The India Club, situated in London, with its early origins intertwined with the Indian independence movement as a focal point for nationalists, is set to close next month after an extended struggle against closure, revealed on Monday. The historical gathering spot and eatery, which successfully defended its premises in London's central Strand area from demolition a few years ago, received a notice from landlords to make way for a more modernized hotel.
Yadgar Marker and his daughter Phiroza, the proprietors, launched a campaign titled "Save India Club" as they battled to sustain its operations, but have now confirmed its imminent shutdown. "It is with deep regret that we announce the impending closure of the India Club, with our final day of public operation scheduled for September 17," they expressed.
The India Club's origins trace back to the India League, a group advocating for Indian independence in Britain, whose founding members included Krishna Menon - later the first Indian High Commissioner to the UK. Beyond housing one of the UK's early Indian restaurants, the Club swiftly evolved into a hub for the burgeoning British South Asian community following Indian independence and Partition.
Phiroza, who has supported her father at the Club since her youth, stated, "For over 70 years since its inception, the India Club has served as a home-away-from-home for first-generation immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and a communal space for Indo-British associations." Parvathi Raman, Founding Chair of the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) underlined Menon's vision for the India Club as an affordable venue for young Indian professionals to dine, engage in political discourse, and plan their aspirations. This insight was shared during the 'A Home Away from Away: The India Club' exhibition in 2019, curated by the UK's conservation charity National Trust.
Operational as an Indian restaurant near the Indian High Commission on the Strand since 1946, the Club occupies the first floor of the 26-room Strand Continental Hotel. The building's freeholder, Marston Properties, had previously submitted an application to Westminster City Council for a "partial demolition" to make way for a new hotel. The Council unanimously rejected the application in August 2018, citing the venue's cultural significance in London's heart.
Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed his disappointment at the announcement of closure, considering his journalist father Chandran Tharoor's affiliation with the historic establishment. "As the son of one of its founders, I mourn the loss of an institution that served countless Indians (and not just Indians) for nearly seventy-five years," he shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). This sentiment triggered an outpouring of responses from individuals expressing their sorrow at the departure of a fragment of British Indian history in London.
