India, historically referred to as the golden sparrow owing to its prosperity and abundance of raw materials has endured exploitation of its wealth and resources for more than a century as a result of multiple invasions by Islamist tyrants and imperial powers. Now, a recent report from “Oxfam International” has reinforced the established reality and provided a detailed account of how the British colonial empire depleted India’s resources to sustain its own economic interests at the expense of the country and its people to further enrich the fat coffers of affluent Britishers.
The report “Takers, Not Makers: The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism” was published on 19th January and revealed shocking figures concerning the financial assets that Britain appropriated from India between 1765 and 1900, which amounted to $64.82 trillion. According to the findings, the top 10% of earners in the United Kingdom are estimated to have profited from $33.8 trillion, representing more than 50% of the overall wealth when adjusted for present-day values. The report was presented at the annual gathering of the “World Economic Forum” in Davos, Switzerland and highlighted the long-lasting effects of colonialism on economic systems and inequality.
The data unequivocally illustrated how wealth was looted to benefit the elite, while India endured exorbitant taxation, prolonged droughts and orchestrated famines among other horrors and adversities. Britain and its privileged class reaped the rewards of this theft, while the rightful owners were relegated to a life of extreme poverty, misery and distress.
The report pointed out, “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives.” Real-world examples of this statement are evident in India and other nations that experienced the repercussions of colonialism. Post-independent India which was left to fend for itself was confronted with the daunting task of recovery as it grappled with the deep-seated effects of the exploitation inflicted by the British. The economy was burdened by the significant loss of wealth and the severe conditions suffered by the countrymen during this era had enduring consequences on both their lives and those of future generations while the British flourished and strengthened their financial system.
“This has created a deeply unequal world, a world torn apart by division based on racism, a world that continues to systematically extract wealth from the Global South to primarily benefit the richest people in the Global North,” the report conveyed, pointing out that colonial practices proceeded to enrich a small elite by transferring wealth from the Global South to the Global North. Notably, during its 2023 G20 chairmanship, India was committed to its goal of promoting the Global South and raising significant issues that the West tends to ignore or lack support for.
The fact that “The Voice of the Global South Summit,” a unique initiative launched by the Indian government months after it took over the G20 presidency, was held in India in 2023 is a clear indication of its sincerity to the cause of the developing and under-developed nations which have been affected by the brunt of colonialism in different ways.
Britain’s Exploitation of India and the Global South
Based on several studies and research papers, Oxfam estimated that between 1765 and 1900, just in 100 years, the wealthiest 10% of the UK’s population took $33.8 trillion in today’s money from India alone and added, “This would be enough to carpet the surface area of London in British pound 50 notes almost four times over.” The richest 10% gained the most, almost 52% from the robbery, but the middle class in Britain, which accounted for 32% of this income, also benefited considerably.
The Indian subcontinent contributed 25% of the world’s industrial production in 1750, but because of British protectionist measures that targeted Asian textiles, that percentage fell to barely 2% by 1900. “This dramatic reduction can be attributed to Britain’s implementation of stringent protectionist policies against Asian textiles, which systematically undermined India’s industrial growth potential,” the report mentioned. Ironically, this industrial repression was only momentarily eased by a global conflict. “During World War One (1914–18), the disruption of colonial trade patterns inadvertently catalysed industrial growth in the colonies,” it stated unveiling how external shock provided a brief respite from British oppression.
During the war, areas with significant drops in British imports had stronger industrial employment development, a trend that is still evident to this day. Oxfam underscored that private multinational corporations, which frequently received monopolies and generated huge profits from international expansion, were frequently in charge of colonialism. The colonial era gave rise to the idea of private multinational corporations, fuelled by wealthy shareholders, and many of these companies utilised their soldiers to brutally put down uprisings.
With 260,000 troops, the East India Company’s military in India was twice as large as the British peacetime army. The report stated, “They engaged in land dispossession, violence, and mergers and acquisitions, driving globalization and contributing to the creation of the world’s first global financial system. Financial markets, especially in London, facilitated these colonial behemoths.”
The research further indicated that by the year 1940, the principal earners in India were largely comprised of traders, bankers, and industrialists, whereas in 1875, the majority were European officials serving in military and governmental roles. The widespread use of human labour was another aspect of the colonial period, and fresh forms of servitude emerged after slavery was abolished. According to the research, between 1830 and 1920, 3.7 million indentured labourers were brought in from India, China, Africa, Japan, Melanesia, and other places to work on infrastructure projects, mines and plantations.
