Britain Does Owe Reparations

[Vikrant]

For once in his life, Shashi Tharoor makes some sense

 

[Mr. H.]

"As Henry VIII said to his wives, 'I shall not keep you long'".

 

[Mr. H.]

So, he was allotted 8 minutes, but took 15:28?

 

[Vikrant]

So, he was allotted 8 minutes, but took 15:28?

Do you think he took advantage of British hospitality?

 

[Vikrant]

"As Henry VIII said to his wives, 'I shall not keep you long'".

This one is even funnier:

"... while taking the Hindi word loot into their dictionary as well as their habits..."

 

[Mr. H.]

So, he was allotted 8 minutes, but took 15:28?

Do you think he took advantage of British hospitality?

Who doesn't?

 

[Vikrant]

So, he was allotted 8 minutes, but took 15:28?

Do you think he took advantage of British hospitality?

Who doesn't?

I don't

 

[Vikrant]

For those who have hard time understanding his accent, here is transcript of what he said:

Viewpoint Britain must pay reparations to India - BBC News

 

[Vikrant]

Not only do India and the British have a past, they have a very gory past as Shashi Tharoor reminded us with his speech at the Oxford Union. We share with Britain a history of being oppressed for centuries, of bloody massacres, mass arrests, the suppression of democratic rights and the supplanting of our own culture to serve the British interests. Remember Jallianwala Bagh and the Bengal famine?

Here are five important takeaways.

...

Five lessons we learned about India from Shashi Tharoor s Oxford speech - Firstpost

 

[Vikrant]

Now, TIME magazine is praising Tharoor as well.

---

Watch This Indian Lawmaker Brilliantly Explain Why the U.K. Owes Reparations for Colonial Rule

...

India is commonly referred to as the world’s largest democracy, and the presence of democracy in the South Asian nation is commonly attributed to Great Britain, which unified its multiple princely states during nearly two centuries of colonial rule.

But as Indian Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor put it during a recent debate at the Oxford Union: “It’s a bit rich to oppress, enslave, kill, torture, maim people for 200 years and then celebrate the fact that they are democratic at the end of it.”

Tharoor’s speech, which went viral on social media last week, debunks several commonly cited arguments that justify British colonial rule of India from 1757 (beginning with the East India Company) until the nation’s independence in 1947. The former Indian minister of state makes a compelling case for reparations, which he says indicate “the ability to acknowledge a wrong that has been done, to simply say sorry” for decades of oppression.

Tharoor, also a former U.N. official, began by talking about the years of plunder by the U.K. of its colonies, a siphoning of wealth that propelled Europe’s industrial revolution of the 19th century. He highlighted the fact that India’s share of the global economy — 23% when the British first arrived — had dropped to 4% by the time the Union Flag was finally lowered.

Colonial apologists often argue that India’s dense and intricate railway network, one of the largest in the world, was built thanks to the British. But Tharoor’s simple rejoinder, after reiterating that the railways and roads were built only to serve British interests, is that “many countries have built railways and roads without having to be colonized in order to do so.”

But while insightful points such as these formed the crux of Tharoor’s eloquent speech, it was his rapier barbs that had the esteemed audience (and netizens alike) crowing.

“No wonder that the sun never set on the British Empire,” he says at one point, referencing a common boast used to illustrate the sheer extent of Britain’s power, “because even God couldn’t trust the English in the dark.”

...

Watch Indian MP Shashi Tharoor Outline Why Britain Owes Reparations

 

[Vikrant]

...

One columnist and publisher, Minhaz Merchant, calculated the reparations due to India at close to $3 trillion.

...

Narendra Modi Backs Call for India to Be Compensated by the British

 

[Swagger]

Not only do India and the British have a past, they have a very gory past as Shashi Tharoor reminded us with his speech at the Oxford Union. We share with Britain a history of being oppressed for centuries, of bloody massacres, mass arrests, the suppression of democratic rights and the supplanting of our own culture to serve the British interests. Remember Jallianwala Bagh and the Bengal famine?

Here are five important takeaways.

...

Five lessons we learned about India from Shashi Tharoor s Oxford speech - Firstpost

And? That's what happens when you're subjugated by an imperial power. Deal with it.

 

[Vikrant]

Not only do India and the British have a past, they have a very gory past as Shashi Tharoor reminded us with his speech at the Oxford Union. We share with Britain a history of being oppressed for centuries, of bloody massacres, mass arrests, the suppression of democratic rights and the supplanting of our own culture to serve the British interests. Remember Jallianwala Bagh and the Bengal famine?

Here are five important takeaways.

...

Five lessons we learned about India from Shashi Tharoor s Oxford speech - Firstpost

And? That's what happens when you're subjugated by an imperial power. Deal with it.

Frankly speaking, I did not expect retrospection from you as demonstrated by your lack of remorse for your (British) crimes against humanity. It is perhaps in your (British) DNA to exploit, steal and loot for I do not see any other explanation for your (British) actions. Even your (British) attitude today demonstrates that you people will not hesitate a second in going to back to "good" old days if you could. However, thanks to modern weapons, peaceful countries like India can defend themselves against countries like Britain that are well conditioned to violence.

 

[Vikrant]

...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered with praise Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday for his recent speech at University of Oxford. The occasion was a function to launch a workshop for MPs under a new think-tank, Speaker’s Research Initiative. Tharoor, for his part, had praised the PM last year, subsequently accepted his invitation to join the “Clean India” drive, hailed his yoga campaign and said he had left a positive impact on the countries he had visited.

...

From stage PM Modi showers praise on Shashi Tharoor The Indian Express

 

[GHook93]

I won't hold my breath!

 

[Vikrant]

LONDON: Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz on Tuesday called for the world-famous Kohinoor diamond to be returned to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit in November.

Vaz's comments came in response to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's recent stirring speech at the Oxford Union calling for Britain to pay reparations to India for 200 years of its brutal colonial rule.

"I welcome Dr Tharoor's speech and the endorsement of its message by Prime Minister Modi. I share their views. These are genuine grievances which must be addressed. Pursuing monetary reparations is complex, time consuming and potentially fruitless, but there is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Kohinoor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years," said Vaz, the longest serving British MP of Asian descent.

Modi is due to arrive in the UK in November, and Prime Minister David Cameron has gone out of his way to maintain a strong bilateral relationship.

Return Kohinoor to India UK MP Keith Vaz says - The Times of India