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Out for a revolution: Shapurji Saklatvala
MARC WADSWORTH salutes the remarkable talents of Labour’s first Indian MP, a communist who rocked the Commons with savage takedowns of the empire and the monarchy
Shapurji Saklatvala, then an MP, addresses a rally against unemployment in Trafalgar Square, London, 1922
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ONE hundred years ago today, on November 15 1922, an Indian freedom fighter and communist was elected to the British Parliament as the Battersea Trades Council and Labour Party MP.
Shapurji Saklatvala was a member of India’s industrially wealthy Tata family, yet he bridged class and cultural barriers with his powerful commitment to the revolutionary cause.
Much of what Saklatvala spoke about a century ago still has relevance. He was forthright in support of the many, among the international working class, and not the world’s elite few. He opposed capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, racism and monarchism.
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