0:00:02 > 0:00:06This year marks the 40th anniversary of the arrival
0:00:06 > 0:00:09of nearly 30,000 Ugandan Asians on these shores,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12expelled from their homes and livelihoods
0:00:12 > 0:00:14by the dictator Idi Amin.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The responsibility of Asians in Uganda,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21it is the responsibility of Great Britain.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Cars were abandoned, people's houses were abandoned.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28You scare, you frighten.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33Almost overnight, an entire community became outcasts.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Whole families arrived here
0:00:35 > 0:00:39with little more than the clothes on their backs.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42There were millionaires in that part of the world
0:00:42 > 0:00:45and suddenly they became beggars.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48There were Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and other faith groups,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51but the vast majority were Hindus.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56The Ugandan Asians in the UK today seem some of the most successful,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58some of the most settled communities.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01They're absolutely integral to British life today,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and yet it's easy to forget that they've been through these trials.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09How did the Ugandan Asians manage this remarkable turnaround
0:01:09 > 0:01:11and what lessons can we learn from their success
0:01:11 > 0:01:14in the face of overwhelming adversity?
0:01:14 > 0:01:16It gives me nightmares even today. Even today, I wake up
0:01:16 > 0:01:21in the middle of night and say, "What? What am I doing here?"
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Chandrika Joshi is preparing to celebrate
0:01:35 > 0:01:38the Hindu festival of Dussehra.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43There's significance to light all throughout Hinduism.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48It's always the same philosophy which is from darkness to light.
0:01:48 > 0:01:54For Dussehra, as well, light is important from that perspective.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Dussehra is derived from the Sanskrit Dasha-hara
0:01:57 > 0:02:00meaning "remover of bad fate."
0:02:00 > 0:02:03This year, the festival coincides with the 40th anniversary
0:02:03 > 0:02:06of the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The tales that you see told in Dussehra
0:02:09 > 0:02:12about trials, about exile, about perseverance,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14all of these things are things
0:02:14 > 0:02:18that actually the Ugandan Asian community themself has experienced
0:02:18 > 0:02:21so I think when those tales are told at Dussehra,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23that's really their own story that's being told.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29People would like lots of candles any time they're gathering as a group.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Because all the dancing takes place in the evening,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34the candles are lit because it's dark.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Chandrika works with special needs children
0:02:39 > 0:02:43but she's also a priest, following in the footsteps of her father
0:02:43 > 0:02:47who was a priest in Uganda, where she grew up.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Uganda was known as the Pearl of Africa,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00a beautiful, fertile land where the sun always shines
0:03:00 > 0:03:06and life was very comfortable for most of the Asian population.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Until...
0:03:08 > 0:03:15Last Friday, I announced the decision of my government...
0:03:15 > 0:03:20On 4th August, 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin,
0:03:20 > 0:03:25ordered the expulsion of his country's Asian minority,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28giving them just 90 days to leave the country.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32They have been milking the economy of the country.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38Amin's policy of Africanisation played on the growing resentment
0:03:38 > 0:03:40amongst black Ugandans that the Asians,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43although only 1% of the population,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46controlled 90% of the wealth of the country.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50He declared that since Uganda was formerly under British rule,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54the Asians were the responsibility of the British government.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56In the days and weeks that followed,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00the British passport office in Kampala was besieged
0:04:00 > 0:04:02by anxious families from all over Uganda.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07- Do you feel threatened?- I do.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09Just in 90 days, you cannot do anything.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Mother's passport, father's passport,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and your British nationality document.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And as the deadline loomed,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23a climate of fear and intimidation descended on the Asian community.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Gordon Vaja and his wife Jaya feared for their young family.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Gordon ran a small garage and repair shop.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41I was working in my garage, it was round about 10 o'clock.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Two army people came in, he says, "This is your garage?"
0:04:45 > 0:04:46I said, "Yes, it's my garage."
0:04:46 > 0:04:52He says, "Go home. Do you love your family? Just get out."
