The British left in 1947, and they left too soon. We celebrate Independence Day, but another six decades of dependence as Great Britain’s colony would have been good for us. We could have learnt how to run cities. No harm in admitting what is obvious for all to see: We cannot even manage traffic.
Mumbai, not Hong Kong, would have been the centre for finance in Asia, instead of the second-rate city it has become since the British left.
Delhi would have more bits like the ones the British built, the only elegant parts of the city, just as British South Bombay is the only elegant part. Cities such as Surat and Ahmedabad and Hyderabad and Indore would have become civilized. Under English and Scottish bureaucrats, architecture, certainly civic architecture, would not be as ugly as it is.
About Bombay, history says that around 1860, when Sir Bartle Frere was the city’s governor, he received a letter from Florence Nightingale congratulating him on the low death rate in his city, lower than any European city, including London. She jokingly tells Frere that she will soon have to begin suggesting that sick Europeans should shift to Bombay to improve their health.
Today, Mumbai is famous for its slums, its filth, its impossible traffic, and for flooding up with every rain.
Every Indian city, every town, and even every hill-station is a disaster today.
Our habitat has been destroyed.
Our civilization is a great big almighty mess.
The blame must fall on those who occupied the “commanding heights” in this centralized State - and from these dizzying heights pursued that great big nonsense called "rural development."
And it is certainly not true that our “freedom” has been augmented. The current regime practices “economic repression.” The World Economic Freedom Index says we are “mostly unfree.”
This means that there is nothing to celebrate today.
Anyway, it's a "dry day."
An article which does not have any substance.nonsense article
ReplyDeleteAnyone that signs a post or a comment as "Anonymous" is a coward!
ReplyDeleteIts indeed disppointing to know that even sixty two years beyond Independence, we have a healty appetite to be slaves! This kind of touching master-servant acknowledgement, that still wishes for a Lord So and So to be India's Viceroy and Queen Elizabeth's bust on our coins!
ReplyDeletePerhaps the author has forgotten that though British rule might have been in his opinion an aesthtic success; it also heralded acute economic exploitation, impoverishment and crippling blow to Indian industry. The ulterior motive of British colonialism had always been purely monetary- to find a market to sustain the British industry, and do it by any possible means.
Finally, I would rather fight economic repression against New Delhi than against London. I am proud of India. We may not have the most elegant cities, but I have stayed for around a year in London and I can tell you that all that glisters is not gold; and in many ways we are better off. Demographically, we have the largest cohort of youth compared to aeging populations in Europe, US and Japan. We are currently sustaining a growth rate almost double that of 'developed' countries.
But you know what- what I am most proud of is that I have an Indian flag to salute than the Union Jack. That I have a 'Jana Gana Mana' intead of a 'Lord Save the Queen'.
No country is ever perfect. And that is no reason to denounce it.
I denounce this The State - not the nation, not the country and certainly not the people, whom I have just praised although they are largely illiterate.
ReplyDeleteIt is as a Government that I praise the British.
So get it straight, Pseudonomous and Anonymous.
Thank you, Cris.
I am certainly at a loss as to why the crisis of identity of your blog visitors seems to be of such acute importance to you; unless ofcourse you intend to pursue your detractors to a more diabolical conclusion!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, like it or not, we live in a democracy; and howsoever stunted it may be, the government is made from the wishes of the people and is representative of the country. So technically, denouncing the 'State' and appreciating the 'people' and the 'country' is a logical contradiction in a democratical set-up!
Moreover, if you consider the apathetic condition of the road next to your house the sole fault of the Parliament- think again; the guy who litters the street is an equivalent criminal!
So perhaps, you could extend to your article, that it is ALSO the British public whom you greatly appreciate for their apparent disposition and sophistication!
Dear Pseudonymous:
ReplyDeleteAbout democracy: I do not believe in it. You sound like a schoolboy in Class 2 who has just been taught "Civics" by a government teacher reading out from a government approved textbook. I have carefully read, many times over, Hans_Hermann Hoppe's "Democracy: The God That Failed". You must read it too.
Anyway, I have been to Geneva and seen Rousseu's statue there. Even Rousseau would not called our centralized The State democratic. Democracy means the diffusion of power - as in Switzerland - and not its concentration, as here in India.
