeshi, if i could just be like everybody else. I come with all of those layers that i do represent, and i understand the importance of that now. If you and me were talking five years ago, i would have said, lets talk about baking. Now its far More important for me to talk about representation as much as it is about baking cakes. Even i, even on this platform, i forget sometimes that im actually quite good at what i do, and thats because we were raised to always be very humble. We were always raised to stay quiet, know your place, to be grateful. I remember my gran always saying, be grateful, youre in their country, be grateful. And to be honest, you know what, nan . I am grateful, but i can also be great. You know, i can also be great. Im excited today, looking forward to speaking to my peers. Ey oh. What up, My Gushti . Its your boy, smash bengali. Excuse me . Hello, Everybody Listening . I would just like to say, today. Hey. Guys hey. Hey, guys. Higher pitched hey, guys. Lower pitched hey, guys. Because of the pandemic, we couldnt all meet in person, and getting four comedians to join a Zoom Call at the same time is easier said than done. Yo, iksy, can you hear me, bro . Oh, yeah. Yeah. I see you. Oh, thats a very nice set up. Im in the car. Quick round, quick round. Describe Bengali Culture in one word. My dads lungi. That blue one with the stripes, innit . Hutki. You cannot forget this. I uploaded a Tiktok Video of my mum trying to make hutki. It is such a beautiful day. You know, sun is shining. Its warm. White people, black people, they probably would have a barbecue in this weather. What do bengali people do . We make hutki on a mattress in our garden. Whats the weirdest thing a Non Bengali has said to you about being bengali . You dont look bengali. That always annoys me so much. I so hate that. Get it all the time. Whats the weirdest bengali Superstition Youve ever heard . When you step over someone, you stunt their growth. You know, people always say that to me. People say that happened to me because, like, im five foot seven. Im five 11, so no one stepped over me, innit . Man sings in bengali. Im out here today on Ladypool Road. One thing, if you know Ladypool Road well, there is always someone parked on the double yellow everywhere. Just. Just double yellow, double yellow, double. And, yeah, no one gives a crap. So, if youre known i as a bengali creator, youre not really taken that seriously, if that makes sense. 100 . Youre almost underestimated in comparison to, like, an indian creator or a pakistani creator. Ifeel like being bengali and bangladeshi is almost seen as at the bottom. And then youve got, like, all the other South Asian races at the top. So, it kind of mentally messes you up. You know, theres a lot of racial tension amongst us asians, right . Like between indians, between pakistanis, between bengalis. Let me tell you something right now White People dont know the difference between any of us. Laughter and applause. You know, British Bangladeshis, were like a minority within a minority. Oh, yeah. Youre bengali, you know . Well make a joke about you guys. Yeah, all you do is eat fish, right . Oh, youre bengali, right . You know . You lot are all short, right . Youd have to ask a pakistani oran indian, like, yo, why are you guys picking on these bengalis, man . But you definitely feel it. You definitely feel it. Of course, no one wants to be just the butt of the joke. You dont love me no More. One person who has broken down lots of stereotypes in his career is mumzy stranger, One Of The Best known British Bangladeshi music artists. I dont know if youre aware, like, how proud we are to see one of our own up there. Ishq Da Rog Bura Tainu Lag jaave na. Its a strange feeling because, for me, ive always felt like im not going to be here, you know, its like. What do you mean by that . Because im a british born bangladeshi, you know, when i started music, it wasnt like. It wasnt normal. Im like the alien in the family. Everyones normal, doing normal things. And for me, it was like, how do i turn up the music really loud in the house without getting in trouble . Your bodys like a drug to me, let me tell you now give me your hand and let me show you something magical, girl. A, theres our own community that might hold some sort ofjudgment, like, who is he . What is he doing . B, theres the other South Asian counterparts. Like, im not used to seeing a bengali guy doing this. And then theres the industry, theres the white man, theres the system. Theres so many hurdles. For me, there wasnt a bengali man who reached out and said to me, yo, get into the music industry. I was waiting for a bengali man to do it. Its just there wasnt one. So, rishi rich, hes The One who gave me a Helping Hand in 2005. What is he . Let me state, hes indian. And ill give credit where its due. Im aware that many musicians, they would hide the fact that theyre bengali, or they would just outright deny it. Why do you think certain people feel the need to do that . You know what . Thats one thing i couldnt understand. I felt alone, because there was others who were hiding it. But for me, i was like, no, man, i cant do this. Im going to tell people where im from. And forget that, i couldnt even hide where im from. Because then you could tell i was bangladeshi because i had a Side Parting from here to East London. Ali laughs. Man Ali Official hey, man, you good . Man shouts indistinct greeting. You all right, yeah . Im good, man. Whats your name, man . Wahid. What you doing here, my bro . Just filming something for the bbc. Let me take a picture. Whats up, my Skitz Family . Its your boy bengali skitz here, back again with another video. Look who im here with, Ali Official. Lets go my man, my man. Watch his stuff thank you, bro, i really appreciate it. Bro, you know, cos of you, i started doing tiktok. Bro, that makes me so happy to hear, honestly. Honestly, man. Aight, my bro. You take care of yourself. Shout out to bbc and everyone. Hey, you, man. You, man. Moments like that make me feel like, ok, ali, maybe youre doing something right. Maybe youre doing something right. Bengali parents operate differently. Their. Proudness isnt always shown verbally, you know . It might be like, ok, you know, have an extra piece of chicken. Exaggerated accent whos my favourite child . Theyre all useless im jokesing. No, no, no, i. I love both of my children equally, yes. What do you mean i have three children . What . Oh, yes. Yes, the middle one. I realised that no matter how old i get, all my mum wants to know is have i ate . And shes the only person thats going to do that. Say a bangladeshi is watching this right now, what strategy or gems have you figured over the last six years that you think can help someone . Not listen to your parents. No, i didnt say that, im so bad all Bengali Parents are going to hate me. Dont listen to your parents. Dont listen to them. Do you ever get them asking you when youre getting