MP Shashi Tharoor visited the UK to launch his book 'Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India', published by Hurst, London. He attended a number of events to discuss the content of his book and the emotions behind it, the first being a conversation with Professor Daya Thussu, held at the Westminster University, organised by The Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies and the India Media Centre of the Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design. On Sunday at a private event in London's Royal Overseas League, he was in conversation with Journalist and Author Anita Anand and his book was launched by High Commissioner of India to UK, His Excellency Y K Sinha. On Monday 6th he spoke at the London School of Economics as a part of the High Commission of India and LSE South Asia Centre's 100 Foot Journey Club joint initiative. He was also appointed as the new Patron for the National Indian Students and Alumni UK during his talk at the Westminster University.
In his book, Tharoor wrote, that, during the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor has taken on and demolished this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial 'gift' from the railways to the rule of law was designed in Britain's interests alone. In his book he goes on to show how Britain's Industrial Revolution was founded on India s deindustrialisation, and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor has aimed to expose the devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain's stained Indian legacy.
As Britain prepares to exit from the European Union, it is evident that the country is reconfiguring its role in the wider world. Celebrating 2017 as the UK-India Year of Culture, Britain may also need to reassess its imperial past. Tharoor Speaking to Channel 4 said there is “historical amnesia” in Britain about what the empire entailed. He added that he also objects to Indians, who are good at forgiving and forgetting, forgetting the British Raj. “Let them forgive, but let them not forget,” he told presenter Jon Snow.
Calling 'history its own revenge' to ensure the relationship between the two nations strengthen post Brexit, Tharoor insisted that UK needs to reciprocate to the Indians more, whether it's international students' visa or skills. However, he ensured that the current relations between India and Britain are about two sovereign nations that have come a long way, adding that India’s economy is as big as Britain’s now. Saying there needs to be awareness about our real history, the MP added, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, how will you appreciate where you’re going.”
Tharoor also cited the example of students studying at an ‘A’ level, who are not taught of colonial history and the “atrocities”, or that Britain financed its industrial revolution and its prosperity from the depredations of empire. “Britain came to one of the richest countries in the world (India) in the early 18th century and reduced it, after 200 years of plunder, to one of the poorest,” he said.
In fact a YouGov poll found 43% of Brits thought the British Empire was a good thing, while 44% were proud of Britain's history of colonialism
The same poll also found 43% believed the British Empire was a good thing, 19% said it was bad and 25% said it was "neither".
At its height in 1922, the British empire governed a fifth of the world's population and a quarter of the world's total land area. Although the proponents of Empire say it brought various economic developments to parts of the world it controlled, critics point to massacres, famines and the use of concentration camps by the British Empire.