0:04:52 > 0:04:56That makes me really, really frightened.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58They could do anything, you know.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The packing was done at night. Most people didn't sleep
0:05:04 > 0:05:08and left all the food still in the containers in the house
0:05:08 > 0:05:10and locked the door behind and just walked out.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16You can't imagine, you know, there was no bird flying, you can see.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Cars were abandoned, people's houses were abandoned.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25You're frightened, you're frightened,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28you're scared to live in your own house, I'm telling you that.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Photo-journalist Maz Mashru also found himself a marked man.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41My name had sort of cropped up about three or four times.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45They brought the guns and put a gun on to my chest.
0:05:45 > 0:05:52On the final time, my informant came to me and said to me
0:05:52 > 0:05:55that if I did not flee the country, they were coming after my life.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02I grabbed my equipment and I travelled on my press card
0:06:02 > 0:06:05all the way to the city.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I was coming from Soroti to Kampala.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13There were 19 road blocks which had been manned by the army people
0:06:13 > 0:06:16that would stop every car,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18they will search into every car
0:06:18 > 0:06:23and then they would decide what things belong to them
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and what things I can take.
0:06:29 > 0:06:35The people say take everything if you like, but don't hurt us,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37especially children.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41If they see a young girl, a 14, 15-year-old,
0:06:41 > 0:06:48and they say, "Oi, leave her here for us, don't take her."
0:06:48 > 0:06:53They are swearing and they are talking like that, I remember.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56So many people was crying, as well.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Desolate and destitute,
0:07:00 > 0:07:05some 30,000 exiles left Entebbe Airport for these shores.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07But this wasn't the end of their story.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Awaiting them was a country, and a government,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13that was neither ready nor willing to welcome them.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Just four years earlier, Conservative MP Enoch Powell
0:07:21 > 0:07:25had made his infamous Rivers of Blood speech
0:07:25 > 0:07:27in which he railed against the rising peril
0:07:27 > 0:07:30of immigrants coming to Britain.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34As the Ugandan crisis surfaced in 1972,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39immigration and Enoch Powell headed straight back
0:07:39 > 0:07:42to the top of the political agenda.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45The Ted Heath Government knew from the start that the Powellite attack
0:07:45 > 0:07:49would be reignited. However, there was clearly an obligation
0:07:49 > 0:07:54on the British to allow Asians from Uganda to settle in Britain,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57because otherwise they'd be rendered stateless
0:07:57 > 0:08:00so it was a kind of a perfect storm for the Conservative Government.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03If masses of human beings are being driven into exile,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07in any of the four continents,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10then let the other countries of the world
0:08:10 > 0:08:15take action to afford refuge to the exiles.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22With Powell once again grabbing the headlines,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24the Government shunned him in public
0:08:24 > 0:08:28whilst in private, Prime Minister Edward Heath made calls
0:08:28 > 0:08:32to other world leaders asking them to accept the immigrants.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Although many of them may be United Kingdom passport holders,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39lots of them may prefer, even if they have to leave Uganda,
0:08:39 > 0:08:40not to come here.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46The Government's first instinct was to minimise the problem.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49It wanted to be able to present to the public
0:08:49 > 0:08:52a picture of a burden that was being shared,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57and this is the problem, I think, looking back on this issue,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59that it was always presented as a burden or a problem
0:08:59 > 0:09:01rather than an opportunity.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04But the Government had run out of time.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09The first trickle of refugees began to arrive at Stansted Airport.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Maz Mashru captured the new arrivals emerging bewildered but relieved
0:09:17 > 0:09:20into the cold, grey, British weather.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22When we came to Stansted airport,
0:09:22 > 0:09:27I convinced one of the attendants that if I could go down
0:09:27 > 0:09:29and take a couple of records... By that time,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I had already loaded my camera with a film
0:09:32 > 0:09:36and I could capture about seven or eight photographs.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41As more and more plane loads of refugees
0:09:41 > 0:09:43began to touch down at Stansted and Heathrow,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47the Government scrambled into action.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50The Uganda Resettlement Board
