Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

A colonial bridge

Sir, — Apropos Hassan Suroor's news analysis "The sunny side of the Raj" (Jan. 18): The British period in India's history, which ended in 1947, may superficially be treated as one more example of an alien domination which blossomed and faded as others had before it. But the incompleteness of such a treatment becomes obvious the moment the India of 1947 is compared with the India of 1757. The quantum and the character of the difference are incontestably greater and deeper than those between the India of 1757 and that of 1526 when the Mughals, another alien power, ruled the country.

The British reorganised the country more efficiently than before; they were self-consciously tolerant and studied to preserve rather than to destroy. Almost in spite of themselves new thoughts, new ideas, and new ways of life came into the country, which independent India has not even thought of shedding. The British rule provided a bridge for India to pass from the medieval world of the Mughals to the new age of science and humanism.

Jinendra Sena,

Ballarpur, Maharashtra

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