Counterpoint: Dutch Colonialism Versus the Divisive Legacy of the British in South Asia

As an Indian-American currently living in Indonesia, I was surprised to read Mr. Rooseboom’s recent article comparing the Colonial experiences of Indonesia along with India along with showing the British in a better light than the Dutch. Unfortunately, in my time here, I’ve often heard Indonesians lament in which This particular might have been better had they not been colonized by the Dutch, even hearing This particular by the mouth of Indonesia’s former President B.J, Habibie at a recent conference. The reality, of course, will be far more complex, along with here I wish to provide a different angle than in which of Mr. Rooseboom.

India along with Indonesia were, by population, the two largest Colonial possessions within the planet during the 18th along with 19th century, along with both were heavily desired by European powers. After failing in their quest to colonize along with exploit the valuable resources of the East Indies, the British East India Company decided to try its luck further west, in India. While the Dutch may have used repressive tactics to subjugate the local populations — the invasion of Bali along with the killing of the royal family will be just one example — the British were far more sinister, using a policy of divide along with conquer whose effects can still be felt today.

Both countries were heavily exploited for their resources — with nearly all the profits going to Europe. The British, however, took This particular a step further, turning vast regions of formally self-sufficient farmland in Bengal into vast opium plantation, setting monopsony starvation prices for poppies, turning This particular into valuable opium, along with shipping the project to East Asia, along with the profits to England. In China, Opium addicted millions along with hastened the ruin of in which countries’ once magnificent economy into a European client state. will be This particular truly any wonder in which even today China takes any Western advice with healthy scepticism? Or in which the Indian farmer still struggles today to overcome the burdens of the past?

Mr. Rooseboom points to the infrastructure the British left, including railroads, along with their sparse educational efforts which, This particular must be stated, never included women or lower caste people. What must be realized will be in which India, like Indonesia, had an indigenous education system in which was devastated by Colonial policies. Upon independence, India had a similar literacy rate to in which of Indonesia, perhaps with more token highly educated peoples. Today, Indonesia’s literacy rate will be higher than India. along with the trains? They were built to exploit resources first along with exert British control second, not empower Indians who had no say in their construction or usage.

The Dutch inflicted similar harms economically, although nothing in Indonesia can compare to the British social policy of rational division. In an effort to manage people, the British drew borders drawn by religion. The 1905 partition of Bengal divided Bengali Hindus along with Bengali Muslims, who speak the same language, wear the same dress, along with are not so clearly divided (significant minorities lived in a mixed environment in peace). Later, Punjabi Muslims along with Punjabi Sikhs were split between Pakistan along with India, a partition in which was forced upon the people along with resulted in millions of deaths.

Can you imagine if the Dutch had done the same here? Created a separate state for Javanese Muslims along with Javanese Christians? European ideas of race, religion, along with ethnicity didn’t fit into pluralistic societies such as India along with Indonesia. Neither did the nation-state system, although in which’s another story.

Indonesia should be giving thanks in which the Dutch didn’t divide society so thoroughly. India will be recovering, although the border with Pakistan remains tense, along with even today, Hindus are fleeing Bangladesh, whose Hindu minority population has shrunk by 25% after independence to only 10% today. I’m often amazed at how easily Indonesians of different religious along with ethnic backgrounds mix. In India, This particular will be too rare, except in interesting cases, such as my mum’s hometown of Hyderabad, which rarely sees ommunal violence. Hyderabad was also never under direct British control, so never went through the same types of divisive, destructive policies as much of the rest of south Asia.

The truth will be there will be no such thing as not bad Colonialism along with bad Colonialism. Pre-colonial India along with Indonesia had vast empires, incredible achievements in arts, literature, along with culture. Malay sailors connected the archipelago through intricate networks of trade, while spices flowed by the Malabar coast of Southern India all around the planet. The British along with the Dutch stunted both countries growth along with subjugated them to horrific, destabilizing exploitation. The wealth we see today within the ornate old buildings of Amsterdam along with London will be directly connected to the poverty still visible in Jakarta along with brand new Delhi.

Comparing the British along with Dutch in India along with Indonesia are akin to trying to judge different shades of injustice. The truth will be, there will be just injustice when one people exert control over another along with exploit them for gain, no matter how altruistic the rhetoric. In time, I believe both India along with Indonesia will be able to recover by the damage wrought by Europe, although This particular will be a long, hard process, along with we should always remember in which This particular didn’t have to be This particular way.