0:09:50 > 0:09:53has taken over an office block at the airport to receive the Asians.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57The Resettlement Board was set up to provide emergency housing,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02healthcare, food and drink, before planning for 30,000 futures.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Asians will live and sleep in rapidly converted barrack blocks.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09There were no houses available. For the past fortnight,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13work on cleaning, tidying and adapting the huts
0:10:13 > 0:10:14has been in full swing.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Doing it with the volunteers as we have done
0:10:17 > 0:10:19has brought out the very best in British character.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24The kitchens, too, have been made ready to cope with the Asian diet.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30When we landed, I do remember my father crying.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Never seen my father cry before. He had tears in his eyes.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Then my mother started crying and then people who knew my father said,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40"Our priest is crying" and then they started crying.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45And it was tears of relief that, you know, we are going to be safe, we made it.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The newly-arrived immigrants,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51who had lost everything, started to believe that they could start again.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55For many, their faith was the key.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58I think that sense that you can't really overcome darkness
0:10:58 > 0:11:01until your faith, your beliefs, come into the picture
0:11:01 > 0:11:06is absolutely core to many of these communities who went through
0:11:06 > 0:11:09this experience and still have a strong faith themselves today.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Faith. Faith is a big part of it.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17From believing that what's happening to you is right for you.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19That sometimes you don't have to fight things,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21you have to go along with the flow,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24even if it doesn't look appealing to you,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27because maybe there is something better waiting for you
0:11:27 > 0:11:28at the other end.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Chandrika's family were sent to a former RAF camp in North Wales
0:11:40 > 0:11:45called Tonfanau which became home to 3,000 refugees.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It was here that they celebrated Dussehra.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Yeah, we had our Dussehra celebration there.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58With resettlement camps and in Uganda, actually,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02the different religions and cultures mixed really well.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03We had our first Dussehra in the camp.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Everyone sort of got together and said,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09"We have to do something here."
0:12:09 > 0:12:11It was a little hall.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14No-one had musical instruments or anything like that
0:12:14 > 0:12:16but we all got together.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21The different stories told at Dussehra are very moral tales,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and yet they teach virtues that in some ways are ones
0:12:24 > 0:12:26that are too often forgotten
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and absolutely essential to succeeding in life.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Virtues like humility, virtues like endurance,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36virtues like loyalty and fair play and that you have a hidden strength.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40All of these things are exactly what the Ugandan Asian community
0:12:40 > 0:12:44had to draw upon to survive in the new world,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47to overcome the trials that they experienced
0:12:47 > 0:12:51and to renew themselves in a new country.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57The Vaja family were also sent to Tonfanau.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Gordon and Jaya are returning to the camp for the first time
0:13:00 > 0:13:04since they left nearly 40 years ago.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09All the memories coming back.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12The weather was completely different in Africa.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14We hadn't seen the cold like this.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22I remember the 7th of October from Entebbe
0:13:22 > 0:13:28and the 9th of October we came in the camp.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37The Dussehra virtues of endurance and humility
0:13:37 > 0:13:40still permeate the memories of their time here.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51What the people there have done for us...
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Well, we will see whether we can arrange this for you.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59..because if you have not eaten for two to three days,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and someone gives you food, how do you feel that?
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Where can you get this sort of treatment, this sort of hospitality?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Gordon and Jaya remember a sprawling village
0:14:12 > 0:14:17of buildings bristling with activity, but now only a few remain.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19All gone.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23What can you expect after four decades?
0:14:26 > 0:14:30This road used to take us to the quarters where we used to live.
