An Independent Journey
-- Sean Thomas Varghese, Class: 12-D, Indian Educational School, Kuwait
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
The events which culminated on the 15th of August 1947 had its beginnings more than 200 years ago in the beginning of the 17th century. It was during this time The East India Company was incorporated under the royal charter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, in 1600 to trade in silk and spices and other beneficial Indian products. The company established outposts or ‘factories’ along the coasts of India, conspicuously in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
As a part of their methodical deindustrialization the British first eradicated competition in the textile industry. In 1613 the East India Company established its first factory in the port town, Masulipatnam, known for its woven textiles, which were famed to be lighter than air. Throughout the eighteenth century Textiles from Bengal were exported and sold to countries such as Egypt and Japan.
This led to the demotion of India to the status of a mere trader of raw materials such as raw silk for the upcoming contemporary industries in Britain from being the finest producer. India also proved to be a rambling market for the final products as well as capital goods. The British ended up having control over India’s export and import, which resulted in more than half of India’s foreign trade being restricted with Britain while the rest was approved with a few other neighbouring countries including: China, Sri Lanka, and Iran.
At the turn of the eighteenth century, studies by the British economic historian Angus Maddison indicated that India’s share of the world economy was 23 percent, comparable to the economies of Europe. Unfortunately, by the time the British vacated India, the country’s economy dropped to just over 3 percent. The drop was attributed to the fact that India was mastered for the benefit of Britain. Britain’s rise for two centuries was funded or financed by its desecration in India. In spite of the colonial overlords by 1850 Indian entrepreneurs established their own modern textile mills in competition with imports from Britain as late as 1896, Indian mills produced 8 percent of the total cloth consumed in India which grew to 76 percent of the cloth sold in India by the time the British vacated the country. (Tharoor, 2016)
Another case of the exploitation of Indian industry could be seen within the Indian steel industries. Due to the superiority of Indian-made swords compared to that of the ones made in Europe, the British gained as much knowledge as possible on the technology before terminating India’s metallurgical industries towards the end of the 18th century. Similar to the textile industry the setup of India’s first modern iron mill at the beginning of the century by Jamsetji Tata was faced with ruthless hostility and discouragement. It was only after repeated denials that production began under Jamsetji Tata’s son Dorabji. (Tharoor, 2016)
The two largest consumers of steel at the time, the government, which was controlled by the British and the railway which was also structured by the British, favoured the BSSS (British Standard Specification Steel), which the British claimed was a higher quality of steel compared to the NBSSS (Non British Standard Specification Steel) which was used by the rest of the world, to exclude cheap continental steel from the colonial Indian market and also as a way to discourage and demoralize Indian steel makers. (Tharoor, 2016)
The deindustrialization of India began in the late eighteenth century was completed during the nineteenth century and only slowly reversed over another century. Initially, under the British the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of India was only 3.8 percent in 1913 and the GDP peaked at 7.5 percent when the British had departed the country.
In the 1850’s, the British introduced the railways with the explicit purpose of commercialisation of Indian agriculture which adversely affected the comparative self-sufficiency of the village economies in India. The railways were intended cardinally to transport extracted resources such as iron ore, cotton and other goods and raw materials primarily for their own benefit.
As the requirement of Indian raw materials, goods and India as a country itself became more and more crucial to the prosperity of the British, millions of Indians died due to widespread famines caused due to the many economic policies ruthlessly established and enforced by the British. Lack of access to flooded and affected areas often led to the death of millions. Approximately 30 to 35 million Indians needlessly died of starvation due to this notably during the Great Bengal Famine (1770) and the Bombay famine (1905-1906) among others across the country.
The Bengal Famine of 1943 was the only one in contemporary Indian history not to appear as a result of a drought. It was instead British policies during the Churchill-era in support of the war effort in support of World War II which was considered to be a significant factor contributing to the catastrophe. An approximate of 2 to 3 million people died of starvation, malaria and other diseases caused due to malnutrition.
World War II (1939-1945) was one of the most substantial events in advancing India’s independence, and the independence of many British and non-British outposts. The undoing of colonialism led to the freedom of more than thirty-six countries from their colonial authority.
