The Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-01-28, Page 2.s,
n
,,TAR. THURSE AY, JANUARY 28, 1...9i
Yw04
THUMB
Q
L
� P.
BY G,; Mac,L'Eo ROSS
Witt 'two World Wars
sulcvived; an, Empire dissolved
--new=,.pecking order
established among the Powers,
ts!C are avid to discover the
-reasons why. $ut when the
dissolution of the- Empire is
examined the. interest :lies rather
in the question: How did' it
',xCtib
the worst aspects,, leaving the
Positive attributes of British rule
over India largely untarnished.
In. 1835 Lard Macaulay's
Education Minute Prescribed
English as a medium of college
education in India and it
becomes* „ a monumental
landmark in Wei:ern impact.
Not only did provide, the
.affect those. ruled? What•imprint.: channel through which Western
if any, • was left? Arid though ideas and institutions could be
each side will have its ovyrt implanted, but dor the` firsttime;
• answers, 'on this occasion it is 9f, a .Madrasi,, could comm icate
particular interest to'�'lea the' with a Bengali', India wig drawn
.tri g
iCt, � i� ,,.k, , r:. � i � � �•n+s:�au ��. � �r: ,,y nv�'ra_ �^-
By chance a copy of the economically so that Indians
"Indo -British Review" came to ftom the south could go north
hang, the quarterly journal of into government and business.
the Indo -British Historical • ,Few institutions had such an
Society *1. and its contributors, instant impact 'as Parliarnentand
in this issue .at least, are all free elections, which became a
' Indians. The titles of some of stock a in trade for educated
the articles confirm that Indians' India n's ,1 o n g •b a fore
are interested' in appraising the independence, so that' they
impact of 150 years of British became parliamentarians as
rule on their Country, for we readily •as ducks take` to water.
have; articles on "Britain and the When Independence came, there
Partition;" "lnslo-British was a wholly Indian Parliament,
Relations";, "Warren Hastings" ready and able to function
"Profiles of Indo-Bi;itish effectively. Parliamentary
Business," while finally -there 'is government became perhaps the
"The British pact on India" greatest legaoy of British rule,
`. T " which is condensed below.
Freedom of the Press was
Until Clive <. defeated the another tradition embraced by
Nawab of Bengal •at Plassey in India and papers like the "Times
1757 no one in India took 'the
British ver seriously. As an of India" have published
Indian historian wrote: "The continuously for 125 years.
Indian attitude was one of fear Another important legacy.), was
bordering on an irrational the India eivil Service .(ICS),
obsession. All kinds of fantastic built up over 150 years; the very
essence of----4-p—ro-fessional
stories could circulate about the., administration.'The' Romans had
'British way, of life, their nothing comparable. Plato
cleverness and • valour; 'discipline
and :might. Some would Pictured a state ruled by
attribute their power to .their guardians; a. separate race'from
those they, ruled, aloof to the
non-vegetarian,diet, while others.. rtezifi' e ''' tatians of the' or 'of
speculated abort their real
nature." put before the turn of filthy lucre, and governing by
the 19th Century, reaction set in the light of what they knew to
and Indians believed they knew be good: . .
and understood the secrets of In . 1769 the Collector,. or.
Western prowess- and ath''they—disfrrict officer, appeared and
desired was to be left free --and John Shore may justly be called -.-
independent to. develop a ne.w :.,,the father of this office, for he
Indian society Aron the basis- of '''developed • a district/
these'British egrets. „administration for the collection
British resistance to this desire of land revenues which were the
fostered _a feeling of strong bedrock of j$iatish rule until the
anti. -..colonialism during' the 20th "twilight" Period. -The Collector
Century"and"Britain was accused ' was undisputed and so pervasive
of- economic imperialism; arid of was . his rule, that the Indian'
using the Indian Army for peasant viewed him as :the
imperialistic purposes. But the Father a Mother (MamBap) of
u n i q u e !less of Indian the peope of the district.` This.
• Ne"e"d, , ..a trtb1 e tQ both _.:office.., developed administrators
British impact onIndia
•
qualities which became ICS generations will be that, oil the wounded :from the fielc ,2of
fundamentals, whole, the impact was battle.
