Do u suppose India would have been a much better country today if it were still under British occupation?
540752
NO.\n\nOnly those who believe the brainwashing campaign of white man's burden would say yes.\n\n##Largest man made famine in Bengal,\n\n##Detruction of educations system in India so that they could establish their own\n\n## Looting of India continuously for a long period created MASS poverty in India.\n\n##The burning of ancient books on Ayurveda in Kerala, so as to impose the European system of medicine on the natives, \n\n##the cutting of weavers' thumbs in Bengal with a view of crippling the production of superior Indian cloth and ensuring the sale of British products, \n\n##the ruthless, often bloody, extortion of revenue from the peasants for decades on end, even in the midst of the worst famines, \n\n##the whipping, hangings and tortures that awaited those who opposed the Empire - \n\nthese are only a few among the unending examples of the "providential character" of the British rule\n\n## "For the same amount of work a white man got three times the salary as an Indian would get." \n\nsource: Indian Labor Journal,\n\n\n"The British were more cunning at the game than the Portuguese, careful to show respect for Indian religions. Yet they sneered at the pagans behind their back, educated the Indian elite in British-run schools, or at Eton and Cambridge - which, if it did not guarantee conversion to Christianity, resulted in lapsed Hinduism, agnosticism, or an intellectual humanism.  \n\nIn India, Anglo indoctrination produced a generation of "brown sahibs" who looked down on the religion of the masses, the opium of the people. Such is the power of colonization that a whole generation must pass before the paralyzing spell wears off."  \n\nthere were for instance 125,000 medical institutes in Madras before the British came. Indians never lacked education, the Christians only brought British education to India, which in fact caused more damage to India by westernizing many of us." \n    source: Arise O' India - By Francois Gautier \n\n##The year 1857, therefore, marked the beginning of a new British policy of exploiting the existing caste and communal divisions in the country for their imperial ends. \n\n##"...dogs and Indians" were, by notification in that precise language, excluded from some of "Europeans only" clubs. Indians were not allowed to travel by railway carriages, or use railway waiting rooms, reserved for Europeans. Not only that, Indian judges were not allowed to try Europeans in the districts and the Ilbert Bill, introduced in 1883 during Lord Ripon's viceroyalty, to remedy the situation, had to be withdrawn in the face of vicious opposition by Europeans and Anglo-Indians. \n\n"While we hold onto India, we are a first rate power. If we lose India, we will decline to a third rate power. This is the value of India."   \n\n -  So spoke Lord Curzon in 1901\nAmerican Historian Will Durant has observed:\n\n"British rule in India is the most sordid and criminal exploitation of one nation by another in all recorded history. I propose to show that England has year by year been bleeding India to the point of death, and that self-government of India by the Hindus could not within any reasonable probability, have worse results than the present form of alien domination."\n\n##No traveler found India poor until the nineteenth century, but foreign merchants and adventurers sought her shores for the almost fabulous wealth, which they could there obtain. 'To shake the pagoda tree' became a phrase, somewhat similar to our modern expression 'to strike oil'."\n\nBuckminster Fuller (1895-1893) philosopher:-\n\n "The British were perhaps the most successful pirates in history. They came to India, pillaged the country in the name of trade and then enslaved it in the name of civilization."\n\nList goes on.........\n\n\nAdded: Really interesting that they still want more 8 to 10 bits of India!!! India toget
744214
In 1930, gandhi marched to the sea and made salt.  in 1947, the proud people of india won their independence from their imperialist oppressors half a world away.  in 17 short years, gandhi "led" the people of india to freedom from a country 1/15 its size with 1/7 the population.  17 short years, preceded by centuries of rule by outsiders.  what a proud and glorious time, to "win" freedom from a broken country that was on the verge of being wiped off the map, that was in shambles from the ravages of WWII.  the actions of gandhi had a profound impact on india, delaying freedom by years, reinforcing the indian subservient mentality.\n\nif gandhi were alive today, im sure he would fix the problem by the mighty weapon of "fasting" to teach the pharma companies a stern lesson.  "if you dont stop what you are doing, i wont eat"\n\nif gandhi were alive today, if india did rid itself of the shackles of abuse and oppression, he would refuse to deal with the aftermath of the problem and allow india to be split into many pieces, resulting in more than a million deaths and the displacement of many million people and the eventual creation of rival nations armed with nuclear weapons, constantly at war, he could add to his legacy greatly.\n\nthe way to prosperity and the ability of a nation to take care of itself comes from moving forward and making progress, not moving backwards and spinning your own thread.  india is moving forward in some sectors today because of education and progress into the 20th and 21st century.  the problem of clinical trials will end when the value of an indian life is more than the price that a pharma company is willing to pay to acquire such information.  today, the value of an indian life is lower because of the misguided backward thinking of people like gandhi.  it is lower because of overpopulation that comes from arbitrary use of vaccines and inoculations without thinking about the social change that needs to be coupled with it.  mostly, it is lower because of centuries of "training" by oppressors to be inferior.  it is time to cleanse india and indians of the poison that is this backwards thinking, instead of the artificial cleansing of clinical trials.  when the indian nation and people are able to evolve backwards,  ironically, to a time when they were proud and forward to a time when they are smart enough to make the right choices, the value of an indian life will be too high for a pharma company to "buy" it for their trials.\n\nthe rejection of this "new imperialism" comes not from embracing the "fasting" mentality, it comes from the embracing of the "we'll build automobile factories, aircraft carriers, increase our investment in infrastructure, create pharma companies that create drugs instead of just producing fake knockoffs of western drugs, and becoming part of the modern world" mentality.  for today, we do not ban clinical trials and cower away from reality, we run as fast as we can and apply our resources to fighting our true oppressor, our own weak minds.
