AWARD-WINNING writer Tanika Gupta is set to premiere her new play on the early life of Mahatma Gandhi at a west London theatre next week.
The Overseas Student centres upon Gandhi during his time studying law in the UK, in the years before he became famous for his role in India’s freedom fight and as an advocate of non-violence.
Gupta’s show is part of the Lyric Hammersmith’s Out West project, which brings together three new short plays written by three playwrights.
Although Gandhi is best remembered as a prominent peace activist who stirred countless movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, Gupta was keen to focus upon his formative years in his late teens.
“Gandhi was a very different person (during his time in the UK) – he was shy and just like any other teenager making his way through a foreign environment,” Gupta told Eastern Eye. “It’s more the coming-of-age story that I’m interested in, rather than the politics of what happened later”.
The Overseas Student is written by award-winning playwright Tanika Gupta
Gandhi’s time in the capital arguably influenced some of the most significant
values of his life. His introduction to the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu
scripture) occurred in England, after he was invited to a reading of the book. It is said to have influenced Gandhi profoundly, shaping his character and transforming his life.
He also formed friendships with prominent British liberals, including women’s rights activist Annie Besant and animal rights campaigner Henry Salt. Salt is thought to have had major influence on Gandhi’s study of vegetarianism.
“He was almost like a sponge – reading newspapers and books, listening to lectures and literally soaking it all up and trying to work out what he thinks about it,” Gupta explained.
Gandhi’s early years as a student were reminiscent of Gupta’s father, who first came to the UK from Kolkata in the 1960s. ““Gandhi wanted to be very English – he wanted to learn to speak English like the English, he wanted to do ballroom dancing, he wanted to play the fiddle and it reminded me of how my dad was so keen to be accepted by English society,” the London-born creative revealed.
The role of Gandhi is portrayed by actor Esh Alladi. Coincidentally, this is not the first time Alladi has starred as the Indian activist. He played Gandhi in Gupta’s award-winning play Lions and Tigers – albeit an older version.
“Esh is actually quite young, but he ended up having to shave his head and play Gandhi as a 64-year-old in Lions and Tigers,” she said, joking: “I think Esh could play (Gandhi) as a five-year-old!”
Esh Alladi during a rehearsal for The Overseas Student at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
The shows mark the reopening of the Lyric, which was forced to close temporarily following the pandemic.
Reflecting upon the reopening, Gupta said it was a joy to be back in the theatre with other creatives. “The first day of rehearsal was extraordinary, seeing everyone standing around in a circle,” recalled Gupta, who was last seen at the Lyric in 2019 with her retelling of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. “It was very special and I’m not a gushy type, but I felt quite choked.”
Gupta was not taught about the Empire or the fight for India’s independence during her years in education. Instead, the stories came from
her family who have political links to the history. Her great-uncle Dinesh Gupta was an Indian revolutionary against British rule. He was hanged in 1931 for charges related to anti-government activities and murder. Lions and Tigers is based on Dinesh’s involvement in the struggle for independence.
“It’s shocking you just don’t learn about (Empire) at school,” said Gupta, who studied history at Oxford University. “We learnt about the world wars, but we didn’t learn that Afro Caribbean and Indian soldiers fought in both. It’s not known history.”
Two of Gupta’s plays – A Doll’s House and The Empress – are part of the national curriculum. Both stories link to colonialism.
Despite this, the debate on diversifying the curriculum is ongoing. Last weekend, a University of Leicester study found a “lack of a sufficiently diverse or decolonised curriculum” hampered some BAME students’ progress.
Given recent political events, Gupta is confident the conversation will not go away. She noted the surge of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. “The government don’t really want us to decolonise the curriculum, it doesn’t suit them,” the playwright said. “But having said that, you can’t stop the movement. The BLM protests, young people questioning why there are certain statues (of colonists)
in the UK (…) there is a movement to start retelling history.”
The Overseas Student is part of Out West at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre live from June 18– July 24 and with an online streaming from July 12-17. For more, see: www.lyric.co.uk
A three-vehicle collision on Tavistock Road in Plymouth led to significant traffic disruption on Thursday, May 15.
The crash occurred at around 11:00 BST and prompted an immediate response from Devon and Cornwall Police, the fire service, and paramedics. Emergency services attended the scene to manage the incident and assess those involved.
According to a witness, it appeared that one vehicle had collided with the rear of another. Photographs from the scene showed emergency crews present amid long queues of traffic.
The collision resulted in the closure of all southbound lanes on Tavistock Road between William Prance Road and Manadon Roundabout, causing substantial delays for motorists. The roads and traffic monitoring service Inrix reported the incident at 11:27 BST, confirming slow traffic and lane closures in the affected area.
