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The India League was an England-based organisation that campaigned for the full independence and self-governance of India.[1] The League was established in 1928 by Krishna Menon[2][3] and has been described as "the principal organisation promoting Indian nationalism in pre-war Britain".[4]

History

The India League emerged from the Commonwealth of India League, which was established in 1922 and itself emerged from the Home Rule for India League, established in 1916. When Menon became joint secretary of the Commonwealth of India League, he rejected its previous objective of dominion status for India and instead set the goal of full independence. During the 1930s, the organisation expanded and established branches in cities across Britain.[1]

Members of the League were largely drawn from the British elite, although a branch was established in the East End of London in the early 1940s, in order to attract more supporters from the South Asian community there.[1] According to political historian Nicholas Owen, British audiences were reluctant to believe the accounts of British repression and social conditions in India given by Indians, and so the League sent a British delegation to India to validate its arguments, resulting in the publication in 1933 of The Condition of India.[5]

The organisation continued to operate after India's independence in 1947 and while it focused mainly on India, "the League was internationalist in its outlook throughout, perceiving India's struggle for freedom as part of a larger struggle against imperialism and capitalism".[1] Following Indian independence, the organisation focused on fostering relations between the UK and India and supporting Indian immigrants in the UK. It held regular meetings at the India Club, London. Latterly, its public presence faded.[6]

In 1947 it was reported that the minimum subscription to the India League was five shillings. Branches could be established by groups of five or more people, subject to the approval of the League's executive committee. Branches were required to pay £2 6 shillings per year to the executive committee.[7]

1928 Institute

In 2020, a think tank co-founded by two academics at the University of Oxford was established,[8][9][10] "to continue the work of the original India League".[11][12] Initially using the India League name, the think tank rebranded itself the 1928 Institute in October 2020.[10][6][13] The 1928 Institute has run an online survey of British Indians, collecting socioeconomic data as well as information on political opinions, media representation of the community, religious identity, experience of racism and domestic violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] In January 2021, the Institute announced that its research showed that 56 per cent of British Indians would take a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 79 per cent of the overall population.[9] One of the Institute's co-founders stated that "It seems that the Indian/south Asian population in general have been really falling prey to [misinformation] through things like WhatsApp forwards and fake news. And a lot of it seems to be directed at fertility, which is, I think, very interesting because there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine causes fertility issues".[8]

Writing for Byline Times, Amrit Wilson wrote that "while the India League saw the struggle in India as part of a larger struggle against imperialism and racism – and included such socialists and anti-imperialists as Harold Laski, Bertrand Russell and Fenner Brockway – the 1928 Institute's list of 'notable members' includes a corporate billionaire who admires [Narendra] Modi. Even the Prince of Udaipur, scion of one of India's most wealthy oppressor caste Rajput dynasties, is on board". The organisation responded by stating that it had "diverse members with no influence over the organisation".[14]

As of April 2022, the 1928 Institute describes itself as "a not-for-profit University of Oxford spin-out" with a mission to "research and represent British Indians", "provide analysis on the emerging events in the Indian Sub-continent and within its diaspora" and "be a platform for dialogue for the diaspora and to disrupt 'echo-chambers'".[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Nasta, Susheila. "The India League". Open University.
  2. ^ Ramesh, Jairam (2019). A chequered brilliance : the many lives of V.K. Krishna Menon. Haryana, India. ISBN 978-0-670-09232-1. OCLC 1138886625.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ India in Britain : South Asian networks and connections, 1858-1950. Susheila Nasta. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2013. ISBN 978-0-230-39271-7. OCLC 802321049.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ McGarr, Paul M. (2011). ""India's Rasputin"? V. K. Krishna Menon and Anglo–American Misperceptions of Indian Foreign Policymaking, 1947–1964". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 22 (2): 239–260. doi:10.1080/09592296.2011.576536.
  5. ^ Owen, Nicholas (2012). ""Facts Are Sacred": The Manchester Guardian and Colonial Violence, 1930–1932". The Journal of Modern History. 84 (3): 643–678. doi:10.1086/666052.
  6. ^ a b c Sherwood, Harriet (2020). "From resisting the Raj to helping with Covid: India League reborn for the 21st century". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Associations in foreign countries interested in India: The India League, London". India Quarterly. 3 (1): 86. 1947. JSTOR 45067427.
  8. ^ a b Giordano, Chiara (2021). "Just over half of British Indians would get Covid vaccine, survey shows". The Independent.
  9. ^ a b "Just over half of British Indians would take COVID vaccine". University of Oxford. 2021.
  10. ^ a b Pearce, Vanessa (2021). "Indian activists who helped change the face of modern Britain". BBC.
  11. ^ "Our Story". 1928 Institute. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  12. ^ Bhardwaj, Naina (21 February 2021). "Haunted by unfounded fears for their fertility, British Indians are more likely to resist getting COVID-19 vaccine". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  13. ^ @1928institute (October 7, 2020). "ANNOUNCEMENT: From today we are rebranding and will operate under the name as voted by you: the 1928 Institute. The #BritishIndianCensus will be continued by the 1928 Institute, under the same leadership which initiated the study. Watch this space and DM us your thoughts" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2021 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Wilson, Amrit (9 December 2021). "The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain". Byline Times. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Our Mission". 1928 Institute. Retrieved 20 April 2022.

Further reading

  • McGarr, Paul M. (2010). "'A Serious Menace to Security': British Intelligence, V. K. Krishna Menon and the Indian High Commission in London, 1947–52". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 38 (3): 441–469. doi:10.1080/03086534.2010.503397.
  • Moscovitch, Brant (2020). ""Against the Biggest Buccaneering Enterprise in Living History": Krishna Menon and the Colonial Response to International Crisis". South Asian Review. 41 (3–4): 243–254. doi:10.1080/02759527.2020.1798196.
  • Sadasivan, C. (1987). "The Nehru‐Menon partnership". The Round Table. 76 (301): 59–63. doi:10.1080/00358538708453792.
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