Shashi tharoor speech in parliament
An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi TharoorIn 1930, the American historian and philosopher Will Durant wrote that Britain’s ‘conscious and deliberate bleeding of India… [was the] greatest crime in all history’. He was not the only one to denounce the rapacity and cruelty of British rule, and his assessment was not exaggerated. Almost thirty-five million Indians died because of acts of commission and omission by the British—in famines, epidemics, communal riots and wholesale slaughter like the reprisal killings after the 1857 War of Independence and the Amritsar massacre of 1919.
Besides the deaths of Indians, British rule impoverished India in a manner that beggars belief. When the East India Company took control of the country, in the chaos that ensued after the collapse of the Mughal empire, India’s share of world GDP was 23 per cent. When the British left it was just above 3 per cent.
The British empire in India began with the East India Company, incorporated in 1600, by royal charter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, to trade in silk, spices and other profitable Indian commodities. Within a century and a half, the Company had become a power to reckon with in India. In 1757, under the command of Robert Clive, Company forces defeated the ruling Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal at Plassey, through a combination of superior artillery and even more superior chicanery. A few years later, the young and weakened Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II, was browbeaten into issuing an edict that replaced his own revenue officials with the Company’s representatives. Over the next several decades, the East India Company, backed by the British government, extended its control over most of India, ruling with a combination of extortion, double-dealing, and outright corruption backed by violence and superior force. This state of affairs continued until 1857, when large numbers of the Company’s Indian soldiers spearheaded the first major rebellion against colonial rule. After the rebels were defeated, the British Crown took over power and ruled the country ostensibly more benignly until 1947, when India won independence.
In this explosive book, bestselling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, ranging from the drain of national resources to Britain, the destruction of the Indian textile, steel-making and shipping industries, and the negative transformation of agriculture, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule, including democracy and political freedom, the rule of law, and the railways.
The few unarguable benefits—the English language, tea, and cricket—were never actually intended for the benefit of the colonized but introduced to serve the interests of the colonizers. Brilliantly narrated and passionately argued, An Era of Darkness will serve to correct many misconceptions about one of the most contested periods of Indian history.
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He said that a World Bank report based on per capita income still points to India as a low income nation and even countries like Sri Lanka had surpassed India, according to The Hindu. He also claimed that though the budgetary allocation for agriculture was increased, a major share of it went to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, or PM-Kisan, which gives Rs 6, as annual income support to farmers with less than two hectares of land. He said the scheme was not adequate to address the problems of farmers in the country.
Toggle navigation. India matters to me and I would like to matter to India. An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan's leadership of the organisation. Manifesto English. The Paradoxical Prime Minister. Why I am a Hindu.
The speech has gone viral on social media like Facebook and YouTube and has also prompted a vigorous debate. I standing here with eight minutes in my hands in this venerable and rather magnificent institution, I was going to assure you that I belong to the Henry VIII School of public speaking - that as Henry VIII said to his wives 'I shall not keep you long'. But now finding myself the seventh speaker out of eight in what must already seem a rather long evening to you I rather feel like Henry VIII's the last wife. I know more or less of what expected of me but I am not sure how to do it any differently. Perhaps what I should do is really try and pay attention to the arguments that have advanced by the Opposition today. We had for example Sir Richard Ottaway suggesting - challenging the very idea that it could be argued that the economic situation of the colonies was actually worsened by the experience of British colonialism. Well I stand to offer you the Indian example, Sir Richard.
In a passionate argument, Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor demanded reparation payments from the UK to India for years of its colonial rule.
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Attendance details of Shashi Tharoor (86% Attendance)
Like many in that condition, very often such people are in a state of denial. Who is going to tell this to the police, Mr Minister? As I said in Parliament, budget will never be a issue. MentalHealthcareBill,' Nadda tweeted. The bill, which seeks to decriminalise suicide attempts by the mentally ill, and provide for the right to better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Here is Dr Tharoor's entire speech -- please note it is an uncorrected version, which we publish in the public interest -- that every Indian must read. I thank you for allowing me to speak on the topic which, frankly, has not been easy for us as a society to deal with.