Tributes paid to respected Sunderland community leader and city curry king

Tributes have been paid to a respected community leader and curry king after his sudden death at the age of 80.
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Syed Jamal Miah was one of the first Bangladeshi-born people to move to Sunderland and co-founded the Moti Raj restaurant – now the city’s oldest existing curry house – with the late Mohammed Abdul Martin in 1974.

He was also instrumental in the creation around 40 years ago of the city’s first mosque, in Chester Road, and the Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre, in Tatham Street, in the 1990s.

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Father-of-nine Mr Jamal Miah, who lived in High Barnes with wife Syeda Begum, died in hospital after suffering a stroke.

Sunderland community leader Syed Jamal Miah has died at the age of 80.Sunderland community leader Syed Jamal Miah has died at the age of 80.
Sunderland community leader Syed Jamal Miah has died at the age of 80.

One of his seven sons, Hafizul Islam, 35, who works at the Moti Raj, which is still run by the family in Church Lane, said his father enjoyed good health until his death, adding: “He was a great man and all I could ask for in a dad.”

Mr Islam, who is also centre secretary, continued: "After he died we were all sat together talking about him and we all said we hope we can end up as good a father as he was.”

Since Mr Jamal Miah’s arrival nearly half a century ago from Kidderminster, Wearside’s Bangladeshi community has risen from less than 50 people to around 7,000.

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Many were offered advice and employment by him on their arrival.

Tributes have been paid to community leader Syed Jamal Miah after his sudden death at the age of 80.Tributes have been paid to community leader Syed Jamal Miah after his sudden death at the age of 80.
Tributes have been paid to community leader Syed Jamal Miah after his sudden death at the age of 80.

As numbers grew, he sensed the need for a community centre and was the first chairman of a steering group dedicated to its creation.

Centre manager Abu Shama said: “Mr Jamal Miah was the among the first people to recognise that we needed a centre to give people a platform to get information and advice.”

Centre chairman Syed Khalid Miah was employed by Mr Jamal Miah at a restaurant he used to manage, The Melting Pot, which was in Maritime Terrace, after moving to Sunderland in 1973.

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He said: “I have known him for 47 years and he was one of the pillars of the Bangladeshi community here in Sunderland.

"He was a big leader of the community, not just the Bangladeshi community, but the community as a whole and we will miss him.”

Much loved by his 28 grandchildren, Mr Jamal Miah died on September 29 with his funeral taking place the following day.

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