Francis Holland Alumni Association was delighted to welcome guest speaker Kavita Puri to last night’s Old Girls’ lecture, held for the first time in March, bringing the series forward as an exclusive bi-annual event. 

Kavita, executive producer and broadcaster for the BBC, is the presenter of Partition Voices, a three-part documentary series for Radio 4 which was subsequently developed into the book, ‘Partition Voices: Untold British Stories’, published in 2019. More recently, Kavita was the executive producer on the recently aired Panorama documentary, ‘Let’s talk about Race’ and won journalist of the year at the Asian Media Awards in 2015. 

Broadcast online to former pupils, staff and parents, Kavita spoke candidly to her audience, transporting us from the division of British India into India and Pakistan, resulting in the largest migration outside war and famine the world has ever seen. Kavita discussed the origins of partition, which took place in August, 1947, telling the stories of the communities who settled in post-war Britain within the context of the historical events of that time, principally the dissolution of the British Empire and the division of the Indian subcontinent.

The stimulating and thought-provoking subject matter prompted an array of questions, answered both sensitively and honestly. Here, Kavita highlighted the importance of including partition in British history, without apportioning blame, but to bring about a greater understanding of the British Empire and how it has shaped today’s contemporary society.

Our thanks to Kavita for her inspirational and fascinating talk. If you missed the lecture, you can watch the recording of it here