Reminiscent of current times, in 1918 a pandemic referred to worldwide as the Spanish flu had reached India. It is believed that 14 to 17 million approximately were killed. The pandemic affected the freedom struggle in the country. Due to lack of medical attention many were killed and this led to an increase in hatred towards colonial rule
In 1920 non-cooperation movement was started by Gandhi after his return from South Africa a few years earlier. The aim of the non-cooperation movement was self-governance and obtaining full independence. The planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuasion of all Indians to withdraw their work from any activity which had the potential to sustain the economy and British government in India. In addition, the people were taught to spin khadi as a way of promoting self-reliance as a way of avoiding the use of foreign goods. And in 1942 the quit India movement was initiated also known as the August movement, was another movement initiated by Gandhi, as he believed it was necessary for a mass movement and hence the famous slogan “Do or Die”. ("1942 Quit India Movement – Making Britain")
The partitioning of India in 1947 was the separation of British India into two different autonomous states: India and Pakistan. The partition was a decision taken to inhibit the violence between the Hindus and the Muslims which however had the opposite effect. The majority of the Hindu population remained in India while the majority of Muslims migrated to Pakistan. It was estimated that between 200,000 and 2 million were killed due to the partition.
On the 3rd of June 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, declared the partitioning of British India into India and Pakistan. With the emergence Indian Independence Act in 1947 and on 14 August 1947 Pakistan was declared a separate nation. On the 15th of August 1947 India became a sovereign and egalitarian nation. Ultimately, 15th of August became Independence Day for India indicating the end of British India with Jawaharlal Nehru at the helm of affairs as prime minister.
The efforts of stalwarts such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B.R.Ambedkar and Mohammad Ali Jinnah bore fruits to witness an independent democratic India.
The constitution of India is the absolute law of the nation. B. R. Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee was the chief architect of the constitution. Adopted by the constituent assembly on the 26th of November 1949 and became effective on 26th January 1950 imparting a constitutional supremacy rather than a parliamentary supremacy. It provided the people with a sovereign, socialist and secular democratic republic assuring its citizens justice, liberty and equality, and ventures to promote fraternity. (Dhavan, 2015)
Elections were held in 1952 which even saw the coming to power of the first democratically elected Communist government in Kerala.
In 1962 an event which has recently repeated itself a standoff between India and China in the Galwan valley Ladakh saw the Indian outposts being overrun by the Chinese effectively ending the bonhomie between the two. At the time of partition Pakistan was formed by two parts West Pakistan and East Pakistan the latter of which became Bangladesh after Indian intervention in 1971. (Guha, 2007)
The words “secular” and “socialist” were added to the preamble later in 1976 during the emergency, which was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 during which time the press was heavily censored and the military had a considerable amount of control over the country.
The later years saw the assassination of a prime minister and myriad events of social upheaval. Independent India sought to undo years of unjust to the oppressed classes by implementing the recommendations of the Mandal commission which guaranteed jobs admissions and other benefits to scheduled caste and tribes. (Tharoor, 2007)
In 1991 India faced an external debt crisis. This crisis was further compounded by rising prices of essential goods. This led to the introduction of new measures or policies liberalisation and privatisation with globalisation as an outcome of these strategies.
Liberalization led to the reduction or removal of restrictions allowing private companies to expand for the development of the country which resulted in the increase in market competition within the country, encouragement of foreign trade and reduction in debt burden of the country. Privatization facilitated by disinvestment or withdrawal of governmental ownership and management of public sector companies resulted in improved financial situation of the government and increase in efficiency of governmental organizations. The globalization of the Indian economy brought to the forefront foreign trade and attracted private as well as institutional foreign investment. Outsourcing a business practice which resulted from this globalization created jobs creating a more affluent middle class with more disposable incomes.
Coalition politics played a big part in forming governments and pulling them down with a populist government being elected for two consecutive terms with an absolute majority as late as 2014
The democratic republic of India faced with a variety of challenges yet came through gradually developing itself and bettering itself over the years. Each year local governments conduct the flag hoisting ceremony all over India with the venue of the main celebration being the Red Fort found in the country’s capital New Delhi as a reminder of the tumultuous victory grabbed from the hands of the oppressors.
Bibliography
"1942 Quit India Movement – Making Britain". (2018, June 23). Retrieved from www.open.ac.uk.
Dhavan, R. (2015, November 26). "Document for all ages: Why Constitution is our greatest achievement". Retrieved July 24, 2018, from www.hindustantimes.com.
Guha, R. (2007). India After Gandhi-The History of the World's Largest Democracy. London: Pan Macmillan.
Tharoor, S. (2016). An Era of Darkness-The British Empire in India. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company.
Tharoor, S. (2007). India - From Midnight to the Millineum and Beyond. New Delhi: Penguin Books.
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Sean Thomas Varghese, Class: 12-D, Indian Educational School, Kuwait |
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