The fifty year period after favourable. V - No British officer who served
I'lassey was chaotic and lawless, * * * µ India for an appreciable :period
but gradually, the Collector " But there. was . >!ptpact. in could fail to be touch d`be
brought law ,and order in the 'another and even more intimate' 'mutual affection...inspired. If he
best tradition of British justice. form which the Miter of the was your orderly in battle; your'
The establishment of high' foregoing opinion did not touch.; life was his first responsibility. If
courts, with . appellate It concerned, a psychological he was ,your clerk, he relied on
jurisdiction over inferior Indian impact which pervaded the you to fight his battles with the
courts, 4m,plartted the English Indian Army, an Army which in bureaucracy which sought to
court system. Appeal from tie two World Wars raised delay his promotion, 'or'�gnulct
high eourt''to the Privy Council ...3%40;000 volunteers. „How do him of. the extra pay to which
integrated the Indian courts into' you,, explain the, amazing fact, the regulations, but 'no:t the
the British legal' system. How that from the'•very beginning of Simla babas, entitled him. It was
\ '� t' •E; ,,.[Ekiri t Tw,ent: i
�a���!�td�,.ca�, ln�pa�l �� ��a �_,�� � . ��pa.� �e,�,..a.�y��l�a,�-. , c�.�in*:�csr
Most Indians feel -it -is the most -i- final handover of Independence; ' lttdependerrce, and -Te fact°that
durable of all the Western and even for a brief period independent 1'ndian .authority
institutions implanted in India, a'fterwa'rds the' Indian soldier ' would listen to a `petition' from
so that whatever ', political was. - prepared to accept* the a' British officer, no. ,onger part-
' of the Indian Army, was a
tribute to the regard in which
the British were held; a tribute
to the integrity which had been
so diligently built up over the
years.
An old friend, Sir George
Cunningham, after a lifetime' of
service to India irk. a variety of
posts, indicated some of the.
qualities required in his
Rectorial Address to the.
students of St. Andrew's
%'t'tttv�ersity in 1947. When he
finally' retired in . 19.48, • it was
•
hearer. No cliches; no long
words and�phrase$; no vagueness.
A go , :check is to turn your
works into the language in which
`" you` w-tld eventually
communicate them to your
audience, whether , in Urdu,
Hindi; sr-P�:rshtu,
Tolerance is necessary to - see..
ourselves as we are seen by
others, add is more. essential
when dealing with a foreign rale.
Try to see the other man's point
of .view: Suppleness in , things
in3,material is the desideratum.
Lciabeoriagrivaren0twokoludgfaci
when -to say No farther! The ,
ability to say No! and....slick to it,
All this comes ', from wide ..
knowledge ' of arid a wide
friendliness with, men. In
Churchill's words: "There
should always be an unfailing
faith that there is treasure in the
heart -of every man, if only you
can find it." •
Without integrity, sincerity
and mutual truist are lacking in
an acquaintanceship. The
establishment and - .constant
maintenance of integrity •is the .
(1$
changes `occut, . the airus,,.an,d.
methods of Brush courts will
• sur4ive in their' main features.
The spirit of independence ' and
legalism is thea most valuable
legacy left by the British lawyers
and judges of .the Bombay High
Court.
The economic impact of.
British rule is found, on the
whole, to have been negative. It,
was not until the end of 'the
49th century that anything'
resembling modern industry
began to evolve in India. A first
rate raijway. system,."such as no
other undeveloped conntry
possesses, was developed, as was
irrigation, which protected lame
tracts from • crop failure, thus
lessening Me chance of famines.
The .cotton industry r
developed solely by Indians,
with British equipment and it
wase- the American Civil War
.which created a cotton boom in .7
Bombay and 'served to place the
name :of Tata' on' the industrial
map of India.
If" the British ,contributed to
modern industrialisation, . -the
industries emphasised were
indigo, jute,'tea, manganese and
mica;.: rill export oriented
.,•prod ucts;::and r it_was. the British
in their role as creators of the
Industrial- Revolution, rather
thane as exacting , rulers; that
eventually destroyed the Indian
textile industry. • '
Today most Indians are
forward, -looking and direct their
undivided attention to. the
acquisition Of mrod ern
technology for the .
industrialisation of ' their
country, . consequently , the
-assessment; after 'a. few more
N' t
nation's ne gnu to av id'; responsible, decisive and honest``-
,,. �!� � e � �.
British officer as his leader? How
was this impressive loyalty
achieved?