0:14:30 > 0:14:36Just somewhere there. I don't remember exactly.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Mr Gordon Vaja and his family have been sitting it out
0:14:40 > 0:14:43in their hut for ten weeks now.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44News cameras at the time
0:14:44 > 0:14:48recorded the Vaja family in their temporary home.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52This big lorry came, bringing Indian spices,
0:14:52 > 0:14:57and we make a potato curry, and the chapati, you know,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I told you we are rolling with a bottle.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Yes, I remember it, because in the canteen the food was really nice,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06but we're not used to this food.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12This building was the camp's job centre,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15where Gordon came to be interviewed.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21I do remember this place. Implement office here.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22Very quiet.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26There was a vacancy in Rhondda Valleys,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28you know, for the mechanic.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31They said, "If you are a good mechanic, you can get a job,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33"so we can house you there."
0:15:33 > 0:15:36We fix you up with an interview if you're available next Thursday
0:15:36 > 0:15:37in the Rhondda.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Gordon and his family moved to the Rhondda Valley
0:15:40 > 0:15:43to begin their new life.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46They have no regrets about their enforced exile,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50only gratitude for the people who helped them when they were in need.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53There was time was different,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55the place was different,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59and there were so many people here.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02- Look at now.- Yes.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05As soon as they came here in this camp, you know,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08they said that these people, they are homeless,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13so do everything possible for them.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- Where can you get this sort of hospitality?- Nowhere.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21If you are ungrateful, I must say there is something wrong with you.
0:16:24 > 0:16:31After their flight from Uganda, Hari and Ansuyaben Lakhani
0:16:31 > 0:16:33found themselves on a train to Yorkshire.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37We didn't know where we are going.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41At the time we reached here, it was so dark and cold, you know.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44A lot of snow at that time,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49I used to cry everyday because I left a good life in Uganda.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52But after the initial distress,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56the Lakhanis determined to face the trials before them
0:16:56 > 0:16:58with courage and perseverance.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02You know, we always think whatever is happening is happening for good,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06so we just settle down. We just think, yeah, we have got problems.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08We left everything there.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12It is difficult but there must be something good coming out of it,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15and that's why we just came.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Hari and Ansuyaben are retracing those first anxious steps
0:17:18 > 0:17:20into the unknown.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Beginning with their first house at Byrl Street, Keighley.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26We used to hang our clothes here.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Tie a string and then a stick to hold it up.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35The next door neighbour, he just asked me, "Have you just moved in?"
0:17:35 > 0:17:37I said, "Yes." He said, "Listen, one thing.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42"Don't stay in the house on your own otherwise you'll get mad.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44"You have to come out and talk to people."
0:17:44 > 0:17:47The Lakhanis had been given their accommodation
0:17:47 > 0:17:53and a job in the local factory by local businessman, Peter Black.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Peter had come to England in the '30s
0:17:55 > 0:17:57as a Jewish refugee from Germany.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01He identified with the plight of the Ugandan Asians
0:18:01 > 0:18:04and wanted to offer them the opportunity he had been given.
0:18:04 > 0:18:10Today, the Lakhanis are reunited with Peter's son, Thomas Black.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13They adapted and they adopted and they worked hard.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18They had a colossal spirit and they were popular from day one.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21I think people identified with them and wanted them to do well.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Hari and Ansuyaben have never forgotten the generosity
0:18:24 > 0:18:30and kindness shown to them by their benefactor and his family.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Their faith teaches them to extend this gift to others.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36There are millions of people who are worse off than us,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39so if God has given us something, it's our moral duty
0:18:39 > 0:18:41to give some of it back to the people who really need more than us,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43because somebody has helped us,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47so it's our moral duty to help some people. We try our best.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Tonfanau, Ugandan Asian Refugee Camp, North Wales.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04As the winter of 1972 closed in around Tonfanau,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Chandrika and her family faced further trials.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Her mother was hospitalised with rheumatic fever.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Her younger brother, traumatised by all that had happened,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18became increasingly disruptive. And her father,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22seen here in the archive at the camp, was struggling to cope.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26My father was really nervous that the camp was closing
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and we'd heard that only a few families were left,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32we were going to be moved to another resettlement camp.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35And my father thought, that's too much. And he said,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38"It doesn't matter the size of the house or anything.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42"Just a house will do anywhere." And they said, "Penrhys?
