UK honors Naoroji’s 200th birth anniversary

The House of Lords in London played host to a special reception in honour of the 200th birth anniversary of Dadabhai Naoroji, the nationalist leader who became the first Indian to win a popular election to the British Parliament during the colonial era. Naoroji was born in September 1825 to a Parsi family in Mumbai and first travelled to England in 1855 for business reasons before going on to become an influential figure in its political landscape.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, a fellow Parsi parliamentarian, hosted Friday’s reception in honour of the life and legacy of the polymath who straddled multiple roles of a Zoroastrian priest, businessman, academic and politician. “In many ways, I have followed in the footsteps of Dadabhai Naoroji, who came initially for business to the UK,” said Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer. “He was also an academic as a professor at Elphinstone College and, of course, he was a politician – the first Indian, first ethnic minority ever to be elected to this Parliament,” he noted.

Bilimoria revealed that the bicentenary commemoration was initially planned for September, to coincide with the month of Dadabhai Naoroji’s birth 200 years ago, but had to be postponed due to strike action.“But we were adamant in making sure that this event would take place during the year of his 200th birth anniversary, and here we are,” he added. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, reflected upon the legacy of  Naoroji and the impact of the Parsi community in the political and social life of India.