POLITICS & HISTORY
Empire: History Gone Full Circle BENJI DRYER
In 1947 on the cusp of Indian Independence, Winston Churchill reportedly said “all Indian leaders will be of low calibre & men of straw”. Despite this, on the 25th of October 2022, a man whose grandfathers were born in Punjab province, was appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and leader of the party Churchill himself once led – twice. As India prepares to celebrate 75 years of independence from British colonial rule, this is a year more significant than ever. Issues over the legacy of imperialism mean that both countries share a deeply complicated past, and the remnants of discontent, of course, remain. Therefore, what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak represents in a wider sense and Britain as a post-imperial power ought to be re-examined. Empires by their definition are where one state dominates over another. For many former subjects of the British Empire, colonialism will always have negative connotations for understandable reasons. The direct consequences of divide and rule mean some of the most damaging echoes of Empire exist today, most notably the partition of India and Pakistan. The British took almost 300 years to establish rule in India, comparatively, it took only 70 days or so for them to leave. Despite reluctance to hand over independence, this demonstrates
just how dramatic the collapse of Empire was. The British Empire would be characterised for many Indians by tragedies such as the ‘Amritsar massacre’ and greed, failing to lift many Indians out of extreme poverty. Nevertheless, the British left behind a language (which has facilitated a more inter-connected, globalised world), legal systems and some incredible infrastructure. Comparatively, the ‘American Empire’ withdrawal from Afghanistan left behind airstrips, shipping containers, guns, and the Taliban in charge; the common denominator is that each irreversibly scarred their subjects. One thing that Britain can take away from these events is the importance of understanding history in the context of both the present and the past. Empire paints an increasingly bleak picture at times, but polarised attitudes to its history are by no means helpful. On the one hand, Empire cannot be viewed from a set ideology, but people should be free to speak out about Empire without being denounced as “woke”. Sathnam Sanghera, a well-known critic of Empire, acknowledges that it is impossible to judge Empire as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Ultimately, to understand Britain, the two (Empire and Britain) are intertwined, with Britain’s multi- racial society and Prime Minister of Indian descent indicative of this.
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