a real job . Yeah, all of that. What, you get that . No way. Yeah, course. No way yeah. You know, when i was 18, i got into university, really excited, first girl, first person in ourfamily to get into university. And my mum Point Blank said, absolutely no way are you going to university. And that for me, as an 18 year old, was really difficult to stomach. I remember being really upset at the time. But, you know, like, if i look back now and i, and i asked myself why my mum didnt let me go to university and why my dad never. Like, wasnt The One to say, go on, just go, ill sort your mum out, itll be fine, was because they were scared. Youre always tweaking your relationship between. The generation youre in and the generation that got you here. I think that my dads generation, they did whatever they had to to get by. Theyjust wanted to survive. I dont just want to survive. I want to live. Back in devon, when i was younger, i used to help my dad at his indian take out, and i made one of my early Youtube Videos about it. This is our storeroom. Thats the tandoori oven, got some Pilau Rice cooking up in there. Less and less young bengalis are getting into the Restaurant Trade now, and the number of Curry Houses on Brick Lane has decreased by over 60 in the past 15 years. Rising rents, Gentrification And Lack of staffing are just some of the reasons. But niaz is bucking that trend, and he wants to modernise the curry industry. At the age of 14, i knew that he has More ideas than i do. Things that he knows, i would never have dreamed of. Is there this perception that, oh, you know what, youre british born, youre young. Why are you getting into the Restaurant Trade . I get asked that all the time, because. How does that make you feel . I want to live my whole life doing what i want to do, what other people say is regardless. Thats one thing about being british, isnt it, not about being bangladeshi, you dont really care about what other people think. The Restaurant Industry will change. It wont be all ruby murrays Curry Houses, you know, pint of beers and everything. And you can see, for example, with customers asking for More inherently bengali dishes. We sell fish. Do you guys get certain woke customers asking for staff curry, which is like the stuff thats not on the menu. Yeah. Yeah, we get that, too. Back when i was in school, when i left school, we made the curries to the food industry, adapted to them. Yeah, to their tongues and. The masalas and. And now we. Theyre adapting to our food. Yeah do you get my point . 100 ~ and i think that is a masterful touch. They love it. We as a community forget the power we have. Our dads came to this country, and they didnt even speak the language. They gave birth to a completely different industry. Were smart people, were creative people. What does it mean to be a British Bangladeshi . For me, its supporting england in Football And Bangladesh in cricket. Its Speaking Bangla and english in the exact same sentence. Its eating Rice And Curry for mains and british chocolates for dessert. Its having a Shopping List that starts with Milk And Bread and ends with Bhang And Naga chillies. Its putting my playlist on shuffle, appreciating both asian and western music. Its having a nine to fivejob On Weekdays and helping the Family Business on weekends. Its going to a Bengali Wedding in the day and watching eastenders in the evening. Its seeing my mum in Salwar Kameez and a cardigan and my dad in a shirt and lungi. Its being called bangladeshi in britain, and british in bangladesh. Its about enjoying both worlds and not having to pick. And its not knowing what to say when a white person asks me where im from. Hello there. For most parts of the uk, Sunday Got August off to a relatively quiet Start Weather wise. I say most parts of the uk. For some, there were some vicious downpours and thunderstorms during the afternoon. And its a similar story into monday a relatively dry, but not completely dry start to the new week. Quite a cool start as well and then some wetter, windier weather is set to develop later in the week. High pressure trying to control things at the moment, but its quite a weak ridge of high pressure, not strong enough to fend off all the showers. Most places having a largely dry day on monday with some sunshine, but quite a lot of cloud clinging on across north east scotland, certainly across the northern isles. This area of cloud bringing rain to much of northern ireland, and then some showers breaking out across parts of england and wales as we head into the afternoon, some turning quite heavy and thundery for the South West of england, wales and the midlands. The winds very light, so get yourself into some sunshine and it wont feel too bad, despite these temperatures being quite disappointing for the time of year, 14 20 degrees. Some of those showers across england and wales will continue on through monday night, even into the early hours of tuesday. Most places will be dry with some clear spells, but you can see this area of rain approaching the far South West. Quite a fresh, cool start to Tuesday Morning as well, but that area of rain in the far South West looks set to dive away southwards towards parts of france, so that rain not making a lot of progress across our shores, just really into cornwall and the isles of scilly. We will see some rain across the channel islands, but most places on tuesday seeing some spells of sunshine and one or two showers popping up again into the afternoon. A few of those could be heavy, possibly thundery, and temperatures again up to 20, possibly 21 degrees. Now, into wednesday, i think we could see a few More showers breaking out at this stage, a line of showers likely to push in across north west scotland, some breaking out elsewhere through the afternoon and again some heavy, thundery ones, those temperatures around 20 or 21 degrees. As we head towards the end of the week, things are set to turn More unsettled. One area of low Pressure Rolling in for thursday, another one behind it and thats our Weather Maker for next weekend, so generally speaking as we head towards the end of the week it is going to turn More unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain and potentially some fairly brisk winds as well. This is bbc news. Im Sarah Mulkerrins Live In Tokyo on day 10 of the olympics. An athlete from belarus is under Police Protection in tokyo, after her team officials tried to put her on a Plane Home against her will. The against her will. First openly transgender athlete the first openly transgender athlete to compete in an olympics is due to make History Today when she competes in the womens weightlifting competition. Im Rich Preston in london. Also in the programme taliban fighters continue to advance in afghanistan attacking cities, and threatening to over run the capital of helmand province. Unarmed troops begin to patrol the streets of sydney as australia ramps up its covid lockdown