Was it a glorious or inglorious Empire?
That was the hotly debated question at an event organised by Lord Bhikhu Parekh in Parliament last week, following Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s visit to the UK to promote the launch of his new book An Inglorious Empire.
Tharoor made headlines in 2015 after a speech at the Oxford Union, where he slammed Britain for its colonial past in India and demanded reparations for its actions.
Whilst Tharoor’s argument last week was very compelling, it was a one-sided argument that could – in the moment - convince most people that the British Empire was indeed “inglorious”. It is only on reflection that his case becomes significantly weaker.
Tharoor argues that India’s share of the world economy dropped from 23 to 4 per cent during the centuries of informal and formal British rule. He claimed that Britain ‘sucked away’ India’s prosperity. But India’s decline was less to do with the British Empire, and more to do with the rapid transformation of Western Europe by the Industrial Revolution. India was a largely agricultural economy that could not match an industrialising one for growth.
Tharoor went further and touched on the tremendous contribution that India and her soldiers played in the Second World War –a contribution that Tharoor claims helped Britain win the War and which India was never compensated for. But it’s worth noting that both Gandhi and Nehru supported Britain during the Second War, because they knew like the rest of India that it was in their interest to back Britain to avoid an invasion from fascist Germany at the time.
As a proud British Indian, who will forever remain grateful to this great country for allowing East Africans like myself to settle and prosper in Britain, I find such arguments very upsetting and unnerving. Before I am labelled by some as “Anti-Indian”, I would like to make clear that I agree that there were some dark sides to the British Raj –but there were many good sides too. It does not suit India to play victim, particularly at a time when India is about to embark on the global stage as a superpower. Quite frankly Tharoor’s rhetoric is demeaning and a little offensive to India. Is Tharoor saying that a country of India’s size, resources and populace are being held back by something that was decades ago?
India’s history is littered with invasions and ruling powers. Between the 12th and 16th centuries, large parts of India were conquered, first by armies from the Middle East, and then Turks, as well as the Mongols of Central Asia. Had the British not been in charge, India could have been another Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t a case of the British or democracy, more a case of which colonial power would rule India.
Tharoor is quick to condemn Winston Churchill, but he is also quick to dismiss the opportunities and security that the British Raj brought with it. Britain has left a strong history in India that has helped it to grow. You know the list: democracy, railways, the English language, strong and deep cultural links, the rule of law, cricket, the irrigation of Punjab, the establishment of great trading cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, the suppression of the sati practice. It certainly wasn’t all perfect, but it certainly wasn’t all bad either.
And Britain continues to help India in many ways since Independence, from DFID projects in the country to diplomatic support (has another nation been more committed to getting India a permanent place on the UN Security Council?) Just last week, Her Majesty hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the UK-India Year of Culture. The UK and India still have a deep bond – that many other former Empires like Germany and France do not have with their former colonies.
When I compare Rwanda – and it’s ‘no excuses’ approach – which has transformed itself in a little over twenty years since Genocide – and India, it is obvious to me that only one of those countries is focused on a better future and has shown consistent leadership and vision. In contrast, Indian politicians continue to look for someone else to blame. We should no longer bear the guilt burden of India’s short comings. Looking in the mirror might help.
The time to move on has come; forget the colonial gripes – imagined and real - and instead embrace the bright future that should be coming. It’s time for India to start shaping history, rather than being defined by it.
