Photo courtesy of Isujosh[/caption]Sadly Tony Benn, the veteran Labour and Socialist politician, died in the early hours of this morning at the age of 88. Briefly he had been amongst the longest serving MPs, in the House of Commons from 1950 to 2001 and had served as a Cabinet Minister under both Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 1970s. He never occupied one of the great offices of state, was defeated in his run for Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party, over time developed much more socialist leanings and was a divisive figure. But he was beloved by the Left for his commitment to socialist issues and for his passion and oratory.
It’s not widely known that Benn had a number of connections with India. His father, Viscount Stansgate, was Secretary of State for India from 1929-31 and Benn met Mahatma Gandhi as a boy. It’s not clear at what age this meeting or meetings took place although Mishal Hussain was told by Benn it was when he was 12. Based on Benn’s diaries he met Indira Gandhi a number of times. Later he met Indira’s son, Rajiv, when Prime Minister of India, on a trip arranged by my father.
In the 1980s my father raised money in the UK for The Netaji Research Bureau in Calcutta. Netaji of course was Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been a leading independence politician and had raised an army - the Indian National Army - to fight the British with Japanese help. Netaji is believed to have perished in an air crash at the end of World War II.
The Netaji Research Bureau was run by Dr Sisir Bose, Netaji’s nephew, who had been instrumental in Netaji’s escape from house arrest by the British in 1941. On trips to Calcutta we had visited the museum at Netaji Bhavan and made donations. With connections to Dr Bose through Calcutta Medical College my father raised money by soliciting donations from Indians and businesses in the UK.
Hunting for a speaker for the Netaji Memorial Lecture in Calcutta in 1989 my father decided to approach Tony Benn who was immediately taken by the idea. Benn researched his father’s papers looking for material. Together with Sisir Bose my father met Benn at his house in Holland Park to discuss arrangements and the lecture. My father recollected that Benn had been unfailingly kind and courteous and offered numerous cups of tea.
Flights to Calcutta and accommodation were arranged and Benn duly delivered his lecture; sadly I do not have any idea of the contents. Whilst in India a meeting with then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was arranged I believe through the offices of Krishna Bose, a Congress MP and wife of Dr Sisir Bose.
It was reported in The Times that Benn, presumably on this same trip to Calcutta, had stayed at the Bengal Club, which was formerly a club for British expatriates, but an institution so beloved by Indians that they have taken to it after independence as a meeting place for its elite. At the Bengal Club Benn was asked if he was part of the Wedgwood Benn family and after replying affirmatively was embarrassed to be shown paintings of ancestor Wedgwood Benns in battle in India and receiving knighthoods. Clearly being a descendant of British imperialists did not sit well with Benn the modern socialist.
Even after his trip Benn was keen to keep in touch and sent my father an autographed copy of the latest edition of his diaries. Later when my cousin and aunt came to London tickets to Prime Minister’s Questions and tea on the Members’ Terrace of the Houses of Parliament was arranged.
RIP a remarkable man who took pride in his links to India.
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