Saturday 25 June 2016

The British


Justice Geoffrey Care is my British friend whom I have met often, in India and abroad. He comes to India frequently.

Once when he was in Delhi we went together to a function at a venue near the Supreme Court ( perhaps the Indian Law Institute ).

There, a person from the audience shouted " Why have we invited a Britisher here ? The British had oppressed us during their rule ".

I immediately replied " That is not fair. Geoffrey's ancestors may have oppressed my ancestors, but Geoffrey has not oppressed me. Also, while we should certainly criticise the British for their oppression and exploitation in India, we must not forget their great historical contribution in the struggle for liberty in the 17th century, their fight against Nazis in the Second World War, etc and their great contributions in literature ( Shakespeare, Dickens, etc ), science ( Newton, Darwin, Rutherford, etc ), and in various other fields.

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