British colonialism has changed the fate of many countries around the world, one of them being India. The British were responsible for decimating the economy, spreading diseases and poverty, and using the strategy “divide and conquer,” to split an entire nation.
Let’s focus on how the economy suffered first. Laxman D. Satya, a professor in the Department of History, has written about private British companies building and owning railroads in India. The British invested around 150 million euros in it, which became the “single largest investment in the British Empire.” There was a “guarantee system” which made a promise to its stockholders that the Indian taxpayers would cover any losses if the business performed poorly. India had to bear the loss, whereas the railway company and English stockholders received the benefit. This example illustrates how the British exploited India and used them for their own benefit whilst annihilating the Indian economy. As Laxman puts it, it was a “heads-I-win, tails-you-lose proposition.” Economic historian, Utsha Patnaik, claims in a paper published in 2018, that over the duration of colonization, the British had stolen around $45 trillion from India. This much money could have been used for things like developing the country further. Alongside the economy, the people were suffering as well, due to diseases and poverty.
I’m sure we are all aware of a disease called Malaria, and how deadly it is. Unfortunately, this disease spread rapidly due to the British. According to the National Library of Medicine, fever was “one of the leading causes of deaths in India.” The report also states that in the 19th century, the situation worsened with one of the contributing factors being “the establishment of the railways and irrigation network by the British government of India without keeping in view the efficient drainage systems for floods and rainwaters.” Due to this, there were many reservoirs of freshwater for the “propagation of mosquitos.” Obviously, the British greatly contributed to the spread of malaria through this system which led to the death of nearly 1 million people during the time period. Along with diseases ruining India, poverty was no less. Congress party leader and writer, Shashi Tharoor, who has been very outspoken on the effects of British colonialism, stated that “200 years of British rule had reduced India from its glory of one of the richest countries in the world, to the poorest one, and their claims of bringing development and political unity was false as the British had done nothing intended for the benefit of India or Indians.” Tharoor continues to state that India was “a country which had 23 percent of global GDP… a country where poverty was unknown.” Before the British came, India was prospering, and successful, they never needed the British to help “improve” their country. Tharoor added a crucial statement that “”The history of British era is needed to be retold, as a large number of youngsters of the 21st century still think that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was some sort of hero of freedom or that people died in famines in India because of reasons endemic to India, without realizing that 35 million people died as a
result of deliberate British policy,” Undoubtedly, the British had brought poverty into a country filled with riches, but what happened when they started to divide people?
According to BBC, “when Britain granted India independence in 1947, the territory it had ruled over was divided, or partitioned, into India, and the new state of Pakistan (with East Pakistan later becoming Bangladesh.” Now, why did the partition happen? Well, Prof. Navtej Purewall, from the Arts and Humanities Research Council says that “The British used religion as a way of dividing people in India into categories. For example, they created seperate Muslim and Hindu lists of voters for local elections. There were seats reserved for Muslims and seats reserved for Hindus.” He continues to explain that “Religion became a factor in politics.” This forced separation turned into animosity between Muslims, who were a quarter of the population, and Hindus who made up most of the population. Soon, the Muslims wanted their own country, which the British decided was fine. The problem was that when India was divided, the border went through the provinces of Punjab and Bengal. When it came to the majority of Muslims leaving India to go to Pakistan while Hindus, Sikhs, and other people left Pakistan to go to India, there was an extreme amount of violence which led to the death of 2 million people. Stanford even states that the 1947 partition was the “largest mass migration in human history.” This much bloodshed and cruelty in the name of religion, made it a tragic event which my grandmother’s family has gone through as well. I remember sitting and listening to stories that my grandmother would tell my sister and I. After listening to those stories, I was very disturbed and wondered why people would do such barbaric things. Now, I understand how this hatred was formed and the politics behind it. Even today, it is common knowledge that India and Pakistan are considered enemies. But we need to address the root cause of all this hostility, British colonialism. Of course, there is nothing we can do about the past, but what we can do, which is what I am doing as of this moment, is recognizing how India was so brutally treated and acknowledge that India was indeed destroyed by British colonialism. Thank you for listening.
Prneeta Chhina
June 29th, 2024