Dr Dhani Prem

Move your pointing device over the image to zoom to detail. If using a mouse click on the image to toggle zoom.
When in zoom mode use + or - keys to adjust level of image zoom.

Date:1904 - 1975 (c.)

Description:Dr Prem was born in Aligarh, India, 60 km from Delhi, and graduated from the National Medical School in Bombay. He initially spent some time in Edinburgh, where he studied, before he came to London in 1938.

During the war Dr Prem became Birmingham's first Asian Labour councillor for Great Barr in 1946. He considered his medical practice and politics as being complementary to each other.

Dr Prem took up the immigrant cause during the 1964 elections and was regarded as a champion of immigrant rights. He played a leading role in the resettling of the Ugandan Asians and was very proud of the way the Government handled the situation.

During the 1964 elections he was often on the news challenging Mr Enoch Powell to a debate on race issues. Dr Prem wrote the book "The Parliamentary Leper" (1965) which describes the racial struggles in Smethwick during the 1960s. This book was written after the racially motivated campaign in Smethwick and also charts the history of race relations in Britain and the West Midlands.

Birmingham Biography Vol.79, p51