FEATURE
Family and former colleagues highlight
Wahid Uddin Ahmed Kutub’s
extraordinary achievements
Plaque
A LIFE
WELL LIVED Bangladeshi race relations
leader and north-east curry industry pioneer Wahid Uddin Ahmed Kutub, known as Ahmed Kutub, was last month honoured with a commemorative blue plaque by Newcastle City Council. Kutub, who passed away 15 years ago in 2007, made an outstanding contribution to his local community within and around Newcastle, had a profound effect on race relations in the UK and also worked tirelessly to promote the profile of Bangladeshi people within the UK. The plaque was unveiled at a special
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ceremony on 26 March, in the presence of Kutub’s family, Newcastle Lord Mayor Habib Rahman, equality campaigner Hari Shukla MBE and Mahtab Miah, chairman of Newcastle Bangladeshi Association and one of Kutub’s former colleagues. The plaque references Kutub’s contribution as a community leader and campaigner for social justice and racial equality, his role as the owner of Newcastle’s first Indian restaurant, The Rajah, and his achievement in becoming Newcastle’s first Black, Asian and minority ethnic and Muslim-elected councillor, for Fenham Ward.