Further oppression and criminal neglect of India
According to figures, between 1891 and 1920, India saw 59 million additional fatalities as a result of British rule. The devastating Bengal (what is now Bangladesh and India) famine of 1943, which claimed an estimated three million lives was also highlighted in the report which added, “Grain import restrictions during World War Two, underpinned by racist thinking, appear to have significantly contributed to or caused the Bengal famine.” Importantly, ex-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who labelled Indians as “beastly people with a beastly religion” remarked, “The starvation of anyhow underfed Bengalis is less serious than that of sturdy Greek,” which was quite reflective of their agenda and inhumane sentiments against India and its people.
The caste, religious, gender and linguistic boundaries that were ingrained in society during colonial rule were another vile product of self-serving British policies that capitalised on the faultlines to solidify their authority in the country and their profound implications remain apparent even today. These differences were exacerbated, exploited and concretized.
The report revealed that for example only 0.14% of India’s mother tongues are employed as teaching languages and only 0.35% are taught in its schools, terming the ongoing effects of colonialism as a “fruit from the poisoned tree.” It pointed out that the caste system took root in India during the colonial era through administrative and legal actions that nourished its strict divisions.
According to Oxfam, the East India Company, became a law unto itself and was accountable for several colonial crimes. It was a pioneer in the development of the modern multinational company, which is a product of colonialism. “In the modern day, multinational corporations, often occupying monopoly or near-monopoly positions, continue to exploit workers in the Global South, particularly women workers, on behalf of rich shareholders primarily based in the Global North.”
Military spending made up over 75% of expenditures in India during the East India Company’s reign, while public works projects made up only 3% on average. This alone highlighted the role of military force in upholding colonial inequalities. Moreover, the research stated that the use of overwhelming force which was displayed by colonisers has persisted in modern times due to the failure of those in power to fix irrigation infrastructure, which reduced agricultural productivity and exacerbated droughts and famines in many countries of the Global South.
The report further mentioned that many of the wealthiest individuals in the United Kingdom today can link their family wealth to colonialism and slavery, particularly the compensation given to powerful enslavers at the end of slavery.
Colonial drug pusher
The British government was described as a “colonial drug pusher” by Oxfam. The Dutch and British East India Companies both used the opium trade to consolidate their colonial power as the globe has to deal with the legacy of corporate greed that drove the opioid crisis, according to the study. As a result, commercial opium cultivation was encouraged in eastern India, where the British East India Company had a monopoly since 1757 (it was given to the crown in 1873).
The produce was then shipped to China, which ultimately led to the Opium War and China’s infamous “century of humiliation.” Opium accounted for almost half of China’s imports in the middle of the nineteenth century and was the British Raj’s third-largest source of income, after land and salt taxes. According to Oxfam, poppy-growing regions in India were linked by the British to lower per capita public spending on administration and health, fewer schools and a greater number of police officers. Compared to their neighbours, these areas continue to have much lower literacy rates and public goods provision.
The repercussions for India and Global South
The Britishers who were also behind the bloody division of India not only took away its wealth but also its health as it had a detrimental impact on the well-being of subsequent generations in India. The physiological adaptations to repeated cycles of hunger throughout colonial times could be responsible for the higher incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes among this group, based on the report.
The report observed that in various post-independence countries across the Global South, wealth and political authority remained largely in the hands of the richest individuals, with extreme poverty and significant wealth separated by barriers like golf courses, electric fences, and other impediments. “The inequality that these countries experience today is significant of colonial making,” Oxfam conveyed as it shed light on the reason behind the same.
Current colonial mechanisms of wealth extraction from the South to the North are exemplified by global supply chains and export processing companies. According to the research, workers in these supply chains usually face subpar working conditions, no social protection and no rights to collective bargaining. It further emphasised the disparity and informed that salaries in the Global South are between 87% and 95% less than those in the Global North for labour of equal competence.
With the use of cheap labour and ongoing resource extraction from the Global South, large multinational businesses control global supply chains, keep the lion’s share of profits, and utilise economic tools to maintain power, exploitation and dependence, per Oxfam. Meanwhile, the natural resources are also misused to mint maximum profits by these firms. Oxfam also accused international organizations like the World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) of sustaining injustices. According to Oxfam, the massive exploitation of fossil fuels, which started during the period of colonialism, is still going on now, pushing the world closer to the brink of climate disaster.
No real end to colonialism
Colonialism, which is frequently defined as a permanent mentality rather than a temporary state, has not really ceased to exist because the dominant Global North continually interferes and dictates the Global South’s policies as they do not consider them equals but rather former colonies which has been demonstrated time and again.
The research highlighted that “biopiracy,” or the unapproved and unpaid gathering of genetic material for commercial purposes, has also affected nations in the Global South. The United States multinational company WR Grace’s 1994 patent for a neem tree seed extract utilized in their antifungal spray, Neemex, was given as an example. Neem extracts have been used by Indian rural farmers for over 2,000 years in insect repellents, soaps, and contraceptives, despite the company’s assertion that its patent was the result of a novel idea. After ten years of litigation, the patent was revoked by the European Patent Office’s technical board of appeals.
