| | Compared to the Islamists , the British were definitely benevolent . But where did I try to equate them ? Why are words being put in my mouth ? I said they were both in India to plunder what they could . Was I wrong ? Maybe you don't know of the sort of laws that were enacted when the British came to power . Let me give you some examples .
The Brits set up a coercive monopoly on the sale and processing of cotton . They has a declared monopoly on opium , and farmers were not allowed ( by law ) to sell it to anyone else . Another infamous example is indigo - farmers who would otherwise have grown food were commanded ( by force of arms ) to grow indigo - which , due to the lack of modern farming techniques , caused the land to become fallow for a period of two to three years . Another one is the salt law - only certain British enterprises could manufacture salt , and no Indian could manufacture salt or own any salt beds . In fact , it was illegal to even take a gallon of seawater home and dry it to get salt ! Some economic freedom , that .
All Indian publications were censored , and anyone found writing anti-Brit material was punished .
Ever heard of the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre ? Where a large group of unarmed , peaceful protestors were holding a meeting in a small , closed garden , and the infamous General Dyer ordered his troops to surround the place , block the only exit , and then to open fire on the protestors , killing a huge number , including the women and children ( a link to the Wiki article : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amritsar_Massacre ) ?
About the wealth remark - India's GDP as a percentage of the world economy was reduced from the pre-British figure of 22 % ( at that time , the whole of Europe accounted for 23 % ) to 2 % at the time of independence . So yes , India was wealthy .
The institutions which the British set up in India ( which were to later save our ass ) were not useful to any Indian before independence . They were applicable only to Brits residing in India , and if you were an Indian , there wasn't much scope for justice ( unless you were some noble favoured by the Brits or something ) . I admit , however , that they were immensely useful ( and could have been said to have kept the country together ) after independence .
Still , the Islamists were much , much worse . Again , I never tried to equate Islamic invaders and British invaders . Which of my remarks gave anyone that idea ?
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