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14 August 2017

Celebrating Indian independence day in England!

Tomorrow is the Independence day of India.  I feel ironic that I commemorate it in England!  Not very sure how the Indian press is marking the event, but the press here in UK, especially The Times and BBC have long been publishing articles and running programmes related to the event of Indian independence and the partition.  And of course in none of these programmes or articles that I've read, did I ever come across any indication of justification of the colonising of South Asia.  Most of the articles speak of the pain and the confusion of partition and attribute it to the improper planning and lack of sensitivity of the then British administration.

In fact, thanks to the historical documentation preserved by the British, at least what they wish to make public, I'm coming to know of things I'd never come across in any newspapers or magazines in India.  Of course, I do admit, I'm not a 'history' person to really have moved my butt to know about it either.  Like, the person who really drew the line dividing India and Pakistan, Cyril Radcliffe, had actually never been to India!  That the Rowlatt act was indeed one of the last nail in the coffin of the patience of the Indian diaspora.

Of course, the common Britisher is not very much bothered today about India (or any other part of the world, for that matter).  But most would not like to speak of the bygone era of 'empire'.  More than pride in once being a 'super power' ruling much of the world, there is somewhere hidden a sense of guilt and shame for the deeds of the past.  

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