British Raj, the other side of the coin

Ask an Indian today “If you were to briefly describe the British rule in India how would you do it?”  He would say “It was an act that quashed the reason for the very existence of India and exploited its children to the extent that even the strongest amongst us did not have the chutzpah to fight against them. But thanks to the Indian super heroes who sacrificed their life’s to oust the English and made a dent in the fight for Indian Independence.”  Almost all would agree to it.

Now ask him another question “In the contemporary what do you feel is the importance of science, law, politics, automobiles, newspapers etc.” Obviously, these things would be intrinsic and incumbent tools for designing state policies that have earned India a significant position in the global market. An answer which would again be unanimous.

Science and technology in India is reaching astronomical heights and India is making limitless progress in almost every field. But in this errand achieving “limitless progress” what we have been remiss about is, ‘from where did we accomplish these necessaries? ’. The answer to it lies back in time when we were colonized by the English. These were attributes that we inherited from the English and use them so extensively as ‘parts of our life’ that without which we would be like a fish without water. We do rightly condemn them for the carnage in the 200 years that they ruled, but is that all they had done? When the British left us, they left us with the blue print of the today’s ‘Modern India’. They thought us to speak in English, the language of trade today. The seeds of railways, that today carries approximately 25million people per day, was sown in by them. Printing press, their study of oriental languages, which gained importance in Europe and other countries, educational institutes, the high court’s, the supreme courts, structuring of law and order find their origin in this period of their regime.

Albert Einstein said “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made “.But do we Indians owe to the English, without whom ‘Modern Science’ would have not flourished here in India? Prior to the British arrival, India had been a host to pellets of ruthless foreign invasions and the British invasion was the ‘Last’ among all of them. It was in this period that led, to the establishment of missionaries and churches, to the enhancement of science and law, to the removal of many egregious religious practices, to the construction of a present structure of courts and education system, to, “the fight for independence”. Had we not encountered the British colonialism, our great leaders would never have got a chance to study them and never would have been able to inculcate the felling of freedom in us and never could have our constitution taken shape.

There is no special predilection for the British among us, but at least the animosity towards them can be thwarted. The invasion of British has definitely brought a blot on their names but the blot must be abated and their contributions can atleast be considered as a quid pro quo for the carnage.