Revision as of 23:42, 5 October 2017

Rise, and likely fall

Naomi Canton, Historic India Club in London may come down, October 5, 2017: The Times of India

The Hotel Strand Continental in London that houses the India Club, London; India Club in London fights for survival, September 21, 2017: The Hindu

India Club, London;
Courtesy Time Out

One-time haunt of Indian nationalist leaders may become history if remodelling plans go through

A crucial piece of British-Indian heritage could be obliterated if plans to refurbish a club where figures in India's independence movement gathered go through.

Marston Properties, a property management company , has submitted plans to partially demolish and remodel the eight-storey Edwardian building, which houses the India Club on London's Strand, to make way for a 30-bedroom modern hotel. The firm has free hold rights over the building.

The India Club first opened in 1946 and was a hub for Indian nationalists, intellectuals and politicians pre-Independence. Established by V K Krishna Menon, India's first high commissioner to the UK, it served as a meeting venue of the India League, a British organisation which campaigned for Indian independence. The league evolved from the Commonwealth of India League and Annie Besant's Home Rule for India League.The club's founding members included Lady Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Post-Independence, it became a private members' club to bring a better understanding between India and the UK. Visitors included intellectuals such as Bertrand Russell and Harold Laski, and politicians such as Indira Gandhi. Soaked in history , the club retains its 1940s colonial charm and features, right down to the simple wooden formica tables and green padded chairs. Paintings by M F Husain and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Dadabhai Naoroji, Julius Silverman and Indira Gandhi adorn the walls. Nowadays it is open to all and frequented by Indian expats and diplomats.

Goldsand Hotels director Yadgar Marker, who has run the India Club bar, restaurant and hotel for 20 years, is fighting the new plans. “We already went to court over a similar planning application they tried to put in five years ago and we won,“ he said. “Our lease expires in 2019 but it is renewable. They want to repossess the building at the end of lease if certain conditions are met.“

Last Friday he submitted an application to get the building, which lies within the Strand Conservation Area, listed. “We have got quite a few letters of endorsement from prominent people regarding the historical status of this place. English Heritage will now come to inspect the premises and consider the historical significance and then decide if it will get listed or not. The Indian government is also preparing a statement to support us,“ he said.

An online petition opposing the develop ment, to be delivered to Westminster City Council has already garnered more than 9,000 signatures. Signatories include the great great grandson of Annie Besant, James Castle, and Lord Mountbatten's great granddaughter Rowan Brudenell. Castle wrote: “Annie Besant... fought for Home Rule for India for half her life. The spirit of the older Indian British connections lives on in the India Club and it must be looked after. I've been going there since 1982.“

Marker said the colonial look of the club has been preserved. “Even if we put a tablecloth, our customers would not want it. We have not changed anything, and just repaired the furniture. The stools, the bar, even the grill on the bar are all from that period. The loss of heritage concerns me more than the loss of my business,“ he added. “I could have refurbished it but I didn't. I wanted to keep it as it is so people could see how it looked in the 1940s and 50s. This is a piece of UK and Indian history . People love the ambience and the food.“

A spokesman for Westminster City Council said the plans, submitted in September, were out for public consultation.

Simon Marshall, director at Marston Properties, said: “We have already been very clear to several parties, including the India Club, that though there are several options for the building's future, no plans have been fixed and no one has been given any notice to leave.“

2017/ A struggle for survival

India Club in London fights for survival, September 21, 2017: The Hindu

Was hub for nationalists during independence movement

The India Club in London, a hub for Indian nationalists in the U.K. during the independence movement in the 1930s and 40s, is fighting for its survival after plans emerged for the building to be demolished internally.

The Club has its roots in the India League, which campaigned for Indian independence, and is located near India House — the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom.

It has functioned as an Indian restaurant and hangout for Indian journalists and intellectuals since 1946, with former Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi among its guests over the years.

Now, the leaseholders of the six-storey Edwardian building it is housed in at 143-145 The Strand in the heart of London have discovered a planning application made by the landlord with the local Westminster Council to convert the interiors of the building into a modern hotel establishment.

“This is a tragedy. We have done everything possible to retain the ethos and spirit of the place. We intend to build as much community support as possible to preserve this piece of Indian history,” said Yadgar Marker, the director of Goldsand Hotels Limited trading as The Strand Continental Hotel, which houses the India Club.

Parsi-origin Marker has been running the establishment with his wife, Freny, since they rescued it from ruin in 1997. He is now campaigning for it to receive listed status from English Heritage as a historically important landmark to save it from extinction.

The campaign has already received some high-profile backing, with Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor speaking out in favour of a Club co-founded by his late father, journalist Chandran Tharoor, along with V.K. Krishna Menon, independent India’s first High Commissioner to the U.K.

“The India Club has, for many years, offered a home away from home for Indians. It is iconic, as it has continued to preserve its old world charm. Given the importance of The India Club to Londoners and Indians alike, I am of the belief that it should be bestowed with ‘heritage status’,” writes Mr. Tharoor in his endorsement letter.

Low-cost option

The club is located on the first floor of the Strand Continental, a 26-room hotel always in high demand as a low-cost option in central London for travellers. The linked India Restaurant, which serves South Indian food, has been popular for its rustic and authentic Indian feel. “We have deliberately held on to the formica tables and other dated aspects, including old photographs and portraits, to retain the feel of 1940s India when nationalists would gather around cups of tea to deliberate on Indian independence. The feedback on the food and the architecture of this little India is always heart-warming,” said Mr. Marker, who is also preparing to launch a petition against the planning application that proposes to tear down the interiors. The club is the contemporary incarnation of the India League — established by Annie Besant in 1921 and then revived by Krishna Menon in 1929.

Most of the meetings of the India League were held at the House of Commons but a good proportion were held at the India Club on the Strand, according to William Gould, Professor of India History, University of Leeds.

“The India Club, especially because of its connections to the India League, is one of the most important heritage sites for South Asians in the U.K., and not just in London,” said Mr. Gould.

“It was one of the key sites for the discussion and planning of how British public opinion could be changed to favour Indian independence, and after 1947, it was the main lobbying organisation in the U.K. around Indian political affairs,” Mr. Gould said.