Krishan Hansrani

KH: One of my earliest memories actually is from 1968. That was sort of the time my mother sort of, you know, said, you know, let's go to India to, sort of, see the relatives. And that was, I think, in April 1968. And that sort of sticks in my mind because at the same time Enoch Powell was giving his 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Though my...well, my friends and myself were very young to understand, you know, what the speech...well, the contents of the speech. One particular friend I was very close with thought I was going to go to India because I was perhaps being expelled from the country. And he actually sort of cried, and I sort of...my eyes sort of watered up at that time as well. But not knowing the full context of what the speech really meant. So yes, I think as children we understood, you know, it was a speech of hatred. But, you know, my friends were all loving and though. You know, like I said, this one particular friend did sort of cry, but not knowing I was only going there for a holiday to see relatives, and not being sort of victimized, or, you know, one of these people that was going to sort of be forced out of the country because Enoch Powell had said something in the speech, yeah.

MP: Do you remember...

KH: Yeah.

MP: How you accessed the Enoch Powell speech, whether it was like on the radio or the TV?

KH: No, see, I was only 8 years old at the time, so I think it would have just been on the mainstream news, really. It wasn't something I sort of went out to listen to repeatedly. It was just sort of a one-off, happened to listen to it and it sort of stuck in my mind.

MP: And do you remember...do you have any memories about your parents and their...the impact it had on them, or perhaps on your sister?

KH: Yes, my father, because obviously he was involved with the India League, the subject must have sort of cropped up at various meetings that the India League held. I mean, a lot of the committee meetings were at...held in this very room that we're having the interview in. And, you know, the number of sort of delegates from the India League would maybe number about twenty to twenty-five people. My father would sort of chair the meeting after he'd sort of come back from his business. So round about maybe the 7pm mark. The meetings would go on for a couple of hours. And obviously various topics would have been discussed. Obviously I wouldn't be a party to what was said, I sort of being only a child at the time just sort of did my own thing. But the home was a very sort of lively place with lots of comings and goings from people who were sort of attending these meetings, and the meetings were held quite regularly. I think one of the reasons was the lack of sort of having a permanent venue. So, with Dad's position in the India League, I mean, our home was sort of the chosen place, and it was very central for a lot of members of the India League to get to. Yes, my mother would sort of put on a good...you know, she did all the food, and with my sister, you know, they would sort of prepare the food and, you know, the refreshments to be served, you know, during or after the meetings really.

MP: And you've talked to me a little bit about Ujagar Singh and his business partnership...

KH: Right.

MP: With your dad, V. P. Hansrani. Were they...because we know your dad was very politically active. Was Mr Singh involved in any of that work?

KH: Yes, Singh was also involved in the India League. He became President for one term, I think it could have been about 1969–1970 time.

MP: And so he would have been here in this room having meetings?

KH: Oh yes, yeah, very much so. Yes, yeah.

MP: Yeah?

KH: This was the...like I said earlier, you know, this was the venue for the meetings to sort of take place there.

MP: And how many people would be here?

KH: Going from memory, maybe about sort of twenty to twenty-five.

MP: And do you know where they came from?

KH: Yeah, mainly sort of, you know, well, Leicester really. I mean, there might have been a few that sort of came from out of Leicester, but generally a lot of the members of the India League lived in sort of this Evington area of Leicester, or, you know, thereabouts really. So like I said, you know, it was a convenient...it was a very convenient venue for our home to be used for the events, because it was quite easy to reach, yeah.

MP: And were the attendees from diverse backgrounds with men, women, or mainly just people...?

KH: Maybe a couple of ladies, but it was mainly men, really. Indian men...no, obviously there was a couple of Eng... you know, white English members as well. I think one gentleman of Caribbean heritage as well. And they were like professionals as well. You know, everybody who was a member of India League also had obviously full-time paid jobs, either, you know, in the teaching profession, they could have been self-employed, or, you know, or in other walks of life.

MP: And are you still in touch with any of these families or aware of what everyone's doing?

KH: No, because those people would have really been of my father's generation, and sadly, you know, they would have all passed by now, really, yeah. As regarding, you know, the next generation, no, there's no contact at all really, yeah.

MP: And so what happened to the India League?

KH: It just sort of...I guess it sort of still exists in name, but not as an entity really, yeah.

MP: And do you know kind of around the time at which kind of it became less active?

KH: I would think, yeah, about 1975. I mean, my father sort of…was sort of finding out he was sort of getting on in age, wanted to spend more time with the family, the business was growing, so he couldn't sort of divide his duties between doing the India League work and then obviously running the business that was growing. And, you know, he found it was also time for the next generation to sort of step in. He'd been in it for many, many years, very instrumental. So in fairness, he thought, you know, India League could do with an injection of fresh blood. So it was, you know, honourable in that respect, that he sort of said, 'Okay, I'm going to sort of step away from this now'. So that's it. India League did carry on, but I'm not sure in what form it is at the moment. Though in later years...so, many, many later years, it's now evolved from the India League into the 1928 Institute, which is really a spin-out in collaboration with the Oxford University and three individual fellows from that university.

MP: And can you tell me a little bit about any overlaps between the 1928 Institute and the India League?

KH: Yes, they're all there to sort of further the India cause. I mean, obviously now more so with...I think giving Indians more of a voice, you know, I say a platform for research, debate and further the causes really of the Indians who still sort of feel that, you know, they haven't got a voice, which perhaps isn't sort of to the same extent as the voice that was lacking way back in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. But I think the Indians have grown in confidence and they can further India's cause both for trade and international trade, as well as, you know, helping Indians in the UK now to sort of even better their careers to the next level really, yeah.

