The Empire debate to be held in the historic Court Hall One

April 18, 2014 09:06 pm | Updated May 21, 2016 12:03 pm IST - London:

Court Room One at UK's Supreme Court.

Court Room One at UK's Supreme Court.

The good, bad and ugly of the four century Indo-British encounter will be fiercely argued in the big empire debate to be held this September in no less historic a venue than Court Hall One of the Supreme Court in London.

The event, organized by the Indo-British Heritage Trust in association with the Supreme Court, is the highlight of its Project 400 initiative, which comprises a series of events that will roll out this year to mark the 400 year of the India- Britain relationship.

It was in 1614 that Sir Thomas Roe was appointed ambassador by King James 1 to the Mughal Court, the official start as it were of a turbulent relationship between the countries. The envoy met Emperor Jahangir in 1616, extracting from him trading rights for the English East India Company, an event momentous enough to be captured in a painting and displayed in the St Stephen’s Hall in Westminster.

The debate will be held before an audience of 80, the seating capacity of Court Room One, the main courtroom in the Supreme Court. Built in 1913, the richly decorated room is generally used for appeals of the greatest legal or constitutional importance.

“We are very pleased to be helping the Indo-British Heritage Trust mark the anniversary and to host their debate on the nature of Empire,” said Ben Wilson, Head of Communications of the Supreme Court. Calling it a topic “which warrants vigorous and informed discussion”, he said that the September event “will coincide with a special exhibition we are creating to explore the history of the Judicial Committee and its role at the crossroads of the British Empire.”

The participants and guests for the debate have not yet been announced.

“Most of the writing on the Indo-British relationship is so one-sided. It has everything to do with the British in India, but very little on how Indians have contributed to British society,” said Kusoom Vadgama, the feisty 81-year old founder of the Trust. A optometrist by profession but whose mission is to set right what she believes is a one-sided perception of the ties that bind the two countries, Ms Vadgama is indefatigable champion of her cause.

She is best known for her book “An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji.” The first woman to study and practice law in Britain and India, Cornelia Sorabji’s bust -- commissioned and funded by Ms Vadgama – was unveiled in Lincoln’s Inn in 2012.

“We also know very little about those Indian and Britishers who fought in this country for our freedom,” Ms. Vadgama said.

Project 400 has received support from across the political spectrum in the UK, most notably from Prime Minister David Cameron, an unconcealed India enthusiast.

Apart from the seminars and exhibitions that are in the pipeline of Project 400, the Trust plans an online oral history library. People whose forbears were Indians in Britain or Britishers in India will be invited to post personal histories, in the form of diaries, letters or photographs, on the website.

On the lines of the popular exhibition by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum entitled “History of the World in 100 Objects,” the Trust is will put together an online exhibition to be called “A History of the Indo-British Encounter in 400 Objects.”

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