Editorial

Laying the colonial past to rest

Sixty-four years ago, Britain's dominion in South Asia came to a close and the region evolved into the independent states of India and Pakistan. The end result was not inevitable or predictable — the subcontinent could have been transformed into any number of independent states — but it has proved irreversible.

At the time there was no shortage of prophets of doom, including many who predicted that the leaders of the two countries, unable to cope with the responsibility of running their own affairs, would beg the British to return. They were proved wrong, as were the editors of a prominent British newspaper who loftily proclaimed a promising future for Pakistan and the opposite for India.

Why the reverse has proved to be the case demands the attention of several doctoral dissertations, but it is worth considering the political systems that have prevailed in the two countries. Pakistan has lurched from dictatorship to dictatorship, with one military ruler after another proclaiming himself a political messiah entrusted with his country's welfare. In fact each has proved to be as self-serving as the other and the country has descended into a violent caricature where few at the top are trusted to make the right decisions in the interests of all.

India, by contrast, has benefited from a stable democratic tradition in which space has been created for competing groups to flourish. Whether at the provincial or national levels, a vast array of distinctive political parties has been allowed to have their say. Of course it has not all been plain sailing. Corruption remains endemic and there are many in both countries — such as regional separatists and Naxalites in India's case — who do not accept the legitimacy of the federal system.

But for the most part — and even taking every negative into account — India works. The evidence is most striking in the economic sector, where enviable annual growth rates have lifted tens of millions out of poverty and given hope to so many who want to get on with their lives and bequeath a better future to their children.

Sixty-four years is as good a time as any for both countries to now assess the legacy of colonial domination. No-one doubts the benefits of the 'iron frame' civil service or the English language that the British left behind. Yet matched against these positives was the less attractive and ultimately self-destructive mentality of colonial submission and servitude drilled into the citizens of South Asia over a period of 150 years. Just sixty-four years ago it was taken for granted that everything good and worthwhile came only from London, whether it was the quality of ideas or material products — cricket bats, paint, shirts, motor cars, in fact the best of everything in the world could only come from the United Kingdom. All that has mercifully changed. South Asia's thinkers are among the best in the world and, as far as material products are concerned, India has proved it can match any country.

The colonial past, however, is neither dead nor forgotten. There is a trend — understandable, perhaps — among some contemporary British writers to romanticize the links with London, just as some writers from the subcontinent tend to glorify and exaggerate the achievements of the distant past. The truth is that colonial rule was for the benefit of the colonisers and those in charge of running the affairs of South Asia until 1947 were ruthless in protecting their self-interest.

In the 21st century the true cost of that colonial experience has yet to be calculated. India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was right to acknowledge in 2007 the benefits that India gained from Britain's imperial past, but that is only part of the story. Isn't it also time for British archives to be opened up to tell us what really happened at key moments in South Asia's history? A start could be made with the hidden archives of Balia, that distant part of the then United Provinces where dozens of innocent citizens were hanged in 1942 for daring to proclaim themselves an independent people. These are some of the old ghosts that still need to be buried. Indeed South Asia's future cannot be deemed secure until the past is properly and professionally put in its place.

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