While we complain and whine about all things wrong with our country, which is well within our rights to do so, we also need to acknowledge the cost others paid to get us this freedom.
As per British Administration records, about 6000 British died in the Indian Mutiny. The casualty count for Indians is at 800,000. This includes figures for those who died during the mutiny and the subsequent uprising as well as in famines and epidemics that followed in its wake.
If we estimate excess mortality from 1891 to 1920, with the average death rate of the 1880s as normal mortality, we find some 50 million people lost their lives under the aegis of British capitalism," they write. "But this estimate must be considered conservative. India's 1880s death rate was already very high by international standards. If we measure excess mortality over England's 16th- and 17th-century average death rate, we find 165 million excess deaths in India between 1880 and 1920. This figure is larger than the combined number of deaths from both World Wars, including the Nazi holocaust.
The British colonial regime looted nearly $45 trillion from India from 1765 to 1938. The amount is 15 times the annual GDP of the UK today. Even if it wants, it still can't return India the money it looted to not only build itself as a major global power but also fund much of the development in the today's developed world.
The Indian peasantry and workers produced the second largest merchandise export surplus in the world for at least four decades from the 1890s," writes Patnaik. "But India was never permitted to show current account balance, leave alone current account surplus. These enormous exchange earnings, appropriated by the then world capitalist leader, Britain, allowed it to export capital to develop Europe and the regions of European settlement, despite its running large and rising current account deficits with these same regions. The rapid diffusion of capitalism was ensured thereby to what constitutes today's advanced countries.
With this amount of human and economic costs paid to attain the freedom that we have, let’s not forget the contributions of those who came before us and let’s not get blinded by party loyalties or religious identities to undermine what we got!
I wonder if there’s a statistic that looks at the number of attacks/rapes against women in India since then. Have we improved since?
Let's compare rape figures and attack figures per capita against the other countries even today. I don't think this has anything to do with independence. Having depraved souls around us is not a function of being an independent country or a colony of a white country.
Agreed. Nevertheless it could give us a view of where we stand as a humanity.
Ye thoda unnecessarily patriotic ho gaya, most Indians didn't even care for independence or freedom until 1800s and later. Many of them supported the British, many were in the British army as well fighting other Indians.
Indians are not homogeneous. They're all self serving and focus on their own communities mostly. They won't care if another community needs help or is suffering most of the time.
West Bengal hi dekh lo, the state of affairs there don't seem patriotic at all. State and central failure, law and order absent. Kahan ki independence and freedom. Sab nakli lagta hai.
Facepalm post of the decade. I suppose you are deeply concerned and would help everyone around you as you would help your family.
Local, religious , tribal identities are all self preservation mechanisms humans have developed for survival. One region not helping another does not mean I want to serve a white man as a coolie and pay taxes which are used for that country's economic development than mine. Don't even start about our taxes going waste or our high tax rates and all. That's an incorrect comparison.
For everyone in this thread, being cynical about independence, imagine having your next door neighbour taking control of your household, running it, telling you what to do.
It does not matter we are very many different groups of people under one banner on India, that does not mean that some colonial power exploits the locals and the local resources.
I am amazed at how people even interpret independence. Being independent does not mean we become benevolent towards your countryman all of a sudden and adopt communistic way of life, sharing your wealth and opportunities with them. It's against human nature and nothing to do with patriotism or feeling something for your country.
The definition of patriotism is loyalty and commitment towards one's country. That literally comes above individualistic tendencies. Thinking about your people before yourself.
The state of our country today is such that we cannot even express ourselves freely, hence we are communicating on an anonymous platform. Freedom of expression has been hammered down over time unquestionably. It is literally someone else telling us what we should and shouldn't do. Many states of India are being unequally exploited and some people more than others.
But you are right, being independent does not make us automatically patriotic. It is against human nature. It will be a long while before we even come close to that word and its true definition. Until then we can only watch in silence while Manipur, Kashmir, West Bengal and other states suffer.
Great post OP!
Curious to know the source for the economic cost of colonialism. While it's true that the British stole generations of wealth, I keep seeing various figures. So I just wanted to understand how people arrive at these figures and where the sources are from.
Let's be realistic, 90 percent of stuff you mentioned is there available in 99% of countries so what makes us great.i still remember those days when I was a kid , I used to feel proud but now , not anymore.people in power or with money misuse law, they can hit and run over someone with a car and get to write essay as punishment, women gets raped and people will blame the women, I lost my respect or love for this country. india is not worth it.
I know these problems also exist in most of the countries, so there is nothing that makes it great or worth it's people's love , I live here I pay tax I use it's stuff and that's it , at this point it's just a trade of mutual interest.
Today’s India is not a reflection of the cost paid for independence. We can and should be outraged at what’s happening today but let’s not downplay the cost of freedom.
Is this really needed now ?
What’s your take on this in general and how it will effect in overall brand name in front of other countries..
A government that is obsessed with PR has just launched a rebranding campaign for the entire nation.
Nothing against anyone, neither the current government nor the previous government.
First I have to give tax on my salary, then the indirect tax on every single thing I buy.
Bought a term insurance, for every premium I pay there's a 18...
British ruled India but now whole of the West rules India by hiring slaves. Pay in rupees earn in dollars. No need to physically attack the country.
Apparently this company is planning to go head to head against openai and Google as an AI chat app using India's data resources. What do you all think about this?
