Learning from past mistakes
of British exploitative nature, why modern citizens should be apologetic about
their ancestral doings. Today's intelligentsia believes that India benefited under British Raj, when in reality it drained all its wealth and resources.
Battle of Plassey 1757 saw the British Empire consolidating their position as rulers in India. They first came to India to trade goods but soon realizing the benevolent nature of the masses, they showed their true colors. India, which once was the major exporter of finished products became an importer of British goods. "Sone Ki Chidiya" was looted and by the time the colonial rulers were kicked out of India in 1947, its overall share in the world economy which once stood at about 23%, dropped to less than 4%.
What caused all of this? It's a myth that British imperialism benefited one of its richest colonies, India. Be it Railways, harbor development or maintenance of police, they all were structured to maximize the profits and take all the primary goods away from India, says Sanjay Dalmia, who is a renowned nationalist.
As per a recent YouGov poll, 43 per cent of British citizens thought the existence of the British Empire was a good thing, while only 19 per cent agreed. This is the common belief among the modern day Britishers, imagine how it must have been 100 years ago.
Battle of Plassey 1757 saw the British Empire consolidating their position as rulers in India. They first came to India to trade goods but soon realizing the benevolent nature of the masses, they showed their true colors. India, which once was the major exporter of finished products became an importer of British goods. "Sone Ki Chidiya" was looted and by the time the colonial rulers were kicked out of India in 1947, its overall share in the world economy which once stood at about 23%, dropped to less than 4%.
What caused all of this? It's a myth that British imperialism benefited one of its richest colonies, India. Be it Railways, harbor development or maintenance of police, they all were structured to maximize the profits and take all the primary goods away from India, says Sanjay Dalmia, who is a renowned nationalist.
As per a recent YouGov poll, 43 per cent of British citizens thought the existence of the British Empire was a good thing, while only 19 per cent agreed. This is the common belief among the modern day Britishers, imagine how it must have been 100 years ago.
For many years,
at least till the 1890s, many princely states, zamindars or even people
associated with Indian Independence movement remained bewildered with the fact
that India would prosper under the British raj. However, soon realizing how
wrong they were with their prediction, they started losing their hopes. Amidst
this crisis, came the man who gave the much needed impetus to Indian national
movement, Dadabhai Naoroji.
His concept of wealth drain from India during British rule got huge attention. He mentioned the same concept in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Naoroji was the first person to say that internal factors were not the sole reason for poverty in India as it was the colonial rule that was draining the wealth and prosperity of the country. He further stated that India lost about 200-300 million pounds of revenue to Britain.
His concept of wealth drain from India during British rule got huge attention. He mentioned the same concept in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Naoroji was the first person to say that internal factors were not the sole reason for poverty in India as it was the colonial rule that was draining the wealth and prosperity of the country. He further stated that India lost about 200-300 million pounds of revenue to Britain.
This was the very foundation of British Empire, all they ever wanted was to drain our resources, so that they can prosper. Modern British people should apologize and refrain from stating that their ancestors did any good for India. We don’t want any compensation, all we want is respect and a formal acknowledgment that it was the Britishers who looted us, destroyed our artistic culture, feels Mr. Sanjay Dalmia.
If it weren’t for them, India would have remained “Sone Ki Chidiya” and perhaps would have been the world leader. That said, thanks to our current leadership, we are moving in the right direction and perhaps in the next few years, we may become the world leader which believes in doing the right things — a precursor to our ancient wisdom.
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