Indian Economy and Its History

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There is not a nation that has not been conquered or has not conquered any other. History, in itself, encompasses the rise and fall of States and Empires, and as a natural force, state building has always helped and hurt certain groups. And whether conquered or not, every nation or society has had the formation of classes – ranging from the elite to the plebeians. The post colonization Indian society too had four castes, with the Shudras being the most oppressed of all. Did we not see the brutality in such a society? It was a wave of Western colonialism and imperialism that occurred in tandem with industrial, scientific and political revolutions and the colonies were just unfortunate that such revolutions and organizations did not initiate within the borders of their country. Colonies, such as India by the British, and China by the Japanese, were just unfortunate that they were unable to adapt to the change across the globe. Who is to blame for the social change that is inevitable among the civilizations? A simple answer is no one. Such change is expected - sooner or later and in one country on another. The British in India were the elites and the Indians, largely oppressed. But what we do not seem to acknowledge is the fact that certain sections were the secondary elites in our own capacity. The British Indian Army for example was an all-volunteer army chosen to safeguard the interests of the Empire. And Indian bureaucrats, especially upper caste Hindus like Dr. Shashi Tharoor himself, who administered most of colonized India themselves, were the products of British imperialism and strived to reach the ranks of the British elites themselves. So saying that Indians were just victims is history gone horribly wrong. Indians were as much the beneficiaries of British Imperialism as they were the victims.

If there was a time to ask for reparations from Britain, then it was 1947. It is not today. Asking for reparations is a statement glorifying their superiority to us. We had terminated our relations with the British crown in 1950 with the commencement of our constitution when we disbanded all royal titles and declared ourselves a sovereign independent country. Putting all the blame on British for our shortcomings as a nation would have been justified in 1947, but today, while it is important to remember that British rule in India represents a dark time in Indian history, it does no good or makes any sense to ask them to pay for the brutality.