After All, The Raj Is Dead

Colonialism was horrific. But a confident India should move past the decolonisation debate

- Sagarika Ghose

The debate on ‘decolonisation’ is on. Yet in the 21st century, is debating decolonisation that relevant, when nations like India are so confident? A more important task is perhaps learning from each other’s best practices.

The open racial humiliation and systematic exploitation of India by the British Raj were horrific. Yet even at the height of the freedom struggle both Gandhi and Nehru were at pains to emphasise they had no quarrel with the British people, however implacably they opposed imperialism. In fact, Gandhi urged the English to stay on in independent India, not as colonial masters but as equals. Today, 75 years on, people-to-people contacts between India and Britain are at an all-time high.

Critiquing the empire

Britons and British universities critique the empire.

● In a widely shared video in India, British talk show host John Oliver is seen delivering a searing satire on imperialist Britain’s ‘theft’ of the Kohinoor diamond.

● British author William Dalrymple has opened many eyes to the rampant exploitation of India by the East India Company.

● Several Indian-origin academics who have written knowledgeably on imperialist oppression carry out their work supported by British universities and publishers. Actually, genuine decolonisation is about values and change in mindsets. In that sphere, there’s plenty India’s politicians can do.

Colonial legacies that need rooting out