How the colonial legacy has brought diversity and change to India

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India has become one of the fastest growing economies, with an exponentially growing population, and its culture spreading far across the globe. However, India’s past is riddled with controversy and conflict, colonised by the British Empire in 1857 and only gaining independence in 1947; this legacy has helped shape modern day India. The earliest English interference was the East India company, a group of English trade merchants, who set up trading posts in India in 1612. At this point in time Mughal India was thriving economically and culturally. The famous landmark Taj Mahal was built during this time and Persian culture was being integrated with Indian, seen in much preserved artwork. It was a period of religious tolerance between Muslims and Hindus, and political and economic stability with the introduction of a structured tax system. As the hold of the Mughal Empire loosened, the East India company took advantage and ruled from 1757 to 1857. This ended because of an Indian rebellion, the company consequently transferred power over to the crown, Queen Victoria, officially marking the beginning of the British Raj.

During and after British colonisation, India saw much religious tension between Hindus and Muslims, the country was later partitioned, now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The British Raj had a divide and conquer strategy, for example, a law set in place in 1871 gave Muslims a separate electorate to other religions, making people more aware of the religious identity of those around them. As this religious divide grew, the British became more aware of the brewing conflict and, after many protests allowed Indian independence. However, before leaving, Cyril Radcliffe, an English lawyer who’d never been to India before, was tasked with splitting up India in 36 days to decrease racial tension. The regions of Kashmir and Hyderabad were not given to either India or Pakistan.

The announcement of partition saw 15 million people uprooted as refugees between India and Pakistan, 1.5 million deaths, starvation, and disease. Since independence there have been three wars regarding Kashmir, including India, Pakistan and even China. Only last year Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets in Kashmir, sparking more national and religious tension. Both countries have heavily militarised Kashmir and it is now the most militarised region in the world. Kashmiri’s are yet to receive a vote on which country they want to be part of, this conflict has been central to tense relations in Asia for 70 years. Although there has always been religious tension, especially between Hindu’s and Muslims, it seems to be increasing, now even more so, with threats of nuclear war. The colonial legacy and partition changed the nature of religious tension, it facilitated the alienation of minorities, resulting in more violence, on an individual and national scale.

Some may argue India’s economy has benefitted from its colonial

links, many have predicted it’s path to becoming a global superpower. The commonwealth consists of 54 countries most of whom used to be part of the British empire. This unique connection has opened doors for India and other previously colonised countries to globalise. India hosted the 2010 commonwealth games which gave them exposure to the rest of the world through global media networks. The games forced the regeneration of India’s service sector infrastructure, most notably hotels and transport. For example, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport was renovated, and is now a major hub for flows of people to India. Due to the increased tourism from the commonwealth games, 2.5 million jobs were created, many of them taken by rural to urban migrants, who would otherwise have ended up unemployed or as part of the informal economy. 53% of India’s GDP is from people working in the tertiary sector, in 2010 the earnings from tourism were 14,490 million US dollars, a growth of 30.1% from the previous year. The commonwealth, especially the year India hosted the games, helped develop and diversify its economy.

The British however failed to provide India with basic necessities, causing the Bengal famine in 1943, where

approximately 2.6 million people died of starvation and many more were left malnourished.

This was a result of increasing exportation of resources like rice, which exploited the work of Indian farmers and no extra help was given to fight against the famine. Since independence, India has seen people rising out of poverty and the standard of living has increased rapidly. No longer being under the British empire allowed them, in the twentieth century, to adopt protectionist laws to somewhat stabilise their own economy and population; so that they can now compete in the global market. The literacy rates have also increased from 12% to 74% since independence, but this is mainly due to the English education system introduced during colonisation. This better education is a reason for many international companies outsourcing jobs there, such as call centres, as they have English speaking workers. This increases jobs available, helping people overcome poverty and increasing the GDP.

Furthermore, post-war Britain’s demand for labour and the fact Indians were educated, saw the mass migration of Indians to the UK. The immigration policy at the time allowed any citizen of the commonwealth to live, work and vote in the UK. By the mid-1960s, most Indians coming to the UK were dependents, who made up 75% of all Indians immigrating between 1965 and 1980. Now, however we are seeing a pattern of 2nd and 3rd generation Indians migrating back. In 2010, 30,000 people migrated back to India, and that number continues to increase. The emerging market and cheaper labour provide a unique business opportunity for entrepreneurs. This migration was made even easier when the OCI card was introduced in 2005 which allows those with Indian parents and grandparents a permanent visa to live and work in India.

Increased migration and tourism in India has brought with it new ideologies, including steps towards gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, which has been improving since the introduction of the western education system that challenged these oppressive ideologies. In fact, as

of 2018, homosexual acts were decriminalised. Women’s rights have also slowly been improving, in 2019 48.6% of students enrolling in higher education were female. In 2019 a record number (78 out of 542) of women were voted into India’s parliament. Although we have seen a growing tolerance towards minority groups in India, there are still long term effects from colonisation, that hinder India’s ability to fully embrace diversity. The ‘white is right’ attitude originated from colonial times and the belief that in order to move up in life, people of colour needed to be ‘whiter’. “Colourism”, a form of internalised racism, stemmed from these ideas. There are still many people who consider fairer skin and Eurocentric features as purer and evidence of a “better financial and social status of a person”, due to the class associations from colonisation. In the Bollywood industry there are an increasing number of white performers, and they are very much idolised. This change in beauty standards is affecting many Indian women mentally, with large companies profiting from this vulnerability (Mishra & Hall, 2017).

The flow of people, migrants and tourists, into

India has also changed culture, traditions and ultimately lifestyle.

‘Westernisation’ is a term used to describe the western dilution of culture. More people are leaving traditional clothing like sarees and dhotis behind, discarding the significance and instead wearing more western styles of clothing, this could be seen as a step towards equality as especially for women as there has always been a societal pressure for women to dress modestly. There are 700 languages spoken across India, which are being slowly forgotten as people migrate away or rely on English as a first language because of the job opportunities associated; Indian music has changed from traditional flutes, Dhol and Tabla, to western pop. In most aspects Indian culture is changing, there is more awareness and change in social inequality, however the extent of this change could be causing irreversible loss of culture.

Overall, India has embraced its colonial legacy. Negative change can be seen through the worsening of tensions between the other Desi countries, the lingering oppressive attitudes, the loss of culture and the general poverty that still exists. However there have also been positive changes, the dramatic growth of India’s economy and acceptance of minority groups. The most change and diversity has been from the flow of people due to the colonial legacy, who have brought new cultures, new ideas and new opportunities to the changing nation.

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