Bishan Dass

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
Born	Shaffipur, Jalandhar, India
Political party	Labour (2010-present)
Alma mater	Panjab 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 Ravidassia family of Village Shaffipur in the North Indian state of Punjab.[4] In 1963, he came to the UK. He was elected for the first time to the Metropolitan Borough Council of Wolverhampton in 1979.[5]

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.[6]

See also

• List of mayors of Wolverhampton

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): 478–487. 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. "Alderman Bishan Dass Bains – Global Ambedkarite Convention".
5. "Pride vs Prejudice: one man's fight against racism and inequality". wolverhamptonart.org.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
6. Pride Vs Prejudice. ASIN 0957523858.