It is only when you examine
the traditions and customs,
mostly unwritten, handed on by
example and precept, that it is
realised that a doctrine of
-behaviour had been -;established
for all who were fortunate
enough to.. serve India. Our
pi<edecessors, from a 1707
onw,ards, must have men
with a . deep understanding, of
human nature, which is _not
surprising 'when sone • of the
names on the Roll are recalled:
Wellesley, Nicholson, the
Lawrence,s, Edwardes,
Sandeman, followed by .hosts of
subordinates who were equally
imbued • with the doctrine of
service.
A telling factor, which in the
best, British tradition"'- was
"understood," was the absolute
acceptance by the .officer, of,,., lie
paternal care of his men. Just -as
With the civil Collector, the
,military officer became the
Mam-Bap of the Indian soldier; a
relationship so sincere, that'. it
carried ' With -it. a:. potent
amalgam. Each regiment became
a self-co_ntain.ed family;. --a
condition the more easily
effected because of the natural
feudal instinct of the bulk of
Indian' •society; accentuated by
the caste system.*2. In times of
crisis this mutual regard became
something more. It generated a
sense -Of loyalty which accepted
responsibility ' for • the
safeguarding'. of his officer, with
the tacit obligation to bring in
'his body whet)ier ` dead or
said with truth, he had achieved -
a hold on the hearts and minds
of the Pathan : greater than
anyone before or since, whether
British or Muslim.
The several qualities• which he
and thousands of his
compatriots employed to win
the confidence of the 'Indian,
whether civilian or soldier, and
to preserve the feeling of
scrupulous good faith, were five:
$e.nse of Iutx,Clarity . of
Thought, • ,and Expression.
Tolerance. :Integrity, and
Independence. Explaining t ese,
- he showed that .a sense of duty,
required a hunijinijty and geneline,
interest in the daily lives of the
( men.. 4 for whom' - he. was
.-responsible, .It must not be
open„. sesame to mutual
confidence. -
As for independence, as
Kipling wrote: "At ” any price
that I can pay; let . me
myself."
In speaking of service the"
emphasis is on what you can
WELCOME
:fore d:> -because a' patronising
SERVICE
is -soon detecled_a id advances
b• ecome spurious. The- eltent to
'which 'su-ch . genuine interest
rallied- the -Indian Army to the
British eause in two World Wars
"-- vitoutd like to.Yall onyou with
"hou`sewarrii,_irig- ' gifts" `hand
, information
ocatron
. The
• is history.
- Clarity df expressiona- is
especially necessary
1 ' ' Hostess
, glad , to arrange your
subscription to the.
SIGNAL -STAR.
dealing with a foreign nation, for "~ Call her at ' 524=9525
t;here must be neither doubt nor
• indecision in the mind of the
•
give,' and the thought of giving
must always be the motive in a.
man's mind if serol a is to
deserve that name. These are
only some of the payments
which must be made By 'those
wishing to command and lead.
But as India has • •so amply
proved, it is n'o one-way street.
In , serving, friendships are born
of,- help mutually "given.
Gratitude is received for eyeh
'the simplest service, or for some
wrong righted. In Swift's words:
"two ears of corn . ':. will'grow
�s v where only orie. grew•bo10Te —
There was another factor,
peculiar, to India, which
consisted in the 400 Year old
guerilla war 'which was waged on
the North West Frontier. What
better stimulant for comradeship
than the adversity of fighting a
Amnion enemy? Here all the
manly virtues were summoned:
Courage, heroism, self-sacrifice`.
Here was a proving ground for
the validity of the loyal bond. If
it stood the rigours. of Frontier
4
warfare, alts- strength was
'enhanced.
This is not the whole story, by
any means, but it was by the
exercise of such precepts that
Britain left to India an Army
which was subservient to the
Civil.. Power and. devoid `of„
politics.
*1. The Indo British, Historical.',.
Society: 4 „1tajaram . Mehta
Avenue, Madras 29.
*2. Caste structure. The
common, Western view that India
^�7Di- rti�++{,My'%�'+�'Yrs+aiti^"':I�T/'M'^+'�'R.7t�K+^ U.nral,%+w•'fw
to the belief that;- all. Canadians
are farmers. The sub -castes
number tens of thousands and
continue to be an obstacle to
India's progress.,
NEW`' P4P!
GET POE://,1,�' A
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