830054
This is a very complex question that you would have to research India's history to undersand.\n\nIndia has a long history of a wide gap of poverty between certain factions. Even today while they are experiencing great economic growth, there is severe poverty within the muslims sections of the society. \n\nEven the Hindu section sees this, my grandmother is Hindu and from India. It seems to me that India has a big problem of religious discrimination.
795302
GANDHIJI WAS MADE HERO OF OUR FREEDOM BY THE BRITISH PEOPLE.  ONLY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY WEAK PEOPLE CHOSE THE WAY OF NON VIOLENCE TO DEAL WITH THEIR ENEMY.
679551
There is no doubt that if given enough resources, India could one of the country who could make a difference. in last 1000 years, India is the only country who hasn't invaded anyone. considering that fact, India believes in peace and sentimental values, rather than profit and wealth (u are probably wondering what does that have to do with anything, but i have point) \nBut think of it this way, from a sociological aspect, families in India encourage their children to go other places to have peaceful life, away from all the curruption, rather than teaching their kids to make a difference in their own society. for example (very rich and famous one), an individual becomes a doctor, but he wants to practice anywhere but in India. they think, if i leave, how much impact am i going to have by staying here?? Indian people are smart, but not driven. they have values but no devotion for their community and country. thus, National health service lacks the resources of devoted people, not intellectuality or ethics. AND of course, corruption at so many levels. YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!
863919
You are in a time warp. Slavery ended nearly 60 years ago. You are sure you haven't woken up from deep sleep like Rip Van Winkle or better still Kumbhkaran ? We are a free democratic country with duly elected government by people now in the year 2006..Wake up buddy !
575643
Sadly.No.Not yet.There is still a lot of discrimination in India on the basis of caste,religion,race,ethnicity etc,.But I am sure that as the country progresses and the society evolves all these differences will eventually vanish.GOD BLESS INDIA!
707372
They were defenitely far better than today's spinners.  That time spin was India's strength.
968724
Cool. Seeing as the UK is an elective autocracy, maybe we should both have spread a bit of democracy at home before liberating the rest of the world?
355605
The present day India is far advanced than "a developed nation" in terms of 1970s or 1980s. Let me be clear in that..... what I meant to say is.... if you look back in 1970s or 1980s, the countries we termed as developed had lesser development compared to present day India. So in a way, we can say India is already developed. The problem comes when we try to compare it with present day USA or UK or JAPAN and like-wise. \n\nI think, being a developed nation doesnt necessarily have to be full of skyscrapers. It could be reflected in other aspects too. India's economy is growing in a spectacular pace, software industry is booming, foreign investment is booming, companies world wide are not thinking twice to jump into indian market, cell phone industry is so successful that you have better mobile pieces and global rates in India than in other countries. Everybody carries a cell phone in India. I mean..Everybody! Communication barriers has been lift. Social changes and awareness are occuring in a steady pace. With so many things happening, India is developed is already developed. \nWell...if you want to hear "developed nation" on papers...I think its not too far. Japan came into developed nations list only in 1960s. India can make it too and will make it for sure in near future.
