Written in 2012

Challenging Pankaj Mishra

Pankaj Mishra is an author and journalist who writes negative articles on India. His book, ‘ From the Ruins of the Empire’ was launched at the London School of Economics in July 2012.

I attended the meeting in which he spoke about how the Western Imperial powers continue to shape the former colonies. He said the imperialists in Western countries especially UK are again talking about the greatness of their empires and the good they did. He said that the effects of imperial rule continue to haunt the colonised countries and impact their progress.

There was also a hint given by the chairman of the meeting Professor John Gray that it is Western models only that countries like China and India could follow therefore for all their dislike of colonial rule they cannot deny the ‘ progress’ brought by the colonial powers. Someone from the audience even asked if, ‘Western Communications’ could help the poor of Asian countries.

Pankaj said that the concept of ‘ Nation State’ is  problematic and areas like Kashmir and other regions people will revolt against the borders imposed on them. The familiar story of India exploiting the resources of tribal people was also mentioned by Pankaj.

During the question time I made the following comments:

It is true that colonisation was no more than a theft and rape of a Country and its people. It cannot be justified on any grounds. However your condemnation of colonisation and the imperialists you see everywhere does not convince me much. This is because you can’t see anything wrong with the lack of democracy, fanaticism, the wholesale repression of people’s rights and a concerted attempt to turn the clock back to the 18th century in many decolonised countries. Most countries have now been free from colonial rule for over 50 years. It is time to stop blaming colonialists for all our ills. Except for the notable exception of India true freedom eludes most decolonised countries. Yet you have never acknowledged India’s democracy and continue to write critical articles of the country.

India is an ancient civilisation and it has made an immense contribution in many fields and it is amusing to hear someone referring to communication as ‘ Western ‘. By that logic I could claim most inventions are Indian as it gave the world the concept of zero! Pankaj you see Western conspiracies everywhere.

The reality is that in the United Kingdom you are living in a free and fair country. Yes this country has a colonial past but it has moved on and you need to acknowledge that.

Nitin Mehta