Tucker Carlson thinks British were good for India

Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson is considered as one of the brightest man on American Television. His knowledge about America is unparalleled. He has the credentials of factually demolishing left wingers so much so that he ended up getting popular in the population of left wing support group. But it does not give him authority to comment on India, a country about which he knows nothing about.

Tucker Carlson thinks British were good for India

Recently, British Queen Elizabeth took her last breath at the age of 96. She remained Queen for more than 70 years. Even at the time of her death, 15 countries including Canada and Australia considered her as the head of the state. The demise came as a moment of stunned silence for pro-monarch news organisations and their anchors. They took the opportunity to boast about the so-called “good stuff” of the British Empire. Tucker was also one of them who bragged about the British Empire’s work across the world.

Detailing, what he thought the British brought to India, Tucker Carlson said, “When the British pulled out of India, they left behind an entire civilization, a language, a legal system, schools, churches and public buildings, all of which are still in use today. Here’s the train station the English built in Bombay, for example. There’s nothing like that in Washington, DC right now, much less in Kabul or Baghdad. Today, India is far more powerful than the UK, the nation that once ruled it and yet, after 75 years of independence, has that country produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station that the British colonialists built? No, sadly, it has not. Not one.”

Busting Tucker’s illusion

Tucker Carlson, known for his factual reporting, has a massive fan base in India and anywhere else Fox News and free YouTube are available. But in this case, the facts ended up becoming the casualty of propaganda. Not one word he said was grounded in actual reality. For instance, Tucker Carlson said that the British left behind an entire civilisation which constitutes a language, a legal system, schools and churches.

First, let’s look at the constituents of civilization. Yes, they left behind the English language, but it is also true that we did not know much English before the British came to India. On the contrary, we had our own diverse languages such as Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and Hindi among others. British did not give us English language because we wanted it; they imposed theirs by attempting to demolish ours.

Schools were indoctrination camps

Language was the key for pushing their narrative. In order to shovel their language down our throat, thousands of years old established systems of Gurukuls were distorted. Gurus were demonised and that is how they ended up making us resent our own system of learning. As Gurukuls got demolished, the British opened their convent school to brainwash us.

It is this school which Tucker Carlson was talking about. More than school, they were indoctrination camps, aimed to teach people to despise our culture. Carlson must hate it since he is a vocal critic of indoctrinating children in American schools.

CST is great but it’s not the best

Similarly, the CST train station which the British built is not the only beautiful building in India. Indians have preserved thousands of Mandirs (Temples) which were built way before Vasco Da gama landed in Calicut. Other beautiful monuments like the remains of palaces, fragments of kingdoms are sight to withhold. CST is no doubt beautiful, but certainly not “the most beautiful site”. Our new Parliament, Central Vista is the more recent example of post-colonial India ready to jump up the ladder.

Economic damage and methods involved

Moreover, the British had left the Indian legal and economic system in tatters. According to an analysis, the British syphoned off more than $45 trillion in today’s currency from India. How much is it? Well for perspective, it is nearly double of American GDP of $23 trillion. They did it by exploiting India’s natural resources and labour capabilities.

When they arrived in India, it was next to impossible for Europeans to comprehend the amount of wealth we possessed. The moral system was such that, in spite of possessing so much of them, they did not believe much in exuberant spending. When European powers arrived, they decided to leverage India’s immense wealth for their own profit.

Also Read: British Raj is formally over from Indian education: The New Education Policy shifts focus from degrees to knowledge

Took over economic system through political control

Systematically, they fought the Mughals and took over the political system. Through a top-down approach, they converted Indians into peasants and forced them to be dependent on their factories. Introduction of railways was another such step which is not exactly a noble one. The British needed to transport raw materials from one place to another. So, they introduced it in India, forcing us to work in it.

Situation was worse in hinterlands and tribal belts. On one hand, the British snatched their lands for railway lines. At the same time, they forced these poor tribals to work in the construction of these railway lines. It is one of the gravest crimes in human history, something which can’t be compensated even by reparations. To keep these workers under control they introduced the ‘Rule of Law’ in India.

Legal system was designed to suppress Indians

But who made the law? It was decided by either British Monarchs or their representatives. Contrary to the narrative about introduction of civilised world order in India, the British legal system was designed to keep Indians under the control of colonial powers. Bharat, that is, India in English already had that.

Everything the British and their supporters claim to have introduced in India was done for their profit. Indians are well aware of this. A non-informed comment won’t be taken at face value now.