— (@)
Police stated that investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing. The road remained closed for several hours to allow emergency services to clear the scene safely.
By 14:30 BST, Tavistock Road was reopened to traffic. No further details have been released regarding any injuries sustained or the circumstances leading up to the crash.
Drivers were advised to follow local traffic updates and seek alternative routes during the closure.
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has secured confiscation orders totalling £305,284 from Raheel Mirza, Cameron Vickers and Opeyemi Solaja for their roles in an investment fraud. The orders cover all their remaining assets.
The confiscation proceedings against a fourth defendant, Reuben Akpojaro, have been adjourned.
The FCA said the money will be returned to investors as soon as possible. Failure to pay could lead to imprisonment.
Between June 2016 and January 2020, the defendants cold-called individuals and persuaded them to invest in a shell company.
They claimed to trade client money in binary options, but the funds were used to fund their lifestyles.
In 2023, the four were convicted and sentenced to a combined 24 and a half years.
Steve Smart, executive director, Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: “We are committed to fighting financial crime, including denying criminals their ill-gotten gains. We’ve already successfully prosecuted these individuals for their part in a scam that conned 120 people out of their money. We’re now seeking to recover as much as we can for victims.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said at a Downing Street press conference that the changes were necessary as male prisons in England and Wales are expected to run out of space by November.
THOUSANDS of criminals, including domestic abusers and sexual offenders recalled to prison for breaching licence conditions, will be released after 28 days under new emergency measures to manage the prison capacity crisis.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said at a Downing Street press conference that the changes were necessary as male prisons in England and Wales are expected to run out of space by November. “That would lead to a total breakdown of law and order,” she said.
The policy applies to offenders originally sentenced to between one and four years. Terrorists and those assessed by the police, prison and probation services as high risk or those who have committed serious further offences will be excluded, The Times reported.
Mahmood said the change “buys us the time we need to introduce the sentencing that — alongside our record prison building plans — will end the crisis in our prisons for good.”
According to The Times, the number of prison spaces has dropped below 500, with jails operating at 99 per cent capacity. The Ministry of Justice said those being recalled for minor infractions, such as missing appointments or failing to notify changes in circumstances, are clogging up the system. Currently, 13,583 people — 15 per cent of the prison population — are in jail after recall, up from 100 in 1993.
Victims commissioner Baroness Newlove told The Times: “Victims will understandably feel unnerved and bewildered… reducing time served on recall can only place victims and the wider public at an unnecessary risk of harm.”
Domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said: “You are not sent to prison for four years if you do not pose significant danger… Re-releasing them back into the community after 28 days is simply unacceptable.”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said Labour was “siding with criminals over the public” and should instead focus on the 17,000 people on remand and deporting the 10,350 foreign criminals in UK prisons.
Amy Rees, interim permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, said failure to enact the measures would be “intolerable” and could force courts to release dangerous offenders on bail due to lack of space.
The policy is expected to create 1,400 places and remain in place until the government’s wider sentencing reforms begin next spring. Construction on three new prisons will begin this year, adding 5,000 places, but the government still faces a projected shortfall of 9,500 by 2028.
Keep ReadingShow less
They traced its likely path through a prominent landowning family
A document long believed to be a mere copy of Magna Carta has been identified as a rare original dating back to 1300, making it one of the most valuable historical manuscripts in existence, according to British academics.
The discovery was made after researchers in the UK examined digitised images of the document, which has been held in Harvard Law School’s library since 1946. At the time, the manuscript was purchased for just $27.50 – approximately £7 at the then exchange rate – and described as a damp-stained 14th-century copy. Today, that sum would be roughly $450 (£339) adjusted for inflation.
However, medieval history professors David Carpenter of King's College London and Nicholas Vincent of the University of East Anglia now believe the manuscript is an original Magna Carta from the year 1300, issued during the reign of King Edward I.
“This is a fantastic discovery,” said Professor Carpenter, who first began analysing the document after encountering its digitised version on Harvard’s website. “It is the last Magna Carta... It deserves celebration, not as some mere copy, stained and faded, but as an original of one of the most significant documents in world constitutional history – a cornerstone of freedoms past, present and yet to be won.”
Professor Carpenter said he was “absolutely astonished” by the finding and by the fact that the manuscript’s true nature had gone unrecognised for decades. “That it was sold for peanuts and forgotten is incredible,” he added.
Magna Carta, first issued by King John in 1215, is widely regarded as a foundational document in the history of constitutional law. It established the principle that everyone, including the monarch, was subject to the law, and it granted basic liberties and protections to the king’s subjects. The charter has had a lasting influence, shaping constitutional frameworks in countries around the world.
