Oxford Union Debate: The case of Bangladesh

Hafeejul Alam | Published: August 04, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

This refers to a recent video upload of a debate at the Oxford Union Debating Society on the Internet. The centre of attraction of the debate was the eloquent Indian MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor. The subject of the debate was: 'Why Britain owes reparations for colonising India'.
Dr. Tharoor spoke most eloquently of the horrors of colonisation. Some of the major incidents during the colonial rule, mentioned by Dr Tharoor, include:
(a)Â Â Â The terrible Bengal famine that cost 10 million lives
(b)Â Â State-sponsored destruction of the textile industry in East Bengal
(c)Â Â Smashing of weavers' looms and hacking of their thumbs in and around Dhaka to prevent production of world class exquisite textile item like muslin
(d)Â De-industrialisation of the subcontinent, particularly of East Bengal.
(e) Forced production of indigo, opium etc., mostly in East Bengal.
Needless to say, the sufferers, for the greater part, were not the people of the state of India of today but the present state known as Bangladesh. Bangladesh can thus claim the tragic distinction of having suffered most during the colonisation of the sub-continent by Britain. Mentioned below are some documented quotes from representatives of Great Britain in India in the late 1700s and 1800s.
In 1793, Francis Baring, a Director of the East India Company wrote regarding the revenues of Bengal and Dhaka: "An astonishing mass of wealth has flowed â€¦ into the lap of Great Britain" from this territory.
In 1800, John Taylor, Commercial Resident of Great Britain, wrote on the economy of today's Bangladesh and the city of Dhaka. He mentioned that due to Great Britain's restriction of trade, taxation, export tariffs on textiles as high as 75 per cent, commerce has fallen by an incredible 50 per cent in 40 years. Spinners and weavers "died in famine". The people of the once wealthy and industrious city Dhaka were "reduced and impoverished" and Dhaka "ruined and abandoned" to become a "melancholy retrospect."
The point here is India of today does not alone represent the subcontinent, which was a British colony. But, Shashi Tharoor apparently disregarded the historical fact that the subcontinent now comprises of three countries. He all through the debate talked about India as the "the colony" and asserted that Britain owes to India reparations for colonising it.
Bangladesh should make out its own case.
Hafeejul Alam is a former civil servant and analyst. hafeej2002@yahoo.com