8/28/2017 Legacy of colonialism haunts India, 65 years after independence — RT News

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Legacy of colonialism haunts India, 65 years after

independence
Published time: 15 Aug, 2012 04:01
Edited time: 15 Aug, 2012 11:55

Indian school children perform during celebrations on the eve of Independence Day at India-
Pakistan Wagah Border Post.(AFP Photo / Narinder Nanu) / AFP

30

People across India will hit the streets Wednesday in celebration. Colorful kites will
decorate the skies, symbolizing the country’s anniversary of freedom from British
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But 65 years on, some believe England’s colonialism still haunts the country.
While India has come a long way since gaining independence in 1947, it’s still
faced with ongoing hardships that were shaped by the British Empire's domination
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8/28/2017 Legacy of colonialism haunts India, 65 years after independence — RT News
faced with ongoing hardships that were shaped by the British Empire's domination
of the country.
Modern India has the second-fastest growing economy in the world, but according
to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2012 World Economic Outlook Report,
it's still a developing nation.
And more than six decades after the end of Britain’s colonial rule, the question
remains whether India’s economy would be better o had England never taken
over the country.
The Indian economy was the second-largest in the world – until the British arrived.
In fact, British economist Angus Maddison argues that India’s share of the global
income went from 27 per cent in 1700 to 3.8 per cent in 1950.
And while Europe and the US bene ted from the Industrial Revolution, India’s
economy stayed stagnant for 90 years.

Reasons for the country’s stagnation include Britain's establishment of an

agricultural base in India, thereby providing cheap raw materials to England at the
cost of local citizens.
A study by Maddison entitled “The Economic and Social Impact of Colonial Rule in
India” states that the British welcomed Indian economic development if it bene ted
their markets – but refused to help in areas where they saw con ict with their own
interests.
The direct results were devastating. India was left as an economically
underdeveloped nation marked by hunger, poverty, and a low national income.
Recovering from such devastation doesn’t happen overnight, and India is still
struggling to win its battle with poverty.
In 2011, the World Bank stated that 32.7 per cent of Indians live below the
international poverty line of $1.25 per day, while 68.7 per cent – about eight
hundred and thirty million people – live on less than $2 per day (this number
includes those living on $1.25 or less a day).
It’s a situation that is reminiscent – and perhaps a direct result – of the 40 famines
India faced under British rule, which led to the deaths of 59 million people.
Today, Britain is seemingly trying to make up for its less-than-impressive history
with India, sending the country approximately $439 million a year in aid.
While the handout may make London feel warm inside, it hasn’t been met with
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8/28/2017 Legacy of colonialism haunts India, 65 years after independence — RT News

open arms by New Dehli.

“We do not require the aid,” India’s Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said in a
statement to Parliament in February.
“It is a peanut in our total development exercises,” he said.
And Mukherjee isn’t the only one who feels this way.
“It’s a tiny amount, relative both to India’s needs and government spending. It’s not
that we don’t have a huge development problem – we do. But these are really
things that we must do with our own resources,” Economics Professor Jayati
Ghosh told RT.
“The amount of money the British provide is so little that it’s really not noticed,” she
said.
It’s these sentiments that have stung the egos of many who stand behind the UK’s
spending allowance to India.  
O icials at Britain’s Department for International Development told the Indian
government that canceling the spending would cause “grave political
embarrassment” for Britain, the Telegraph reported.
The UK seems keen on continuing to send money to India – which has many
wondering whether the country is still stuck in a colonial mindset.

“I think the notion that we are dependent on the former masters coming and dolling
out bits of money or advice to solve our poverty is mistaken… people don’t think
the US and Europe have all the answers anymore,” Ghosh said.
India’s freedom to defend itself as an independent nation is one of many reasons
the country will be celebrating on Wednesday. And as the festivities get underway,
many will undoubtedly take time to ponder how di erently India might look if its
history books were lled with a di erent story.

30

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Cyan Cherries
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Have you done an article on the e ects of colonization by the Russian Empire?  I am sure
it will be interesting reading.  The sections on Chechnya and Crimea, no doubt fascinating.
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