And I just chucked an empty beer can on the street outside my house. I pay lots privately to our residents' association for sweeping up our internal streets.
Private property.
This article seems to be suggesting that we dont have any reason to celebrate since we have perhaps many problems that are still not tackled.But one can also list down many achievements that India has registered since its independence (are they not good enough reason for us to celebrate?) I would like the author to prove his hypothesis that we would have been better off if we were under British Rule. U could not prove it by looking at few instances. It has to be concrete-What makes him think we would have been socially, economically, politically, technologically n also in terms of quality of life better off had we still been under British rule.Instead of calling somebody coward, one should better focus on substance.
ReplyDeletePseudonymous: You take pride in a centralized socialist democratic The State. And Manish: What indeed are our The State's "achievements" over 62 years that we can be proud of? Name one.
ReplyDeleteI once shared a train compartment with some jawans of the army, 10 years ago, and they too thought that our The State was the pits. They are all "mercenary soldiers" not patriots. Indeed, under socialism, most professions, including journalism, have turned mercenary. True patriotism lies elsewhere - in standing up against our The State. We need a Second Freedom Struggle.
Cannot say anything about British rule but after independence there is nothing to celebrate. There will be always minor improvements but that is not what independence should mean.
ReplyDeleteVishal
One of the key achievements is to allow people to criticize it without any consequences. Dont you think it is a big achievement? If you want more,I can list them too. My question is still unanswered. could you prove your hypothesis?
ReplyDeletewithout any consequences?. are you nuts manish?. try saying something against vajpayee's knees. the secret service came down to visit alex perry. speak against raj thuggeray -ou'll see nirvana. speak against ms handbags of lucknow.you'll be thrown into the slammer. speak against indira goondhi, congress goons are going to kick your sorry butt.
ReplyDeletesay something against shivaji on orkut,you'll visit the slammer and receive no apology.
the freedom of speech is useless without the right to offend.
india's land records system was created and existed in the world of the ICS.the socialist IAS has consigned them to the dustbin of history.
btw, there was nothing noble about the British state in india either. there were a few good ICS officers.but the top brass was just like any other bureaucracy or powermonger.
who can forget montagu norman who created the currency crisis in india and lead to the bengal famine.not to mention the british and americans ganging up to create the bretton woods system.india,if it were truly free,would chuck this monetary yoke and stop being the vassals of the dollar.now we have ex-imf and worldbank worthies ruling the nation. the country is still ruled by slaves
FREEDOM STRUGGLE IT IS THEN!
ReplyDeleteWith due respect Sir, if my opinion sounded like a Class 2 civics student, your view reminds me of West Bengal's famous Left politicians- making a decadent state that is only prosperous in fancy verse, theory and eternal 'struggle'!
I am not saying that democracy is perfect. My unlettered background does not allow me to quote great names or books. So the finer aspects and nuances of democracy escape me, and I cannot indulge in an academic debate.
But what I do know is that I am much better off than oppressed citizens in lots of other countries that have a hijacked democracy- like Myanmar, Iran or until recently, Afghanistan. Without delving into the specifices, most of the turmoil in these nations were born out of charming concepts of 'revolution'. We may not have your fancy Swiss mechanisation of democracy, but we do have a stable polity, albeit not a perfect one.
And finally, I am defintely better off than a system where my prime minister is going to be elected by the British parliament! I cannot imagine UK's Gordon Brown thinking of Indian interests with the same sympathy with which Manmohan Singh does!
I am sure your revolution has received a great kick start from your throwing of the empy beer bottle out of your window. If people throw litter on the street and then justify it by saying that they pay Municipal taxes......yes, I agree with you, we need a revolution.
It is on historical record that RC Dutt, an ICS officer, wrote an article or two criticizing the British government.
ReplyDeleteIt is also on record that Lord Curzon responded in writing, in the same paper, and that He "blew his opponent's ship out of the waters."
Where was a Bengali free to do so even under Siraj-ud-Daula, tell me?