MP: You were talking about your mother earlier.

KH: Right.

MP: And I know that you've brought some material from your family archive out.

KH: Right.

MP: Would you like to tell me about that?

KH: Yes. So, mother and father got married in 1949. Like I was saying earlier on in an interview, that father's intention was to sort of get married earlier, but due to the war years, that wasn't possible. So yes, Dad returned to India in 1949, got married, and then Mum and Dad sort of arrived in the UK together as a married couple in 1949. And I can...you know, say, very early on, because my mum was always sort of dressed quite elegantly in a sari, that she was always a subject of sort of a question by local children. You know, when she...when Mum would sort of travel on, say, public transport, children would sort of say to their parents, 'Oh, what's that lady wearing?' You know, referring to her sari. And, you know, it must have been a bit of an odd place for Mum to sort of be at the time, because I think she was maybe amongst one of the very first female Asian ladies in the UK. And yes, I mean, obviously being of a, you know, dark skin as well, people...you know, young children especially would ask, you know, 'What's she wearing and why’s she dressed like that?' But generally, I think she got on okay with the local people, got to, you know, know people when she sort of started living in this area, became friendly. And then in later years, say, Father was involved with the IWA and India League, and then Mum was also involved with the Ladies' Friendship League [Club]. And occasionally they would hold like a sherry morning, which was, as the name implies, I guess, you know, going for a drink. But not that Mum was a drinker anyway, so obviously tea and coffee or a hot beverage would have been served, but they just called it a sherry morning, which would sort of take place at those English ladies who were sort of welcoming the people from a different sort of continent to sort of break down any barriers, you know, social barriers, and to sort of get people to integrate. Yeah, sort of...so this Ladies’ Friendship League [Club] sort of developed, and more and more people started taking part. And from there, you know, it would sort of expand into sort of having little sort of gatherings at weekends for other family members. I remember attending one particular one in...at a big house I think in...near the Bradgate Park area here in Leicester where one of the ladies had sort of opened her house to have such an event held. And as a child, I sort of just managed...well, I remember sort of playing in a large garden with slides and everything and while the elders were sort of getting to know each other over a drink, and, you know, cut sandwiches.

MP: And so was that in Leicester?

KH: Yeah, Bradgate Park is not too far from Leicester, it's in the county, in Newtown Linford area in Leicester or Leicestershire.

KH: And there's also a time actually, I mean, when looking...you know, we're looking at sort of 1969, 1970, 1971, when India hit the headlines because of the...you know, they went to war with Pakistan to create Bangladesh. And sort of things then changed. But then...but the local Pakistanis and the Muslims here sort of remained friendly to the Indians. And Dad was still very much in the India League at the time, so he had to sort of, you know, have a very fine balancing act just to sort of keep the two sort of communities together really, you know, some sort of cohesion, really. But he had to sort of go to my junior...not had to, he...actually, he was asked to go to the junior school to give the children a talk, because everybody was watching news items, about the...you know, he had to give a talk on the creation of Bangladesh. That very...you know, stays in my mind quite freshly, yeah.

MP: So, were you at that talk?

KH: Yes, I was 9 years old. It was done at my school, like, so I was in the assembly. And Dad was asked by...I think by the headteacher. Because obviously teachers knew that my father was involved in the India League, and they approached him so he could talk on that subject a lot more. Because obviously everybody was getting their information from the news channel, well, BBC or ITV at the time. Could he give a bit more of an insight into why, you know, Bangladesh had been created?

MP: And do you have memories of him giving that talk?

KH: I can, yeah, visualize him sort of standing there on the, you know, the stage in the school assembly hall. And teachers and obviously the students, the whole school, which would have numbered maybe about 400 children, listening as we all sat cross-legged on the assembly floor.

MP: How did that feel?

KH: Yeah, it was nice. Imagine my father, you know, just come to school. You know, I think he'd given talks earlier on other matters as well, actually, but that's the one that sort of sticks in mind.

MP: And you said that during that period, he had to kind of keep a fine balance between the communities...

KH: Yeah.

MP: As there was conflict on the subcontinent. Do you remember what sort of thing that involved?

KH: Yes, I mean, those that sort of, you know, didn't really want any sort of conflict, you know, sort of being imported from India. I mean, there was maybe those that wanted sort of to...you know, to sort of maintain East Pakistan and West Pakistan, obviously there was that element. But I can't recall anybody having those sort of sentiments here, really. I mean, a lot of people that we knew were Muslims, and they were all friendly. I mean, the restaurant owners, the restaurants we would go to, were owned by Muslims, maybe from the Pakistan side anyway, so they remained friendly. But I can remember sort of Dad having conversations, you know, with the people in the restaurant, whether they be waiters or the managers or the owners, and everything was sort of amicable, like, there was no sort of ill feeling. Again, you know, that was left to the politicians in those two countries to sort of sort out. And obviously everybody wanted to get on with each other here.

MP: And do you think that open dialogue helped with that?

KH: I believe so, yes. You know, it sort of nurtured a culture of sort of friendliness and tolerance, really. I mean, whereas now you hear about, you know, a certain age group becoming radicalized, you know, over issues, that was never a thing that sort of entered our minds as youngsters. You know, we weren't sort of that sort of bloody-minded, as it was.

• 1928 Institute
• India League
• Indian Workers' Association (pre-1950)

• V. P. Hansrani

Entry credit

Jess Farr-Cox