We want LI to be one of the friendliest places on the internet, where lawyers and law students help each other with their career related queries and occasionally discuss other stuff that might affect their lives too. In other words:
1. Be kind, respectful and helpful to each other.
2. Be bona fide, truthful, genuine and curious.
3. Assume the best intention of others.
Therefore, in using the site, you must agree to do your best to uphold these community guidelines.
Note that what you find here is written and moderated by anonymous people on the internet.
Therefore everything you read here is very likely unverified, rumour, speculation and/or downright false.
In continuing to read anything here, you must therefore agree not to take anything you read here as factual and that you will exercise due caution, diligence and common sense before acting on any information you may come across here.
You also agree to report any inaccurate or malicious comments with the buttons. Moderators take action within 24 hours, as required and appropriate under law.
Our full terms and conditions apply too.
Do you solemnly agree to all of the above?
- Cities were better governed (unlike today)
- Beautiful and grand buildings were built (unlike the ugly eyesores of today)
- Infrastructure like railways, electricity and drainage was installed.
- Many universities were established (compared to zero under Mughal rule)
- Many learned men were appointed VCs and professors (compare with the clowns of today)
- The English language was introduced and thus Indians could access modern scientific books
- Scientific temper was encouraged (compare with cow urine pseudo-science of today)
- High Courts and district courts were set up across India
- Sati and child marriage were outlawed
- There was no caste barrier placed on education (which allowed Ambedkar to attend college)
- Admission to universities and the Indian Civil Service were based on merit, no reservation
- Leaders appointed to legislative councils were highly educated (whereas Akbar and most other Mughals were illiterate and today the majority of politicians are illiterate or half-educated)
- Everyone had freedom to practice their religion (compare with conversion by the sword under Aurangzeb and Khilji, killing of Sikhs under Congress rule, killing of Muslims under BJP rule)
Certainly, there were atrocities like Jallianwalla Bagh and custodial torture, but does that not happen today? Why is that any different from the BJP arresting dissenters, or the Mamata government killing BJP workers, or the communists opening fire on villagers in Nandigram, or the Emergency? As for economic exploitation, again how is that any different from the millions of scams by politicians, or Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Choksi, Mallya, Sandesara etc? Or the many dubious acts by Ambani and Adani?
Thus, keeping corruption and human rights violations constant, it seems India was better governed under British rule.
No wonder why Law firms consider us as cheap slaves.
we are exploited by our own people today.
dogs and indians not allowed here:) this was a common tag outside elegant institutions in the raj
indians were treated like dogs not civilians legally and socially and in every way
for someone who doesn't like it if someone calls them into office/ in british india you could go to jail for even discussing this unhappily with hr.
not enough is written about british rule perhaps now that the granddad generation who lived through this and made this a live subject are done.
Example 1: From the movie Mard.
http://www.bethlovesbollywood.com/2011/04/ultimate-bob-christo-getting-dishoomed.html
Example 2: From the movie The Legend of Bhagat Singh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVd_K7UWA2w
Example 3: From the movie Indian Summers.
The director of the movie says:
"By this time a lot of European clubs would accept Indians that were willing to accept British social customs, but there were still a number of clubs that had a colour bar. Notoriously, there was one in Chittagong [now Bangladesh]. In 1932 there was an uprising where a few violent nationalists tried to burn it down and shoot the guests. It was a landmark moment in the story of nationalism. Although the Royal Shimla Club is entirely fictional I have tried to reflect some of the real fault lines that were running through the empire at that time."
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/the-true-stories-behind-new-channel-4-series-indian-summers
Quote: https://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-prasad271004.htm
If people think british rule was good then we all know who divided indians deeply and started using their resources
Just reduce population of india and see cleanliness and make politicans accountable
Only if politicians were honest we would have be clean 50 years ago
Out cities are not in planned manner
Well infra is improving in recent years but still we are lacking in hygiene and cleanliness. We have cows, bulls and dogs roaming freely in street.
Just remove gutka dogs and other animals from street and see the cleanliness of streets in India
Would have been so much fun enjoying a so called better governed country.
At least we're starting to recover now
- Indians were allowed to contest free and fair elections, imagine giving fair elections, they were allowed in positions of power
- Policies for spreading education,
- acts to stop sati and widow remarriage act
- Sat in conferences and meetings with the indian leaders and heard their grievances
- Preserved architectural monuments and places of worship under ASI
- started the modern movement early, constitution, laws,
- Acts allowed indian judges to hear cases on british citizens
The only time the british retaliated with heavy punishment was in acts against the government,
Now Jewish holocaust - 6 million killed, no mercy, no nothing,
Tibetan genocide - 1.2 million killed out of total 6 million population, destroyed temples, no negotiations instead came in the night time in the potala palace to kill the spiritual leader who barely escaped. Still no freedom.
African slavery - 12 million shipped to USA, 2 million raped,
2. Beautiful and Grand Buildings - again, it was mainly for administrative buildings and some places of leisure. Rest of the Indians were left to rot. These buildings are expensive to build and maintain - would you rather have 'beautiful' buildings or good admin? Cause India does not have the resources for both and the Britishers only focused on superficial goodness - rest of the money was siphoned off to their mashed potato eating population that still eats like Germany is bombing them.
3. Many unis were established - granted, somewhat a good point, but then again, why are we comparing Britishers to Mughals? Are you telling we incapable of starting our own unis? Have you forgotten about Nalanda and Taxilla 'uni'? Education became a bit more formalised under the British but it was not out of the goodness of their hearts.
4. Many learned men were appointed as profs and admins - We are a population of 1.2B, of course in trying to not gatekeep education and opportunties some lacklustre appointments happen. Are you telling me beyond the Russel group, any unis in UK are good? Even in the Russel group most are questionable. Do you really want someone who doesn't understand what it is to be Indian to be in charge of teaching Indians?
5. English Language was introduced - I'm sorry, are you telling me the populations in Japan and SK depend on English for their education? It is good we can communicate in a common language, but I think given time we would've figured out a common language or have adopted English on our own. There was no need to siphon $4.5 trillion for that.
6. Scientific temper was encouraged - did you and I read the same history? The Britishers frequently gatekept the common Indian from accessing premier institutions (even Ramanujan faced lots of issues, and that man was a genius par excellence). Also Pre Mughal era had a decent amount of scientific advancements. While I agree stuff like Homeopathy
Millions of Indians died for our independence. You insult them all.
You must apologise for this kind of thought. Shameful.
- Only one famine has happened in India since 1947, while over fifty famines killing millions of people occurred in just one or two centuries of British rule.
- India's share of the global GDP in 1947 was 4%, now it is significantly more.
- There is now a proper English-speaking middle class of crores of people in India, who contribute both to high-skilled immigrants to the West as well as leading scientists and academicians within India.
- Even though India is still poor, with an unenviable level of human rights, the poverty levels and experience of the aam admi is incredibly better and higher than it was during British rule. A disadvantaged Indian today has a much better chance of doing well in life and accessing justice than he did 100 years back.
There are many more reasons, but these are some of the key ones.