Dear Pseudonymous: In reality, our The State is out of control. Over 150 districts are under "Maoists." Vast peripheral areas are under secessionist movements, and in chaos, like Manipur or Kashmir. And, as Dyslexic points out, even our cities are not free. We are actually ruled by goon squads.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to say that we are better than Burma or Afghanistan, but I have met people who say that Costa Rica is much better and that traffic is much better controlled in Sri Lanka.
Frankly, I am in agreement with the comment made by Vishal Singh above:
"... after independence there is nothing to celebrate. There will be always minor improvements but that is not what independence should mean."
Further, at the time of independence we were much better off than China, and much of the then underdeveloped world, in terms of railways, urbanization, industrialization and even fiscal health: the treasury was full. All this was dissipated by "capital consumption" under socialist planners.
ReplyDeleteWe were UP THERE in 1947.
We are in a HELL HOLE in 2009.
And that's the TRUTH.
i agree that ours is not a perfect democracy. for that matter, no country has perfect democracy. However, i dont agree with the claim that we dont have freedom to offend at all. dont u have freedom to voice your opinion against government policies at all? have you never seen any article in newspaper or a group of people publicly criticizing raj thakerey or Indira's policies? Please do some search you will find many books that openly criticize Indira Gandhi? If there were no freedom to offend in India, how could you have such article posted?
ReplyDeleteBeside, Since the hypothesis stated in article is not proved, do you still believe " we have no reason to celebrate" ?
Before British Rule, do u know where India stood?
ReplyDeleteThe known Economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley civilization. At this time, India had the first known cities.
Ancient and medieval India exported textiles, steel and iron works to Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia in exchange for gold and silver.
During the Maurya Empire, trade routes became more secure and the road system was expanded.
Mughal India had one of the largest economies in the world at the time. It had a tax and administrative system for the whole of India.
526
During this period, Mughal India was the second largest economy in the world. The gross domestic product of India in the 16th century was estimated at about 24.5% of the world economy, in comparison to Ming China's 25% share.[6][7]
[edit]1600
An estimate of India's pre-colonial economy puts the annual revenue of Emperor Akbar's treasury in 1600 at £17.5 million, in contrast to the entire treasury of Great Britain in 1800, which totalled £16 million. The gross domestic product of Mughal India in 1600 was estimated at about 22.6% the world economy, in comparison to Ming China's 29.2% share.[6][7]
[edit]1700
By this time, the Mughal Empire expanded to almost 1,000 million acres (4,000,000 km2), or 90 per cent of South Asia, and a uniform customs and tax administration system was enforced. Annual revenue reported by the Emperor Aurangzeb's exchequer exceeded £100 million in 1700 (twice that of Europe then). Thus, India emerged as the world's largest economy, followed by Manchu China and Western Europe.
Manish: I have bowled the bodyline ball. You have to defend yourself.
ReplyDeletePlease tell us all what exactly we have to "celebrate" about 62 years of Chacha Nehru's The State.
I celebrated today. I celebrated the Black Market. Today is a Dry Day in Delhi, but the Black Market got me two chilled beers.
So I am celebrating.
Are you?
The hypothesis is still not proven.Responding to the comment that India was up there in 1947, I strongly suggest that one should get his history right( its better if one should look at complete picture rather than highlighting those facts that support one's predetermined ideological notion. some more facts:
ReplyDeleteBritish Rule
The British colonial rule created an institutional environment that did stabilize the law and order situation to a large extent. The British foreign policies however stifled the trade with rest of the world. They created a well developed system of railways, telegraphs and a modern legal system. The infrastructure the British created was mainly geared towards the exploitation of resources of India. By the end of the colonial rule India inherited an economy that was one of the poorest in the world and totally stagnant, with industrial development stalled, agriculture unable to feed a rapidly accelerating population. They were subject to frequent famines, had one of the world's lowest life expectancies, suffered from pervasive malnutrition and were largely illiterate.
GDP estimates
An estimate by Angus Maddison, formerly of Groningen University, reveals that India's share of the world income went from 24.4% in 1700, comparable to Europe's share of 23.3%, to a low of 3.8% in 1952
the rulers of today's india are no inheritors of the glory of ancient india. they are statists seeking validation from other statists in europe or america.
ReplyDeletewhy do we celebrate india's independence by watching the pm taking a salute and and the military parade ?.
it sounds like tv footage from ex-communist countries.
