According to the book quoted in this article, British imperialism claimed "almost 10 million people over 10 years beginning in 1857." Whatever the numbers, it is hard to reconcile with the bloodiest assault on India by an alien invader.
A very valid observation in that article,
"Others say Misra has done well to unearth anything in that period, when the British assiduously snuffed out Indian versions of history. There appears a prolonged silence between 1860 and the end of the century where no native voices are heard. It is only now that these stories are being found and there is another side to the story," said Amar Farooqui, history professor at Delhi University.
In school, we were taught that the "actual freedom struggle" began roughly around the time when the Indian National Congress was formed. What does that say about what happened during the intervening period?
The full extent of British atrocity on the soul of India needs to be documented. What has already been uncovered is horrifying enough…
Tags: Commentary, History, Miscellaneous
That documentation should include the atrocities carried out by the “kale ingraj” (Brown sahib in marathi) since our independence (not the same as freedom).
After knowing fully well the atrocities that the british had wrought on India, it is very sad that Manmoron Singh, continues to praise them sky high just for the morsel they throw at his way (a Phd given to him). Britain needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves and not shown any undue respect/favours by our politicians.
I guess the point is - How do we treat such information in the context of today’s realities?
From the looks of it, even if we take the numbers to be 50% of what Misra says it is..it’s 5 million.
This brings us close to the Jewish Shoah of 6 odd million.
All of it intentional. Even if planning was haphazard in the British case.
We are talking about “limited scale” genocide by the British.
The normal “International” course of action widely recommended and used, is a public apology by the Head of State of the offending Nation. I am not certain if Britain has rendered such an apology.
Another, would be reparations. This is mainly affected by the victorious side. Not sure if Indians want to even take that route.
A unilateral action would be to raise a monument. This will certainly draw attention if our leaders cultivate the habit of making official visits. A “bad” analogy would be the Yasukuni Shrine. Visits there draw much attention.
I was reading a book about taxation in British India of early 19th century. Today vast tract of land around Madras is said to be semi-arid, where nothing much of significance grows. (I recall from my train travels that the landscape does get unattractive as the train approaches the city). Apparently this was not the case once upon a time; it was fertile and well-tended to land.(Mylapore, south of Ft St George, was internationally reputed as a city of riches.) However, in the early 1800s, tax policies were so inhuman that farmers had to pay MORE in taxes than what they produced, and so they abandoned the land and farming.
And the 1857 Mutiny wasn’t the first rebellion. There were quite a few before that.
This comment is a bit late for this article (on 24 Sept 07), but it is relevant. There is a clutch of Brit tourists who are visiting various sites conencted with the 1857 war and celebrateing “victories” i.e. fall of Meerut, Agra etc to the Brits and planting memorial plaques lauding their ancestors subjugating the nasty little heathens. There is a furore, but only in the desi press, about this reopening of wounds. The “elite” press is either playing down this, or totally blanking it out. This carries the atithi devo bhava thing a bit too far. What next? Japanese tourists visiting Nanking to celebrate thier vaictory?