Even though every country has official equality in some international organizations, Oxfam stated that the Global North still holds a dominant position. Oxfam maintained that the WTO has historically failed to address the interests of the Global South, which benefits both northern countries and corporations based in the Global North. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when over 100 countries backed South Africa and India’s proposal at the WTO for a complete waiver of intellectual property restrictions on life-saving vaccines, treatments, and other technologies, wealthy nations successfully opposed it.
The report added that the World Bank and numerous European development finance organizations are encouraging the financialization and privatization of public services in the Global South through their collaboration with private capital and investment funds in the Global North. The most recent example of it was seen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) summit in Baku of Azerbaijan, last year.
The rich countries were able to enforce a deal that ignored the requests of the developing countries for the mobilization of at least 1.3 trillion dollars yearly in climate financing, while promising to pay only $300 billion annually, beginning in 2035. India spoke out for the Global South, calling the adoption process “unfair” and “stage-managed,” and noting that it showed a serious lack of trust in the UN system.
“India does not accept the goal proposal in its present form. The amount that is proposed to be mobilised is abysmally poor. It is a paltry sum. It is not something that will enable conducive climate action that is necessary for the survival of our country,” stated Chandni Raina, Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs and part of India’s negotiating team. She also termed the initiative “too little and too distant” while adding, “Estimates tell us that we need at least USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2030.”
“In continuation of several such incidents of not following inclusivity, not respecting country positions. We had informed the Presidency (host country Azerbaijan), and we had informed the Secretariat (of UN Climate Change) that we wanted to make a statement before any decision on the adoption. However, and this is for everyone to see, this has been stage-managed and we are extremely, extremely disappointed with this incident. We object to this unfair means followed for adoption,” she added while insinuating how the concerns of the Global South are disregarded in such forums that toe the line of the powerful West.
Bogus claims of UK aid to India
“It’s time to stop sending aid to India,” “Give us our aid back” and “We are giving them money,” the same sentences with different tones and tonality coupled with racism have been usually tossed at Indians on social media by the ignorant Britishers, especially, to vent out their frustration and annoyance India succeeds, whether in space or elsewhere. Similar sentiments were displayed when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully docked two satellites in space as a part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX).
A user posted the same lie about the United Kingdom’s massive economic support for India to discredit such a huge accomplishment as though the Britishers should have received the recognition.
Another shared an angry emoji to express how infuriated they are about the alleged assistance to India.
A frustrated netizen asked if the United Kingdom should now stop sending financial aid to India.
While their previous generation took Trillions from India, the current Britishers are spreading false information about phoney financial aid. Former Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee called Britain’s £280 million (Rs 2,798 crore) yearly aid to India “peanuts” in 2012. Many British lawmakers were annoyed and questioned whether this so-called “aid” to India should continue. India doesn’t need UK foreign aid, they stated, because it has its own foreign aid budget and pays its own space program.
After the Indian government had shown its indifference the help, it was planned to cease in 2015. Later, in 2017, the Indian government reminded a number of political commentators and analysts with colonial mindsets that India has been providing more foreign aid to nations than it has been receiving. The UK is still providing help to India, according to a report published in March 2023 by the Independent Commission for Help Impact (ICAI), but its nature and goal have now altered.
The ICAI is independent of the government and examines UK government assistance. According to the research, India received almost £2.3 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) in help from the UK between 2016 and 2021. However, there’s a catch as the report stated, “We calculated that the UK provided around £2.3 billion in aid to India between 2016 and 2021. This figure includes £441 million in bilateral aid, £129 million in development investment via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), £749 million of aid through multilateral organizations, and £1 billion in investments through British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution.”
The ICAI study clarified that the British funds were flowing to several Indian programs, including investments, rather than the Indian government. “While there are still substantial volumes of UK aid to India, it is now very different in nature and purpose,” it added, debunking the propaganda.
Notably, this is not the first instance in which the British exploitation of India has been brought to public attention. The matter has repeatedly been raised in many studies and voiced by several prominent Indians. “India had two centuries of humiliation by the West in its predatory form when it came to India in the mid-18th century. An economic study tried to estimate how much British took out of India, and it ended up at $45 trillion in today’s value,” External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar stated during an address at noted think tank Atlantic Council in Washington DC in 2019.
Shashi Tharoor also elaborated on this topic in his widely circulated 2015 speech at Oxford University. The Oxfam report has merely corroborated what is already established knowledge. The British economy has been sustained by wealth extracted from India and other countries of the Global South, much like the country’s museums, which are filled with artefacts from these former colonies.
