Another Day, Another Shashi Tharoor Takedown Of The British Raj, But He's Been Doing It Long Before This Viral Moment

Parliamentarian, author, and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor and his fluency in English and so is affectionately referred to as 'Tharoorosaurus', a witty take on Thesaurus, also the name of his book where he shared fifty-three examples for his vocabulary, has always made headlines. Recently, while leading an all-party delegation to the United States, to present India's strong stance against terrorism and discuss 'Operation Sindoor', a throwback video has gone viral due to his 'Savage Takedown' against the British Empire.

Tharoor is known for his sharp views against colonialism and in that viral video, while speaking to the news anchor on English news channel Channel 4, he came back with yet another sharp, prompt and witty response. When the anchor asked Tharoor if Indians have forgotten British colonialism and if it means anything to them anymore.

To this, Tharoor responded, "Not really, John. I think people have largely forgotten it, and Indians are very good at forging and forgetting." Then asks the anchor, "So is it a British problem or an Indian problem." It is to this question Tharoor responded with a savage takedown, he said, "No, I think it is a British problem."

He went on to talk about the historical amnesia about what the Empire really did to the nation and the atrocities. The video has gone viral, with netizens praising Tharoor on his stance. The video has been shared with captions like "Think before you ask Shashi Tharoor", "It is a British problem, Most of the world's problems were created by the British"; and "Totally spot on and BRILLIANT - thanks for this threadbare description."

However, this is not the first time Tharoor has reminded people of the colonialism, from time and again in his speeches and writings, he has brought back the shift to how colonialism continues to leave long-lasting impact and why is it still relevant today.

Sometime back in 2015, in a passionate argument, Tharoor demanded reparation payments from the UK to India for 200 years of its rule. The speech had then too gone viral on social media.

This speech was made at the Oxford Union

He says, "What I should do is really try and pay attention to the arguments that have advanced by the Opposition today. We had for example Sir Richard Ottaway suggesting - challenging the very idea that it could be argued that the economic situation of the colonies was actually worsened by the experience of British colonialism. Well, I stand to offer you the Indian example..."

He also noted: Britain's rise for 200 years was financed by it's depredations in India. In fact Britain's industrial revolution was actually premised upon the de-industrialisation of India.

He said, "Sir Richard. India share of the world economy when Britain arrived on it's shores was 23 per cent, by the time the British left it was down to below 4 per cent. Why? Simply because India had been governed for the benefit of Britain."

He also noted how the handloom weavers whose products were exported around the world was impacted when the British imposed tariffs. "That meant that the weavers in India became beggars and India went from being a world famous exporter of finished cloth into an importer when from having 27% of the world trade to less than 2%".

He said, "Meanwhile, colonialists like Robert Clive brought their rotten boroughs in England on the proceeds of their loot in India while taking the Hindi word loot into their dictionary as well as their habits."

"By the end of 19th century, the fact is that India was already Britain's biggest cash cow, the world's biggest purchaser of British goods and exports and the source for highly paid employment for British civil servants," he said.

He also pointed out the British role in slavery, and when it was abolished in 1833, a compensation of 20 million pound was paid not to the families oppressed by the very system, but to those who lost their property. "I was struck by the fact that your Wi-Fi password at this Union commemorates the name of Mr Gladstone - the great liberal hero. Well, I am very sorry his family was one of those who benefited from this compensation," he pointed out.

"Britain's rise for 200 years was financed by it's depredations in India. In fact Britain's industrial revolution was actually premised upon the de-industrialisation of India," he said.

The speech again went viral, again for all the right reasons in 2017. This time, it also highlighted Tharoor's wit and humour while countering the arguments which believed otherwise.

Tharoor said, "The Sun couldn’t set on the British empire, because even God couldn’t trust the English in the dark."

When the opposition said that railways in India was a "gift" by the British to India, Tharoor rightly pointed out that it was "built to serve British interests in India." He also pointed out many countries who got their railways built without being colonised, highlighting that colonialism is not important for development.

In 2017, Tharoor was again in the UK to promote his new book Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India. It is during the visit when he went to the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE), where in an interview, he shared his views on the atrocities the Empire has done.

He also talked about how Mughals were also invaders, however, were different from the British. "The British were different in the sense that they had no commitment to the country. The Mughals were invaders who had come to India previously and then they stayed on and assimilated. For example, every single Mughal emperor (with the exception of the first one) was the offspring of an Indian woman. And the Mughals saw India as home: they never went back, nor did they send all their assets and resources back."

He then says, "The British sadly chose not to do that. The Raj focussed on extracting money and resources from India and sending them back to England. It’s estimated that even the British Civil Servants in India sent 80 per cent of their salaries went back to England. Luxury goods industries around the courts in Delhi, which had thrived on providing fine silks, jewellery and comforts for the aristocratic elite, collapsed because the British ruling caste were not interested in Indian luxuries they were sending their money off to buy luxuries in London and Paris."

Tharoor also spoke on his stance where he criticised that it was the British who gave India democracy, pointing that such a system had already existed in India.

When asked if there were at all any positive legacy of the British rule, he says, "Unwittingly yes, in other words things that were brought into India to further British interests, ensure British control or add to British profit have since independence been converted by the Indians to things that benefit India. But to give the British credit for something that was never intended to benefit India in the first place is a bit much." This is the appropriate response to anyone who justifies British rule with the argument, "But we built them trains!"

In 2017 itself, while speaking to a Vice reporter, he said, "Teaching colonial history in the school system – you can get an A-Level in History without learning a word about colonial history, which I think is an absolute disgrace. The second thing I feel Britain could do would be an apology, and I feel the perfect opportunity comes up at the centenary of the Amritsar Massacre in April of 2019."