A.RAHMAN at 23:07, 9 November 2025

2025-11-09T23:07:26Z

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{{Short description|UK think tank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{for|the body founded in 1928 from which the 1928 Institute takes its name|India League}}

The '''1928 Institute''', formerly '''India League''', is a [[think tank]] active in the United Kingdom.

==History==
The think tank was co-founded by two academics at the [[University of Oxford]] in 2020,<ref name=Giordano>{{Cite news|last=Giordano|first=Chiara|date=2021|title=Just over half of British Indians would get Covid vaccine, survey shows|work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-vaccine-survey-british-indians-b1790128.html}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|date=2021|title=Just over half of British Indians would take COVID vaccine|publisher=University of Oxford |url=https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/news/just-over-half-of-british-indians-would-take-covid-vaccine}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> "to continue the work of the original [[India League]]", itself founded in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.1928institute.org/the-india-league-story|title=Our Story|publisher=1928 Institute|accessdate=11 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418033718/https://www.1928institute.org/the-india-league-story|archive-date=18 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-british-indians-fear-covid-19-vaccine-will-impede-their-fertility?r=US&IR=T|title=Haunted by unfounded fears for their fertility, British Indians are more likely to resist getting COVID-19 vaccine|first=Naina|last=Bhardwaj|publisher=Business Insider|date=21 February 2021|accessdate=20 December 2021}}</ref> Initially using the India League name, the think tank rebranded itself the 1928 Institute in October 2020.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news|last=Pearce|first=Vanessa|date=2021|title=Indian activists who helped change the face of modern Britain|work=[[BBC]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-58627849}}</ref><ref name=Sherwood>{{Cite news|last=Sherwood|first=Harriet|date=2020|title=From resisting the Raj to helping with Covid: India League reborn for the 21st century|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/09/from-resisting-the-raj-to-helping-with-covid-india-league-reborn-for-the-21st-century}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet|user=1928institute|number=1313801973364396034|title=ANNOUNCEMENT: From today we are rebranding and will operate under the name as voted by you: the 1928 Institute. The #BritishIndianCensus will be continued by the 1928 Institute, under the same leadership which initiated the study. Watch this space and DM us your thoughts|accessdate=15 December 2021}}</ref> The 1928 Institute has run an online survey of British Indians, collecting socioeconomic data as well as information on political opinions, media representation of the community, religious identity, experience of racism and domestic violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=Sherwood/> In January 2021, the Institute announced that its research showed that 56 per cent of British Indians would take a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 79 per cent of the overall population.<ref name=":4"/> One of the Institute's co-founders stated that "It seems that the Indian/south Asian population in general have been really falling prey to [misinformation] through things like WhatsApp forwards and fake news. And a lot of it seems to be directed at fertility, which is, I think, very interesting because there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine causes fertility issues".<ref name=Giordano/>

Writing for ''Byline Times'', [[Amrit Wilson]] wrote that "while the India League saw the struggle in India as part of a larger struggle against imperialism and racism – and included such socialists and anti-imperialists as [[Harold Laski]], [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[Fenner Brockway]] – the 1928 Institute's list of 'notable members' includes a corporate billionaire who admires [Narendra] Modi. Even the Prince of Udaipur, scion of one of India's most wealthy oppressor caste Rajput dynasties, is on board". The organisation responded by stating that it had "diverse members with no influence over the organisation".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bylinetimes.com/2021/12/09/the-new-strategies-of-hindu-supremacists-in-britain/|title=The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain|first=Amrit|last=Wilson|work=Byline Times|date=9 December 2021|accessdate=11 December 2021}}</ref>

{{As of|April 2022}}, the 1928 Institute describes itself as "a not-for-profit University of Oxford spin-out" with a mission to "research and represent British Indians", "provide analysis on the emerging events in the Indian Sub-continent and within its diaspora" and "be a platform for dialogue for the diaspora and to disrupt 'echo-chambers'".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.1928institute.org/|title=Our Mission|publisher=1928 Institute|accessdate=20 April 2022}}</ref>

The Institute acts as the secretariat for the India (Trade and Investment) [[All Party Parliamentary Group]], which was created in July 2022.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/new-uk-parliamentary-panel-to-promote-trade-investment-ties-with-india/articleshow/93156302.cms|title=New UK parliamentary panel to promote trade, investment ties with India|work=The Economic Times|date=27 July 2022|accessdate=30 March 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:2020 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Think tanks based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British Indian history]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom]]

1928 Institute - Revision history

A.RAHMAN at 23:07, 9 November 2025