COLONIALISM AND INDIA

Post-Colonialism: Definition, Development and Examples from India
This speech deals with the phenomenon of post-colonialism. It presents general definitions of the
post-colonial theory and provides some information about its development as well as illustrating
background knowledge about basic landmarks of India's colonial past. It then concentrates on
the post-colonial development of India which was a British colony until 1947.
1. Post-colonialism in general
1.1 Definition
Post-colonialism is an intellectual direction (sometimes also called an “era” or the “post-colonial
theory”) that exists since around the middle of the 20th century. It developed from and mainly
refers to the time after colonialism. The post-colonial direction was created as colonial countries
became independent. Nowadays, aspects of post-colonialism can be found not only in sciences
concerning history, literature and politics, but also in approach to culture and identity of both the
countries that were colonised and the former colonial powers. However, post-colonialism can
take the colonial time as well as the time after colonialism into consideration.
1.2 Development
The term “decolonisation” seems to be of particular importance while talking about postcolonialism.
In this case it means an intellectual process that persistently transfers the
independence of former-colonial countries into people’s minds. The basic idea of this process is
the deconstruction of old-fashioned perceptions and attitudes of power and oppression that were
adopted during the time of colonialism.
First attempts to put this long-term policy of “decolonising the minds” into practice could be
regarded in the Indian population after India became independent from the British Empire in
1947.
However, post-colonialism has increasingly become an object of scientific examination since
1950 when Western intellectuals began to get interested in the “Third World countries”. In the
seventies, this interest lead to an integration of discussions about post-colonialism in various
study courses at American Universities. Nowadays it also plays a remarkable role at European
Universities.
A major aspect of post-colonialism is the rather violent-like, unbuffered contact or clash of
cultures as an inevitable result of former colonial times; the relationship of the colonial power to
the (formerly) colonised country, its population and culture and vice versa seems extremely
ambiguous and contradictory.
This contradiction of two clashing cultures and the wide scale of problems resulting from it must
be regarded as a major theme in post-colonialism: For centuries the colonial suppressor often had
been forcing his civilised values on the natives. But when the native population finally gained
independence, the colonial relicts were still omnipresent, deeply integrated in the natives’ minds
and were supposed to be removed.
So decolonisation is a process of change, destruction and, in the first place, an attempt to regain
and lose power. While natives had to learn how to put independence into practice, colonial
powers had to accept the loss of power over foreign countries. However, both sides have to deal
with their past as suppressor and suppressed.
This complicated relationship mainly developed from the Eurocentric perspective from which
the former colonial powers saw themselves: Their colonial policy was often criticised as
arrogant, ignorant, brutal and simply naïve. Their final colonial failure and the total
independence of the once suppressed made the process of decolonisation rather tense and
emotional.
Post-colonialism also deals with conflicts of identity and cultural belonging. Colonial powers
came to foreign states and destroyed main parts of native tradition and culture; furthermore, they
continuously replaced them with their own ones. This often lead to conflicts when countries
became independent and suddenly faced the challenge of developing a new nationwide identity
and self-confidence.
As generations had lived under the power of colonial rulers, they had more or less adopted their
Western tradition and culture. The challenge for these countries was to find an individual way of
proceeding to call their own. They could not get rid of the Western way of life from one day to
the other; they could not manage to create a completely new one either.
On the other hand, former colonial powers had to change their self-assessment. This paradox
identification process seems to be what decolonisation is all about, while post-colonialism is the
intellectual direction that deals with it and maintains a steady analysis from both points of view.
So how is this difficult process of decolonisation being done? By the power of language, even
more than by the use of military violence. Language is the intellectual means by which postcolonial
communication and reflection takes place. This is particularly important as most
colonial powers tried to integrate their language, the major aspect of their civilised culture, in
foreign societies.
A lot of Indian books that can be attached to the era of post-colonialism, for instance, are written
in English. The cross-border exchange of thoughts from both parties of the post-colonial conflict
is supported by the use of a shared language.
To give a conclusion of it all, one might say that post-colonialism is a vivid discussion about
what happened with the colonial thinking at the end of the colonial era. What legacy arouse from
this era? What social, cultural and economical consequences could be seen and are still visible
today? In these contexts, one examines alternating experiences of suppression, resistance,
gender, migration and so forth. While doing so, both the colonising and colonised side are taken
into consideration and related to each other. The main target of post-colonialism remains the
same: To review and to deconstruct one-sided, worn-out attitudes in a lively discussion of
colonisation.
2. The post-colonial experience in India
2.1 History of Indian colonialism
In the 16th century, European powers began to conquer small outposts along the Indian coast.
Portugal, the Netherlands and France ruled different regions in India before the “British East
India Company” was founded in 1756.
The British colonialists managed to control most parts of India while ruling the key cities
Calcutta, Madras and Bombay as the main British bases. However, there still remained a few
independent regions (Kashmir among others) whose lords were loyal to the British Empire.