0:19:42 > 0:19:46"Penrhys? Yeah, sounds good. Off we go."
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Penrhys was a new council estate
0:19:49 > 0:19:52perched on the top of a hill in the Rhondda.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Chandrika and her brother Athul are driving back there
0:19:56 > 0:19:58for the first time in nearly 30 years.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00You know, when I look at this, I can't believe that
0:20:00 > 0:20:02on Sundays I used to walk to school.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- That's where we would have been. - Yeah, yeah.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11Gosh...
0:20:11 > 0:20:15A little council house with two rooms and a little box room
0:20:15 > 0:20:19and ten of us, I think, ten of us, yeah.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I think our house was further away.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28We were really excited to find out what the town was like.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32When we first came here, it didn't feel like a holiday, did it?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35It was just too quiet. There was nothing to do.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39But then when you settle, it dawns on you that people
0:20:39 > 0:20:41were not so well off.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45It's still a deprived community, isn't it?
0:20:45 > 0:20:49To me, coming to this country was very much going to be
0:20:49 > 0:20:55like Enid Blyton stories, you know. Most of the kids are middle-class, having fun and adventure.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I felt like it was going to be a bit like that,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02so you really didn't have that concept that actually,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Britain will have people who are poor.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10In the 1970s version of austerity Britain,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13there was little room for Enid Blyton.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18The Rhondda Valley was no stranger to poverty and unemployment,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22but Chandrika and her family were made to feel very welcome.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25In Penrhys, neighbours were very friendly.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27My mother went in and out of neighbours' houses
0:21:27 > 0:21:30and they did try to take care of my mum, especially.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32They were really fantastic,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35absolutely went out of their way to make us feel at home.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43But, elsewhere, settling into a new life was more complicated.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Tensions were beginning to mount in those areas
0:21:46 > 0:21:50that already had a significant immigrant population.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Leicester population 270,000,
0:21:56 > 0:22:01coloured immigrant population around 30,000.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04They're coming from another country, we're paying so much a week,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08national health and stuff and they get it straight away for nothing.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11There's blokes of ours struggling to find work.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13It's about time the government took over its responsibilities
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and send these people back to their country of origin.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Leicester became the focal point for the growing unrest
0:22:19 > 0:22:22when it took out an advert in the Ugandan press
0:22:22 > 0:22:25telling potential refugees that they were not wanted.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29In spite of the warnings, many exiles made their way to Leicester
0:22:29 > 0:22:33because they already had family there.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40Mala Lakhani was one of many Ugandan-Asians who had relatives in Leicester.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44It's familiarity, isn't it? We were away from our own surroundings,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46in a totally unknown new country.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51We needed some sort of familiarity to get on with our lives.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55The influx of the Ugandan-Asians prompted a political move
0:22:55 > 0:23:00to the right with the National Front membership tripling over the next two years.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Mala recalls their intimidating presence in Leicester.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07A lovely lady at college explained to us.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11She said, "Look, there are all kinds of people in this world and you will get this".
0:23:11 > 0:23:14She said, "Don't let this upset you every time you see a National Front leaflet,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17"don't get worked up, don't start crying,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20"because you are going to have to deal with things like that."
0:23:20 > 0:23:22She made us understand there were a section of people who were scared.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29This climate of fear and discrimination
0:23:29 > 0:23:33also affected Maz Mashru who was working in a camera shop in Leicester.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36My manager calls me in his office.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40He says, "Mr Mashru, there is a vacancy for an assistant manager
0:23:40 > 0:23:46"and unfortunately, I will not be able to offer you that position
0:23:46 > 0:23:48"because of the colour of your skin".
