Apurva Asrani shares Shashi Tharoor’s speech, asks ‘did the British do us good, were we poor before they arrived?’

Film writer-editor Apurva Asrani has shared an old video of Shashi Tharoor, where the politician is seen talking about the damage that the British Empire did to India. Apurva also reminded everyone that India was not a poor country, when the British colonised it. Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, leading to a section of social media users debating the impact of British rule on India. (Also read: Apurva Asrani tweets about ‘very obvious campaign against Kartik Aaryan’)

The video is from a 2015 TV show in the US, when Shashi was asked where would India be today, if it were not for the British rule? He was quick to respond that the question required a long answer, and said, “This is like asking the widow of the American president, apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”

Shashi had gone on to say, “Over 200 years of exploitation, depredation and loot and destruction reduced India to a poster child for Third World poverty.” He then began layering his response with statistics to prove that Britain did India no good. “When the British left India in 1947, 90percent of the population was living below the poverty line, literacy rate was below 17percent, and life expectancy was 27 (years).”

“In the name of free trade, the British came in and destroyed the free trade that made India the leading exporter of textiles. There is simply no comparison between the accomplishments of India rising from the ashes that the British left us in and what was done in the 200 years before,” the Congress leader had added.

Sharing the video, Apurva wrote on Instagram, “With the tributes pouring in from India on the demise of the Queen of England, this is an important debate to return to. Did the British do us good? Does simply citing their contribution towards buildings and railways make up for the damage they did to this country? Were we a poor, doddering nation before the British arrived? One of my favorite authors, historians and thinkers, Shashi Tharoor explains quite succinctly. #shashitharoor #britishindia #britishraj.”

Musician Aneesh Gera commented, “Great share . We all need to understand this wasn’t the work of the last Monarch . However the appalling history and numbers certainly speaks for itself.” A fan also responded to the post and said, “The sad part is Indians have a huge hangover of the colonial past and some Indians still think that proficiency in the Queen’s language is the parameter of how far have you arrived. Having said that the skill of Dr Tharoor to counter without getting personal… is welcome.”

Apurva’s recent projects include the latest season of the popular web show Criminal Justice. The third season of the Pankaj Tripathi-starrer is currently being released episodically every Friday. Four episodes of the show are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.