In 1857, the first big rebellion took place in the north of India. The incident is also named “First
war of Indian Independence”, the “Sepoy Rebellion” or the “Indian Mutiny”, depending on the
individual perspective. This was the first time Indians rebelled in massive numbers against the
presence and the rule of the British in South Asia. The rebellion failed and the British colonialists
continued their rule.
In 1885, the “National Indian Congress” (popularly called “Congress”) was founded. It
demanded that the Indians should have their proper legitimate share in the government. From
then on, the Congress developed into the main body of opposition against British colonial rule.
Besides, a Muslim anti-colonial organisation was founded in 1906, called the “Muslim League”.
While most parts of the Indian population remained loyal to the British colonial power during the
First World War, more and more Muslim people joined the Indian independence movement since
they were angry about the division of the Ottoman Empire by the British.
The non-violent resistance against British colonial rule, mainly initiated and organised by
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, finally lead to independence in 1947.
At the same time, the huge British colony was split into two nations: The secular Indian Union
and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. The Muslim League had demanded for an independent
Muslim state with a majority of Muslims.
India became a member of the British Commonwealth after 1947.
2.2 Post-colonial development in India
The Partition of India (also called the “Great Divide”) lead to huge movements and an ethnic
conflict across the Indian-Pakistani border. While around 10 million Hindus und Sikhs were
expelled from Pakistan, about 7 million Muslims crossed the border to from India to Pakistan.
Hundreds of thousands of people died in this conflict. Ever since these incidents, there have been
tensions between India and Pakistan which lead to different wars particularly in the Kashmir
region.
For decades the Congress Party ruled the democratic country which had become a republic with
its own constitution in 1950. In 1977 the opposition gained the majority of votes. In 1984, after
the Congress Party had regained the majority, conflicts with the cultural minority of the Sikhs
lead to the assassination of the Indian prime minister Indira Ghandi.
Today, apart from the significant economic progress, India is still facing its old problems:
Poverty, overpopulation, environmental pollution as well as ethnic and religious conflicts
between Hindus and Muslims. Additionally, the Kashmir conflict has not come to an end yet,
while both Pakistan and Indian are threatening each other with their arsenals of atomic weapons.
Concerning post-colonial literature, Edward Said’s book “Orientalism” (published in 1978) is
regarded as the beginning of post-colonial studies. In this book the author analyses how
European states initiated colonialism as a result of what they called their own racial superiority.
The religious-ethnic conflicts between different groups of people play an important role in the
early years of post-colonialism. Eye-witnesses from both sides of the Indian-Pakistani conflict
wrote about their feelings and experience during genocide, being confronted to blind and
irrational violence and hatred. The Partition is often described as an Indian trauma.
One example for a post-colonial scriptwriter who wrote about this conflict is Saddat Hasan
Manto (1912 – 1955). He was forced to leave Bombay and to settle in Lahore, Pakistan. He
published a collection of stories and sketches (“Mottled Dawn”) that deal with this dark era of
Indian history and its immense social consequences and uncountable tragedies.
Furthermore, there are many different approaches to the topic of intercultural exchange between
the British and the Indian population. Uncountable essays and novels deal with the ambiguous
relationship between these two nations. One particularly interesting phenomenon is that authors
from both sides try to write from different angles and perspectives and in that way to show
empathy with their cultural counterpart.
The most famous novelist who wrote about these social and cultural exchanges is Salman
Rushdie. Rushdie, who won the booker prize among various others, was born in India, but
studied in England and started writing books about India and the British in the early eighties. His
funny, brave, metaphoric and sometimes even ironical way of writing offers a multi-perspective
approach to the post-colonial complex. This can be also seen in his book “Midnight’s Children”.
In the past, Salman Rushdie was also repeatedly threatened by Irani fundamentalists because of
his critical writing about Muslim extremism in the Middle East.
Another famous post-colonial novel is “Heat and Dust” (published in 1975) by Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala that contains two plot set in different times: One about a British lady starting an affair
with a local Indian prince in the 1920s, the other one set in the 1970s, featuring young Europeans
on a “hippie trail” who claim they have left behind Western civilisation and are trying to some
spiritual home among Indian gurus.
“Bollywood” has become a notorious synonym for the uprising Indian film industry in recent
years. Young Indian scriptwriters have discovered post-colonial issues as themes for their movies
and as a way of dealing with the changeful past of their country.
Concerning the integration of Western values in the Indian population and culture, one can say
that the British influence is still omnipresent in the Asian subcontinent. The reason for this can be
also found in the persistence of the English language.
Many Indians are conversant with the English language, because the British colonialists intended
to export their values and culture by teaching the Indian population their language. This was
regarded as the basic fundament for further education.
What about the relationship between India and the United Kingdom today? It is a special one,
and of course still not without tensions between these two nations that refer to the time of
colonialism which from our retro perspective is not at all so far away.
India has managed to become an independent state with its own political system and is still
working to find its own identity. The longer the process of decolonisation lasts, the more we get
the impression that only a middle course between the acceptance of British legacies and the
creation of a new unique Indian self-confidence will be the right way to go for India.
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