0:23:48 > 0:23:52First of all, for a day, I felt it's a kind of racism.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But then I looked at it in the long term.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00To me it was an awakeness of my own self
0:24:00 > 0:24:03that if I don't start my own business,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07the day will come that I will be facing the glass ceilings.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Maz saw this discrimination as one more obstacle he needed to overcome.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17He opened his own studio.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Happy? Beautiful.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26He's now an internationally renowned photographer.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32The communities who are celebrating Dussehra, they all acknowledge
0:24:32 > 0:24:35that there are great trials and tribulations in life
0:24:35 > 0:24:38but teach people to see them as tests.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Many Ugandan-Asians have taken it as a chance
0:24:42 > 0:24:46to strengthen their own courage their faith to their community,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49their perseverance, and pick themselves up
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and succeed to an even greater degree in their new life.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Just across the road from Maz's studio in Leicester
0:24:58 > 0:25:01is another Ugandan-Asian success story.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Bobby's restaurant, the brainchild of Mala's father.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07We were struggling, literally, day-to-day.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11He wasn't skilled in anything, particular, like, he wasn't an accountant or a doctor or anything,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and one day came home and he said, "We're going to open the restaurant"
0:25:14 > 0:25:16and we all literally laughed at him, I think.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20It was like, "Yeah, sure". My mum was just flabbergasted.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25She said, "Are you going to open a restaurant?" He said, "Yes, there is no restaurant on Belgrave Road".
0:25:27 > 0:25:32In the 1970s, the Belgrave Road area of Leicester was poor and run down.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Today, thanks to the immigrant communities,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40it is the city's great success story,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42with Bobby's restaurant at its heart.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46My mother was the main cook behind all the recipes and everything,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49it was all her recipes that started this restaurant up.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52This is her and my dad's legacy, really, to the family.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Leicester is predicted to be the first city in Britain
0:25:58 > 0:26:00to have a majority non-white population.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Its first elected mayor is in no doubt that the Ugandan-Asians
0:26:04 > 0:26:08have had a positive effect on the life of the city.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Every aspect of our city's life has been enriched
0:26:11 > 0:26:14by happened in '72 and what's happened since.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17They have changed the social life of the city,
0:26:17 > 0:26:23they've enriched the spiritual life of the city. They've transformed the city's political life,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27because so many of them have become involved in civic matters
0:26:27 > 0:26:31and, I think, that Leicester is a far better city now
0:26:31 > 0:26:34than it ever could have dreamt of being in the early 1970s.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40The story of the Ugandan-Asians is a story of triumph
0:26:40 > 0:26:42in the face of adversity.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47The themes of exile, testing, persecution and victory through perseverance
0:26:47 > 0:26:50are the themes of the Hindu festival of Dussehra.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55It will be a particularly poignant celebration this year.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Dussehra signifies a triumph of good over evil
0:27:00 > 0:27:05and I suppose, you could say, the same applies to us over 40 years.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08A lot of good has come out of the evil of Amin.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Religions that celebrate Dussehra share this notion of Dharma.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Dharma is the idea that what you face, what you experience
0:27:18 > 0:27:21is what is coming to you, it's your fate.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23And the idea is to meet that fate with courage
0:27:23 > 0:27:27and turn your fate to the best to use it as a way to excel
0:27:27 > 0:27:29and move forward in life.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33I think, this is exactly what the Ugandan-Asian community
0:27:33 > 0:27:35have sought to do with what they've undergone.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38At the end of the day, you know, the good things will prevail,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40bad things will go.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43You should have faith, obviously.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48I think we try to forget our wounds,
0:27:48 > 0:27:53because, like, if people just talk of their miseries of their life,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56they will remain within that negativity.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I would say that for us, coming from Uganda,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04and relating to Dussehra would be...
0:28:04 > 0:28:08If I look at it now, on top of my head, I would say,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10"It is coming back from exile".
0:28:10 > 0:28:13We're actually coming home,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15because, you know, we were British citizens.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19You want to be good to everybody,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22so everybody's good to you. That's it.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26That's my basic philosophy
0:28:26 > 0:28:32and, yes, I'm very proud again, I say, that I am a British Asian.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd