Blog: Thoughts on the Inaugural Arthur Berriedale Keith lecture
Mon 5 November 2018

By Rohan Bannerji
On the eve of the 5th of November, the buzz surrounding the inaugural Arthur Berriedale Keith lecture and forum is palpable in Edinburgh. In a way, it’s a sort of homecoming for Commonwealth Constitutionalism – the lecture itself is named after one of the field’s foremost thinkers, who wrote about subjects as far ranging as the constitutional history of India from 1600-1935, to the practice of dominion home rule; and did so with the University of Edinburgh as his seat. Keith was a Scot whose interests lay in the governance of the diverse realms that Britain had acquired in its colonial conquest – and to see where those countries have ended up constitutionally – where they vary, and the similarities that they have – appears to be the driving force behind the lecture series. Needless to say, the series is most certainly an endeavour that would have been warmly welcomed by its namesake.
The conference will begin with a lecture by Professor Sunil Khilnani, who is the Director of the King’s India Institute, and the Avantha Chair. He recently completed a year as a visiting professor at Princeton University and served previously as the Director of South Asia Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Many in the subcontinent associate him with his bestselling book, The Idea of India (which recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its publication), in which he details the underlying secular and democratic principles inherent in the modern identity of India, which were largely shaped by one man, whose beliefs then transpired into the preambles of the Indian Constitution – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. India’s constitutional architect, and first Prime Minister, is who Professor Khilnani’s lecture will focus on: specifically, the decisions he made regarding Hindu communalism, Muslim minority fears, Kashmiri autonomy, and how they manifested themselves into the Indian constitution. Throughout the course of the lecture, Professor Khilnani will argue for a more complex understanding of the choices that Nehru and his country were confronted with, given the geopolitical situation of the time.
It may well be worth asking – why is it important to understand the choices made by Nehru? After all, he was a leader of India in a time long gone, and whose party (the Indian National Congress) is now associated with impotence in the Indian lower house, after having resoundingly lost its majority following the Indian elections in May 2014. I would argue to the contrary – it is important to remember the founding principles of a country, that, at this present stage, is undergoing more of a shift in identity than ever before – the Indian of the 21st century may find it difficult to associate their current government with the principles of secularism, amongst many of the other principles that the constitution of India (and Nehru) stood for. Some claim that liberalism and tolerance have taken a backseat in Modi’s India – though understanding the Indian Constitution seeks to provide for just that is one of the main aims of Professor Khilnani over the course of this lecture.
I know this lecture is one that I am most certainly looking forward to, and will enjoy. I hope that, through my blog, you will vicariously be able to as well.
Be sure to follow #keithforum2018 on Twitter for live updates on the inaugural Keith Forum on Commonwealth Constitutionalism.