カテゴリー: Colonialism
The events of 1947 and their impact are clearly part and parcel of British history, writes Professor Sarah Ansari In view of the forthcoming 74th anniversary of the partition that accompanied independence in British-controlled South Asia, the call for …
Arguments that ‘it was not all bad’ can quickly descend into a catalogue of justifications for atrocious acts and behaviours, writes Dr Nandini Boodia-Canoo. Plus letters from Geof Wood, John Griffiths and David BentleyAmartya Sen has delivered a criti…
Chinese rule in Tibet has been characterised by brutal repression and ethnic cleansing, writes Terry Philpot – and yet the rest of the world takes little interestYour otherwise excellent editorial on the centenary of the Chinese Communist party (29 Ju…
It is true that before British rule, India was starting to fall behind other parts of the world – but many of the arguments defending the Raj are based on serious misconceptions about India’s past, imperialism and history itselfThe British empire in In…
9 December 1926: Addiction, particularly among the poor, has become a serious problemAn English friend of Mr. Gandhi writes from Santiniketan, Bolpur, India:–We arrived at the Ashram (Dr. Rabindranath Tagore’s home) on Mr. Gandhi’s birthday, and, of co…
‘Now that I live in Guam, I cannot vote’. The first Americans to ‘vote’ on polling day have no say in who will be president Politics is a favourite sport on the streets of Hagatna, where voters are preparing for the US elections.Billboards adorn every …
Australia’s un-nuanced support for French dominion is unhelpful in a region where decolonisation is unfinished businessKicking the can down the road is a time-honoured solution to deadlocks over statehood and identity: hoping time, consultation and mon…
Sunday’s vote could lay the foundations for the birth of a new nation in the Pacific after surprising support emerged in 2018 referendumIt’s the final week of campaigning and two flags fly above the competing rallies, concerts, and campaign meetings: t…
The west reduced tantra to a quest for sexual liberation and wellness. But a new show charts its darker depths – from avenging goddesses to blood-drinking and self-decapitationMake a cursory web search for the term tantra and you will be confronted wit…
Organisation launches online survey of UK’s 1.5 million diaspora to ‘find out who we are’ An organisation launched almost a century ago to campaign for India’s independence from its British colonial masters has been revived to promote the interests of …
Netherlands, Germany and Belgium still tend to an upbeat view of their overseas legaciesUK more nostalgic for empire than all other ex-colonial powersVisiting Indonesia this week, King Willem-Alexander apologised for his country’s “excessive violence” …
Since Thatcher’s day, the Tories have held the community up as a model minority. The tactic appears to be paying offLast week, the “most Indian cabinet” in British history realised a long-standing dream of the Tory right: the introduction of a purposel…
Curator assures the public that stereotype-busting show will not include Sting or Kama SutraForget “no sex please, we’re British”. More a case of “there will be lots of sex, we’re the British Museum”. But the curator has assured the public the first ma…
Vinita Damodaran lauds the protesters in India rallying to protect the postcolonial constitution, and Laura Phillips criticises the British colonial legacy in CanadaThe protests erupting all over India about the changes to citizenship embodied in the C…
Archbishop says sorry ‘in the name of Christ’ over killing of 379 unarmed protesters in 1919The archbishop of Canterbury has apologised “in the name of Christ” for the 1919 massacre at Amritsar in India, when hundreds of people were shot dead by Britis…