India’s PM endorses call for UK to pay reparations for colonial rule

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India’s prime minister has praised an opposition MP who made an impassioned appeal for Britain to pay reparations for 200 years of colonial rule.

Narendra Modi said Shashi Tharoor’s speech at the Oxford Union, which was posted online last week, “reflected the feelings of patriotic Indians” and that he said “the right things at the right place”.

Mr Tharoor, a Congress MP, writer and former UN under-secretary general, said that “Britain’s rise for 200 years was financed by its depredations in India”

“We paid for our own oppression,” he said “It’s a bit rich to impress, maim, kill, torture and repress and then celebrate democracy at the end of it.”

“India’s share of the world economy when Britain arrived on its shores was 23 per cent. By the time the British left it was down to below four per cent,” Tharoor said in the May 28 debate.


“Why? Simply because India had been governed for the benefit of Britain.”

Mr Tharoor added that Indians had “literally paid for our own oppression,” as by the end of the 19th century they were the world’s biggest purchasers of British goods as well as providing employment for highly paid civil servants.

“In fact, Britain’s industrial revolution was actually premised upon the de-industrialisation of India,” he said.

The 15-minute speech has been viewed more than 1.5 million times on YouTube and was widely praised by the Indian press.

Mr Modi responded to the speech earlier this week, saying: “Tharoor’s speech reflected the feelings of patriotic Indians on the issue and showed what impression one can leave with effective arguments by saying the right things at the right place.”

Mr Tharoor, who has often been criticised by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for praising Mr Modi and his initiatives, also called on Britain to apologise for colonial rule.

“As far as I am concerned, the ability to acknowledge a wrong that has been done, to simply say sorry, will go a far, far, far longer way than some percentage of GDP in the form of aid,” he said.

“What is required, it seems to me, is accepting the principle that reparations are owed.”

Mr Modi, however, did not say whether he backed Mr Tharoor’s demand for an apology. The British High Commission in Delhi declined to comment.

Mr Modi is due to visit Britain later this year. The dates of the trip have yet to be finalised.

Many in India want Britain to make amends for the wrongs committed during its colonial rule.

David Cameron had to face severe criticism during his last trip to India for not apologising for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, where hundreds of non-violent pro-independence protesters were shot dead at the behest of Colonel Reginald Dyer.

The Prime Minister expressed regret for the massacre during a visit to Amritsar in 2013 and laid a wreath at a memorial, but Indian critics said it was not enough.

THE TELEGRAPH

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34 responses to “India’s PM endorses call for UK to pay reparations for colonial rule”

  1. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    This one is a hindu Al-Qaeda

    1. Adonis Avatar

      why dont you bomb them? oh they have nukes already. Usa chicken

      1. wargame1 Avatar
        wargame1

        Why should I bomb them stupid dork?

        1. Adonis Avatar

          genocidal zionist rat talks to himself

          1. Rascal Avatar

            I am wondering if you get tired typing the same ‘ol adonis “catch-phrase”, or do you simply copy/paste?

          2. Adonis Avatar

            genocidal zionist trash has a deep mystery he cannot solve

          3. Adonis2 Avatar

            fuck you Idiot

          4. trash squealing

          5. Intouchable Avatar
            Intouchable

            Adonis is a genocidal retarded Zionist that talks to himself, a mystery he cannot solve.

          6. Rascal Avatar

            I was only humoring him, he is obviously mentally challenged. I don’t like to have to resort to name calling as some on these forums do. It is the internet and insults mean nothing.

          7. Intouchable Avatar
            Intouchable

            I’m surprised that he was in his cave for so long.
            Probably he thinks his strategic insults have the same effect as in his own cultural environment.

          8. Adonirat Avatar
            Adonirat

            genocidal shizionist rat talks to himself

          9. Adonis Avatar

            genocidal zionist copycat is just retarded

          10. Adonis2 Avatar

            Adonis Moron

          11. jerkoff mumbling

          12. wargame1 Avatar
            wargame1

            Your Dad is genocidal zionist rat

          13. Adonis Avatar

            genocidal zionist crap is obsessed with my dad

      2. What a dumb statement! Pakistan has nukes and the USA still bombs them. Christina you are one crazy. Wow put you and hind in the same room and watch the crazy fly

        1. Adonis Avatar

          genocidal zionist trash mumbles about christina

          1. Adonis2 Avatar

            Adonis is ISIS spy idiot

          2. genocidal zionist fart squeals in raving lunacy while banging his empty head on the wall

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    23% ‘down’ to 4% ?? Where are your charts & Graphs, man??
    For instance, WHAT was the ‘World Economy’ worth 200 years ago??
    For instance, Where was North America in that scale at that time?
    For instance, Where were most other European countries at that time.
    Are you basing that number on populations of 200 years ago? Or 100 years ago?
    Do you think it might be that India actually stagnated when the World passed you by??
    Good Old Ghandi got you thinking the right way, I suppose, with the starvation diets, but you need some charts & graphs to back up the concept.
    (Just in case someone actually listens to this crap, better figure the value of the Rupee 200 years ago… might end up having to pay 1000 Brit Pounds eventually (possibly with some interest figured by various rates over time.))

    1. Adonis Avatar

      Mindless rant from imperial troll. Truth is that british scum laid waste whereever they were, and left behind seeds of future conflicts. india is modest they should ask 1000 times more

    2. typical white supremacist

    3. Amit Sharma Avatar
      Amit Sharma

      Classical angrez CHUTIA

  3. Nearly 600 million people in India have no access to toilets and defecate in the open http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30647504

    1. zabada Avatar

      ask Britain to build its up.As their pay back..Indian bricks are cheap.Modi will happy for that.

      1. likely will be defecating in the open also with cash

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