“The misfortune to receive indigo”: The British East India Company on Trial (Case 2)

In the second session of the Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes: The British East India Company on Trial, witnesses Ghulam Nadri and Leonida Odongo presented evidence on the indigo trade, one of the Company’s most profitable trading ventures which brought wealth to Britain.

The witnesses focused on forced agricultural practices introduced by the Company and provided evidence on contemporary agribusiness to show how the practices of the alliance between the Company and the British Crown have expanded around the world. The Advocate-Prosecutor Ruth Nyambura provided expert evidence on how the laws, institutions, policies and practices established by the Company-Crown collaboration continue in new forms and on expanded scales.

Judges: Radha D’Souza (chair); Sharon H. Venne, Ramón Vera-Herrera. Clerk: Jonas Staal.

CICC is a project by Radha D’Souza (academic, writer, lawyer and activist) and Jonas Staal (artist and propaganda researcher). It stages public hearings which address crimes of the past, present and future, reflecting how states and corporations have intergenerational impacts on ecologies and communities.