Manish: British India was open to the world. Tata Steel was built with American know-how. American, German, Italian and French automobiles roamed British India. Think of Chacha Nehru's India till 1991, and you'll get the difference.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, The Germans were ruling in the leather industry and the Japs too has made headway in other areas.
About the Brits "exploiting" natural resources: look at Tata Steel then and the mining sector now. Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Durgapur, Burnpur... these were all well governed cities. Look at them under mafia raj now.
Or look at iron ore mining on the western ghats. Look at Orissa and Jharkhand - both rich in natural resources. Look at the fuss over "Reliance" gas.
It is these guys who are "exploiting" India's natural resources. All these should be governed by private property rights.
I will celebrate Independence because:
ReplyDelete1.India is now among world's top ten economies.
2. India has successfully nurtured its high-end human capital for technological learning and is poised for a smooth transition to a
knowledge economy
3. Right to Information Act
4. Democratic set up - though it is still maturing.
5. Technological( IT, Telecom Industry) n scientific capabilities India has built since Independence.
The funny thing is that for every idea, for every point of view, there will have to be a counter-theory.
ReplyDeleteFo instance, our current economic growth would have never been achieved as a British colony. I consider that something worth celebrating. Now, for what I call glittering economic growth, I am sure the much antagonised Mr Chakraverti will have his figures of poverty and farmer suicides ready! And I cannot deny them, but neither can I discount the economic scenario improving beyond the infamous Hindu rate of growth!
My point to you sir, as well as to Vishal and Dsylexic is that our analysis of our freedom is very relative. For a guy in the Swat valley who until recently was not allowed to listen to music under Taliban rule, we live in jannat. For a protestor in Iran who is currently in a doctored trial broadcast by a doctored official news channel- he will have a good laugh over our petty complaints. You, sir tell me with I suspect a gleeful delight of India falling apart. I am sure the same you would write an eloquent blog post against a State that behaves with the stentotarian Chinese Tinammein tactic against dissenters.
In all countries, under all forms of governance- speaking out and acting against the ruling party, whether that be Mr Chakraverti's State, or the Junta or the British government, or even the haloed White House- will attract opposition. In some cases, it is very stiff, and there is an utter crackdown of civil liberties; whereas in other cases the response is measured. I am not being unrealistically optimistic when I second Manish and feel that we are simply being grumpy and unappreciative.
India of the colonial rule is a bit like we were when we were kids, under our parents' strict supervision. As an adult, not all decisions taken are the best. You may start smoking, or drinking; perhaps even gambling that perhaps your parents would have never permitted. And then you will learn and better yourself. But to use that argument and say, "Guess what, as an independent adult-you are doing stuff messily. You were much better when you had to ask for pocket money from Dad!", is according to me a ridiculous proposition.
I am quite tired of being called 'Dear Pseudonymous' when my real name is Aurodeep! I grant you victory there Sir!
independent adult?.sorry you just a brown set of minders instead of white. all the progress india has made in the last few years is DESPITE the state.
ReplyDeletei think you make the very common mistake of confusing the people of a nation with its state.
taaliban?.really?. is that what you want to compare with.
why dont we rest on our laurels then.we are better off than quite a few countries. thats grand achievement for a nation that was the number one econonomy less than 150 years back
I would like dear Dsylexic to prove his statement that all the progress India has made in the last few years is Despite the state. Please back your statement with appropriate theory and facts. Then we have more to learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you just go and live in the great and mighty land of the Queen then and enjoy being treated like a second rate "brown skinned" citizen, and be called a Packi. That would probably teach you what being free in your own country really means. We clearly don't need people who promote the black market (that's probably where you get your supply of ganja too), AND then take pride in littering their own neighborhood, and want the local municipality to clean up after them. If they don't, you conveniently blame the "state" for it.
ReplyDeleteWe may not have the perfect state, nobody does. (the comparison to Switzerland is juvenile. They dont have a population of 1billion to start with). but I would much rather face the chaotic city traffic than live in a city with grandiose buildings that I can only admire from afar and not even be allowed to enter.
They did not build those buildings for us. They did it for themselves. Dont the cynics get it?
If you really think we were "there" in 1947, think again. How come England isn't "there" in 2009?