The academics hope that the newly authenticated Magna Carta will be made available for public viewingHarvard
Following the 1215 version, the charter was reissued multiple times by successive monarchs, culminating in the 1300 edition issued under King Edward I. During this period, it is believed that around 200 original copies were produced and distributed across England. Only 25 of these originals are known to survive today, from the various editions between 1215 and 1300. Most are in the UK, with two in the US National Archives in Washington DC and one in Parliament House, Canberra.
“It is an icon both of the Western political tradition and of constitutional law,” said Professor Vincent. “If you asked anybody what the most famous single document in the history of the world is, they would probably name Magna Carta.”
The professors now believe the document discovered at Harvard originated in the town of Appleby, Cumbria. They traced its likely path through a prominent landowning family, the Lowthers, who are thought to have passed the manuscript to Thomas Clarkson, a leading anti-slavery campaigner in the 1780s. From there, the document entered the Maynard family estate.
In late 1945, Air Vice-Marshal Forster Maynard sold it at auction through Sotheby’s, where it was purchased by a London bookseller for £42. Harvard Law School acquired it months later for a fraction of that price, and it was catalogued as HLS MS 172 – a “copy made in 1327”.
The manuscript will become one of the most significant items in Harvard’s collectionHarvard
To determine the manuscript’s authenticity, Professors Carpenter and Vincent spent over a year analysing the text and comparing it to the six other known originals from the 1300 issue. Due to its faded condition, they did not work directly from the original but instead examined images taken using ultraviolet and spectral imaging techniques.
They found that the handwriting, dimensions and phrasing of the manuscript all matched the characteristics of the confirmed 1300 versions. The exact wording was critical to establishing its authenticity, as the text of Magna Carta was slightly altered with each reissue. The Harvard manuscript passed these tests “with flying colours”.
The value of the document could be extremely high. In 2007, a 1297 version of Magna Carta sold at auction in New York for $21 million – around £10.5 million at the time. While Professor Vincent declined to estimate the exact value of the Harvard version, he acknowledged it could be worth a similar figure.
Amanda Watson, assistant dean for library services at Harvard Law School, praised the discovery and the work of the academics involved. “This exemplifies what happens when collections are opened to brilliant scholars,” she said. “Behind every scholarly revelation stands the essential work of librarians, who not only collect and preserve materials, but create pathways that otherwise would remain hidden.”
The academics hope that the newly authenticated Magna Carta will be made available for public viewing, allowing more people to appreciate its historical significance.
“This document speaks to the very roots of legal liberty,” said Professor Carpenter. “It is more than just a piece of parchment – it’s a living symbol of the rights we enjoy and continue to fight for today.”
If confirmed by additional verification and widely recognised as an original, the manuscript will become one of the most significant items in Harvard’s collection and a key artefact in the history of global democracy.
Keep ReadingShow less
Yorkshire Water said boiling tap water before consumption
A temporary 'do not drink' notice was issued to residents in parts of North Yorkshire this week following the detection of coliform bacteria in the local water supply, indicating possible contamination with human or animal waste.
Yorkshire Water advised nearly 200 postcodes across High Bentham, Low Bentham, and Burton in Lonsdale not to consume tap water unless it had been boiled, after routine testing identified above-average levels of coliforms. These bacteria are found in the digestive systems of humans and animals and can include strains such as E. coli. While coliforms themselves can cause gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhoea and stomach cramps, their presence may also indicate the risk of other harmful bacteria in the water system.
In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, Yorkshire Water said boiling tap water before consumption would provide adequate protection. Bottled water was also supplied to customers registered on the company’s priority services list, including those with medical needs or limited access to boiling facilities.
The company confirmed that all impacted properties had received hand-delivered boil water notices, and customers could check their address status via Yorkshire Water’s website. During the incident, the company said it was continuing to carry out sampling to monitor the quality of the water supply and was working closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to identify the cause and ensure safety.
The contamination is still being investigatediStock
On Wednesday at 5:15pm, Yorkshire Water announced that the boil water notice had been lifted for all affected areas. The company stated: “We can confirm that we are now able to lift the boil water instruction at all affected properties in the local area as the water is now back to our usual high standards. Customers can now use their tap water as normal.”
A spokesperson added: “We’d like to apologise to everybody impacted and thank them for their understanding and patience throughout.”
While the cause of the contamination is still being investigated, Yorkshire Water reiterated that it had taken swift action to protect public health and to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
The boil order came as part of routine water quality testing, which Yorkshire Water said had detected results that did not meet its usual standards. Until the problem was resolved, the company urged caution and reassured customers that boiling water was an effective precautionary measure.
The incident highlights the importance of regular testing and rapid response protocols in maintaining safe public water supplies. Though the warning has now been lifted, Yorkshire Water is expected to continue investigating the root cause of the contamination to prevent future occurrences.