397314
India has struggled financially since independence, experiencing slow economic growth and economic setbacks due to climatic extremes or political disturbances. The country has been gradually transforming its economic base from agrarian to industrial and commercial. Under British rule in the 19th century, India's cottage industries and thriving trade were virtually destroyed to make way for European manufactured goods, paid for by exports of agricultural products such as cotton, opium, and tea. Beginning in the late 19th century a modern industrial sector and an extensive infrastructure of railways and irrigation works were slowly built with British and Indian capital. Nevertheless, India’s economy stagnated during the last 30 or so years of British rule. At independence in 1947 India was desperately poor, with an aging textile industry as its only major industrial sector.\n\n\n  \n\nEconomic policy after independence emphasized central planning, with the government setting goals for and closely regulating private industry. Self-sufficiency was promoted in order to foster domestic industry and reduce dependence on foreign trade. These efforts produced steady economic growth in the 1950s, but less positive results in the two succeeding decades. By the early 1970s India had achieved its goal of self-sufficiency in food production, although this food was not equally available to all Indians due to skewed distribution and occasional shortfalls in the harvest. \n\nIn the late 1970s the government began to reduce state control of the economy, making slow progress toward this goal. By 1991, however, the government still regulated or ran many industries, including mining and quarrying, banking and insurance, transportation and communications, and manufacturing and construction. Economic growth improved during this period, at least partially as a result of development projects funded by foreign loans.\n\nA financial crisis in 1991 stimulated India to institute major economic reforms. After the Persian Gulf conflict of 1990-1991 caused a sharp rise in oil prices, India faced a serious balance of payments problem (its foreign expenditures exceeded its foreign income). To obtain emergency loans from international economic organizations, India agreed to adopt reforms aimed at liberalizing its economy. These economic reforms removed many government regulations on investment, including foreign investment, and eliminated a quota and tariff system that had kept trade at a low level. Also, reform deregulated many industries and privatized many public enterprises. These reforms continued through the mid-1990s, although at a slower rate because of political changes in India’s government. In 1993 India permitted Indian-owned private banks to be established along with a minority of foreign banks.\n\nWith the reforms, India made a dramatic shift from an economy relatively closed to the global economy to one that is relatively open. By 1996-1997, foreign investment had increased to nearly $6 billion, up from $165 million in 1990-1991. Exports and imports also grew dramatically in this same period. Economic growth since the 1980s has brought with it an expansion of the middle class, which was estimated to form 20 to 25 percent of India's population in the mid-1990s. As a result, the demand for consumer goods from soap to luxury cars has expanded rapidly.\n\nIn 1997 India’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) was $382 billion. In 1997 agriculture, forestry, and fishing made up 25 percent of GDP, compared with 30 percent for industry (including manufacturing, mining, and construction) and 45 percent for services. \n\nA Labor  The Indian economy employs 423 million people. The majority of this workforce—64 percent—labors in the agricultural sector. Of the remainder, 20 percent work in services and 16 percent in industry. Women make up 32 percent of the total labor force.\n\nSignificant numbers of children are employed in India. They not
43168
Thats a very complex question. The answer is very simple. Yes. India is not great just because:\n1. It produces enough food for its billion strong polulation and exports it too.\n2. Is one of the fastest growing economy.\n3. Is full of colours and cultures.\n4. is home to about 1600 languages and dialects.\n5. It can send its own satellites.\n6. It has largest number of graduates in the world.\n7. Is the only country in the world where Jews were never percecuted.\n8. Is the country of Buddha, Mahavira, Ram, Krishna, Gandhi.\netc.\n\nIndia is great because it always lived in different centuries: You find bullock carts alongside a Ferrari while a Supersonic jet flies over.\n\nIndia is great because its still "Atithi devo bhava" (Guest is like God).\n\nIndia is great because Indians dream in steps..one small dream at a time.\n\nIndia is great because Indians are peaceful to a fault.\n\nFinally,\n\nIndia is great because inspite of all misery..Indians flash a warm smile when someone asks " Is India a great country?"
690510
firstly.. it is really bad that India has so many malnourished children when it aiming to become a super power. but then this comparing the two countries isn't even. look at India's size and population. its huge.. but definitely steps should be taken by the government to improve the situation.
726412
IF THE UK HAD STAYED ON ITS OWN TERRITORY AND NOT ANNEXED THESE AFRICAN COUNTRIES, STEALING THEIR WEALTH AND PUTTING CORRUPT AND VICIOUS GOVERNMENTS IN AFRICAN  TO SURPRISE DECENT WE WOULD NOT BE TRAVELING TO THE UK.WE WOULD HAVE functioning SOCIETIES BASED ON OUR CULTURES.ANY WAY WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER.I KNOW YOU ARE PRETENDING NOT TO REMEMBER THE ROLE THE UK PLAYED IN SLAVERY.YOU TOOK OUR MOST PRODUCTIVE MEN AND WOMEN TO HELP BUILD YOUR ECONOMIES.NOW THEIR GREAT GRAND CHILDREN ARE COMING BACK TO TAKE WHAT BELONGS TO THEM
855893
Yes, most definatley, as I said I am proud to be British and would personally take up arms to defend the country I am proud to live in. It isn't perfect by any means buts it's better than most people have in the world...,,,
223494
Like America once, India was part of the British Empire.  Gandhi was instrumental in helping India achieve independence in 1945, nonviolently.  Shortly thereafter, he was assassinated.
626971
The modern British empire is the legacy of liberal democracy, spread of English as the lingua franca (hat tip previous poster) and legal code. Imagine if we were living under the Napoleonic code - you couldn't scratch yourself if there wasn't a law saying you were allowed.