1/n Since it's the UK's first ever #SouthAsianHeritageMonth, cheekily re-plugging some articles/posts I wrote about the first South Asian MPs in Parliament. Up first: Dadabhai Naoroji, MP for Finsbury Central (now Islington) from 1892-5 @SAHM_UK globalsocialtheory.org/thinkers/naoro…
2/n Naoroji's legacy is his intellectual contributions to the Indian National Congress which he helped create. His "Drain of Wealth" theory - where he meticulously detailed how much money Britain was looting from India - helped dispel myths of the Empire being for India's "good"
3/n What was particularly genius about his work was that every bit of statistical data he used was collected by the British imperial state - which put paid to imperialist objections to an Indian speaking against Empire at the heart of the metropole
4/n Jumping forward a bit - here's a profile I wrote about the third South Asian MP, Shapurji Saklatvala (fondly remembered as "Comrade Sak"). Saklatvala, like Naoroji, used his position as MP for Battersea North (1922-3, 1924-9) to speak against Empire scroll.in/magazine/87294…
5/n Saklatvala's Communist ideology informed his critique of both Empire and the INC, especially Gandhi (him opening a critical letter with the words "Comrade Gandhi" is such a vibe). Saklatvala described himself as an "extremist Tilakite" #SouthAsianHeritageMonth
6/n As for the second Asian MP, Sir Mancherji Bhownagree (coincidentally all three belonged to the Bombay Parsi community) my favourite bit of info on him is the derisive nickname the INC bestowed upon him for his pro-Empire views: "Bow-and-Agree" xD
