India League

In the 1910s, the ‘Home Rule Movement’ was started in India by Bal G Tilak. Its objective was to push for the self-governance for India. In 1916, Annie Besant started a separate yet similar organisation and modelled it on the Irish freedom movement - ‘Home Rule for India League’.[3] This in 1922 morphed into the ‘Commonwealth of India League’ and had the objective of lobbying British MPs for self governance whilst remaining within the Empire[3]

In 1928, Krishna Menon took control of the organisation and formalised it into the famous ‘India League’. Menon was a charismatic, well-connected, and eloquent. This allowed him to flourish in elite British left-wing circles where he influenced several top intellectuals, subsequently, involving them with the league.[4] Additionally, breaking with past conventions, the League now demanded full independence for India.[4]

As the 1930s progressed, a few other UK based groups had this objective. As the League was the most powerful and influential, it often acted as the co-coordinating force. The League was effective at educating the British public about the atrocities of colonial rule and the hypocrisies of the Empire.[5] It did this by organising public meetings, distributing pamphlets, and engaging with media/policy-makers. They formed alliances with organisations such as women's groups, workers organisations, anti-imperialists, and anti-capitalists. The League documented and then provided robust information to ‘influencers’ and often won the moral case for independence. The League would regularly host events where the intellectual heavy-weights of British society would be present and engaged. Those involved with the League include: Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Michael Foot, Bertrand Russel, Stafford Cripps, Aneurin Bevan, Harold Laski, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit,[6] and Lord Desai.

The League's members were mostly British elites and wealthy Indian students and apprentices. However, as more working-class Indians came to Britain in the 1930s, a new organisation was formalised.[4] In Coventry 1939, the Indian Workers Association (IWA) was born and became affiliated with the League. Many members of such groups were watched by Scotland Yard as their revolutionary activities ran contrary to the interests of imperial Britain.[6] The original IWA partook in street marches and highlighted India's plight to the sympathetic British working-class. In the UK, the League was affiliated to the Labour Party and the Communist Party. In India, the League worked very close to the Indian National Congress due to the friendship of Krishna Menon and soon-to-be Prime minister, Nehru.[2] In 1951, the League created the India Club as an official meeting venue, the club is now independent of the League and based in the Strand, London.

Post India's independence and unfortunate partition, the League stayed affiliated to the aforementioned groups, but its role changed. The League became an organisation to promote a cross-cultural understanding of India and the UK, in addition to, helping new Indian migrants settle into British life.[2] The League had chapters across the UK who would put on cultural events and engaged with local politics. During the 1960s/1970s, the League would partake in anti-racism activism and fought to ensure social cohesion between native and migrant populations. A former League President, Ujagar Singh Rurka, was even invited the Queen's Garden Party.[7]

[[Category:India-related topics, British Indians, the Indian Independence Movement]]