Mr Dsylexic,
ReplyDeleteIts not just the Taliban that merits comparison. India is infact much better than a host of countries. Allow me to cite from my experience. For the last year, I have been in London. One would imagine that England is this perfect, wonderful place to live in.
But what's the reality? Britain has turned into Broken Britain with a remarkably number of high teenage pregnancies. With a torn social fabric, the number of single mothers or motherless kids, or still worse kids doing DNA tests to determine determine father- is phenomenal. England has one of the highest consumption of alcohol(read Binge Drinking), so much that it threatens to unsettle an entire generation of youth, and is now considered a health and safety hazard. Knife crime in streets is so high, that new legislation is being talked of to contain it. Walk out in streets in London in the night, and it is most likely that you will either be mugged by rival gangs on the streets, or be meeting retail drug sellers there. And this is not some backward part of London that I am talking of. This is central London, with all your fancy Westminister abbeys and Big Bens! Because the government doles out huge benefits for the unemployed, the lower strata of the society are perfectly content sitting at home, minding time, having some beer and receiving the benefit cheque at the end of the week. UK has the highest population of utter sloths. Obesity here is as serious a problem, if not more than what malnutrition is in some African nations. Their National Health Service is battling a losing war against obesity and smoking.
UK economy is in slumps. The Bank of England is frantically printing more and more notes. Unemploymenty has reached alarming figures. The Government is making speeches and helplessly watching the disaster unfold.
Mr Dsylexic, I don't know if all this is because of the people or the State. Frankly I don't care! But all this makes me feel that my India is much better off! We may not have elegant roads and buildings; or politicians that speak Queen's English wearing suits; or lovely trains and wonderful countryside.... But in my opinion, we are far, far better than the UK of today.
So perhaps you can be a little bit more proud of the India 150 years into today, instead what a glorious 150 years of economic bliss has got UK into today. And its not just with UK, or Afghanistan. For every country, you will find some things better and some things worse than India. The point is the way you look at things. India can be a superpower in a decade and you will still not be content with what the Indian (State/People/Cattle) may have acheived in 160 years!
And finally as an epilogue, a party called the British Nationalist Party is recently gaining some support in UK. Their one point agenda- flush out all immigrants from UK, all Indians, Somalians, Pakistanis, Chinese- all neeed to be driven out!
Dyslexic, I don't know about you, but I prefer India!
There is yet another issue in the context of celebrating Independence Day - and that is Patriotism: I am an Indian, I am proud to be an Indian, and more mindless (not to mention dangerous) stuff like that. Patriotism is the worst kind of chauvinism. It's like saying I am a hindu and proud to be a hindu. Please.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, Independence Day celebrations are hardly relevant any more. To today's youth it's just a historical fact. Okay, it's great we are no ruled by white men, many of whom considered us natives in the worst possible sense. But it's over and done with. It's today that matters, or should matter to politicians.
ReplyDeletelet see the achievement of modern india in the last 15 years: s/w and telecom -they survive and thrive mainly because there were no state ministries to manipulate them.wherever the state has receded, there has been great success.agriculture,roads,education -anything the state meddles with has been a resounding failure.
ReplyDeletelet me know the great success of the state - now dont point out IIT.There have been many studies which show how the opportunity cost of educating a bunch of already talented kids and sending them over to the west has been at the cost of basic literacy for millions of people.
when india and korea got independence in 1947,korea was much poorer.but india govt adopted a socialist way ahead and commanded us to the depths of poverty in the 70s.
and i hold no love for the british way of life or the future of britain.my opinion is that it is dismal and it is staring at a socialist hellhole as well. the dramatic decline of the british empire is a testimony to it. there were flashes of sanity like when thatcher served the brits.
the point sauvik was probably making was not that britain is a better nation -far from it.
just that the british raj atleast had some sense of governance.
now we have minimal governance with all the haughty arrogance of all ruling masters.
That is my precise point, Dyslexic - that British raj was much, much better than Congress raj. And there is a simple reason for this - they followed the principles of classical liberal political economy. These socialist-statists got all the principles wrong and messed up.
ReplyDeleteThese are the lessons of the immediate past that are relevant to note as we comprehend a better future. They tell us of errors we must avoid.