It is the common narrative in India to blame the British for much, if not all, of our present ills. I remember going to my bank and striking up a conversation with a lady officer. She said plaintively that the British had exploited us for decades and owe their present wealth to what they had looted from India.
This may very well be true but is it relevant? Is this attitude the right skilful means that will enable us to do what is necessary to develop as a nation?
I agree also that we (as Indians) face malice and ridicule and possibly some racial discrimination if we go to UK (or to the West more generally speaking). It is natural to feel upset when that happens. But that should not distract us from our self interest. Our feeling sorry for ourselves may be exactly what they want us to do in order to prevent our rising as a nation.
I’ll start with stating that the British were not saints (they themselves will not make that claim). They exploited us for a couple of hundred years, true. But have we treated the Dalits any better over the centuries? When we have such a deplorable track record towards large sections of our own people it does not make sense to complain. Nobody will take us seriously. As the Bible says – Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
It is time for us to change our attitude and acknowledge our debt to the British. More importantly we must acknowledge that we need them and cannot do without them. The following points will hopefully lead to a new perspective on this subject:
The first point is that the British were the lesser of all other evils when you are choosing someone to be your colonial masters. If you have to be colonized by somebody then it is better to be colonized by the British than by anyone else. Compare the British with the Germans, the French and the Spanish for example. Compare the state of the erstwhile British colonies to the colonies of all these other countries. The erstwhile British colonies are much more stable and robust and are doing better economically than the colonies of the French and the Germans.
For example USA was colonised mainly by the British. South America was colonised by Spain and by Portugal. Which of the two continents is doing better as far as stable governance and economy is concerned? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?
You can also compare the erstwhile holdings of the British in Africa with those of other African nations. The conclusion to be derived is the same.
The second point is that the British did immense good to India and we are still enjoying the benefits. They may have done it without any noble motives for most part but still we owe them a debt. The benefits are:
- The English language – this is the language of science and also the default language spoken in many countries.
- The railways that brought the country together.
- The system of governance comprising of the military, the police, the Constitution and laws of the country and the administrative services.
This infrastructure and system has held the country for more than 200 years and is still going strong.
In the present day and age, we cannot do without modern science, global commerce and so on. We owe the British this debt that we are capable to some degree at least in all these fields.
I am not sure whether I wanted to mention this point but I this I’ll end with what I learned from reading James Michener. Michener tells of the Spanish in what is now South America that they started organised and systematic campaigns to exterminate the natives. Today if you go to South America you will not find even a single person of native American descent. Zilch. Zero.
We still remember what Colonel Dyer did almost 100 years after Jallianwala Bagh. That is because it is the exception and not the rule. If the Spanish were in power then Dyer would not be remembered at all. It was all in a day’s work for the Spanish.
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I agree heartily that we’re no band of saints when it comes to how we treat other castes or even classes .
BUT we owe the British nothing. Whatever conveniences they introduced were to be benefit themselves and their money machines. As for the language, if you read Macaulay’s letter you will get an idea.
But that letter is now suspect and I’m not sure about it’s veracity.
You should read Amitav Ghosh’s “Nutmeg’s Curse”. It gives a graphic account of how the Europeans, especially the British, consciously and mercilessly exploited and destroyed the very fabric and environment and cultures of countries, besides slaughtering the natives enmasse.
Nothing to thank them for.
We need to change our attitude. There is hardly any point in dwelling on these facts and feeling sorry for ourselves.
Maybe my headline was not appropriate but we need to make the best of whatever advantages the British rule left us.
But I owe a debt to the British even if the country doesn’t. All my reading and education since I left school has been in English. I wouldn’t have survived without that
I agree that we don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves. But neither do we need to thank them for things they did for their own benefit. It is only incidental and logical that once they left we inherited and were able to build upon it.